Urban place to settle (Seattle, Tacoma: real estate, apartments, rentals)

[feeedyourhead]

I'm moving to Seattle and I'm looking for a good neighborhood to move into. I'm looking for a place somewhat close to downtown, pre-WW2 development, the hipper and cooler the better, but also not too expensive. I briefly visited Capitol Hill and thought it looked great but probably expensive. Any thoughts?

I'm also looking at moving into a coop. Any recomendations?

[Ira500]

Georgetown might be your cup of tea. Not far from downtown, lots of cool old brick buildings, artsy, less expensive than Capitol Hill.

[allforcats]

Hi and welcome!!

By "co-op" do you mean the type of real estate ownership that exists in New York City? We don't have such ownership in Washington state. But we do have condos and townhouses; ownership of those types of residences is widespread, and renting condos and townhouses is also fairly widespread.

"I'm looking for a place somewhat close to downtown"
The closer to downtown, it's logical that it's likely to be more expensive.

"pre-WW2 development"
Capitol Hill, First Hill, Madrona, Broadmoor, Madison Park, Queen Anne, Interbay, Magnolia, Fremont, Wallingford, Phinney Ridge, Ballard, Loyal Heights, Greenwood, Maple Leaf, Green Lake, Ravenna, University District, Belltown, Georgetown.

"the hipper and cooler the better"
Well, everyone's idea of hip and cool is different, so if you could be more specific.... I'd definitely call Capitol Hill hip and cool; the population of apartment buildings in Capitol Hill is so dense there are many price-range possibilities.
On my list above, the neighborhoods have varying degrees, and types, of hipth and coolth with probably the following being the hippest/coolest/artsiest/craftsest:
Capitol Hill, University District, Fremont, Georgetown (but again, that's a personal assessment).

Do you plan to rent for 6 months or more when you arrive? It's the very best idea, so you can learn what you like and find out where you want to be.
Here's the combined Classifieds for the two leading newspapers in and around Seattle:
NWapartments: Seattle apartment rentals, house rental listings, rental classifieds and other property rentals in Seattle, Tacoma, Bellevue and other Washington areas, cities and neighborhoods | - Search by area
On the map, click on "North" and "Downtown" to get the neighborhoods listed.
You should also try:
Craigslist
rent.com
forrent.com
apartments.com

Have fun!

[lijohy]

Fremont, Phinney, Ballard, Beacon Hill (cheaper than any of the former I listed) Ranier, Mount Baker, U-District, Greenwood, Georgetown (although the soil I heard is still sketchy, West Seattle (other than Alki, for instance my old 2 bedroom awesome house was $600 a month on 41st and Dakota- what a deal!) All of these places are about ten minutes drive or a 20 minute bus ride to Downtown. Capital Hill is awesome and I lived there off and on through out the 90's on a measly high school job wages, my old 1 bedroom was 560 a month on Bellevue, Bellevue and Bellevue across from the Ben Lomond ( I am sure it has gone up though as this was ten years ago). Just look around and keep looking, and things will pop up.

[feeedyourhead]

Thanks, I'll google maps those. By hip and cool I mean more hip than square and more cool than not. You know, walk to restaurants and coffee shops, music around, that kind of thing. We probably won't have a car. This is helpful.

[feeedyourhead]

Oh, we have co-ops here (Madison, WI), I'm not sure how they work but basically it's usually a big house that's owned by a bunch of people and you pay rent which usually includes food. You're a part owner somehow. It's like renting but you share space with people you don't know but will soon know and a lot of the expenses are shared. It's pretty sweet.

[allforcats]

Originally Posted by feeedyourhead

Oh, we have co-ops here (Madison, WI), I'm not sure how they work but basically it's usually a big house that's owned by a bunch of people and you pay rent which usually includes food. You're a part owner somehow. It's like renting but you share space with people you don't know but will soon know and a lot of the expenses are shared. It's pretty sweet.

Yeah, no. Not here. Sounds like a frat house!
About hipth and coolth, as you defined them: definitely the four neighborhoods I listed. To "walk to restaurants and coffee shops", but no music, add First Hill.

[CFiona]

Queen Anne and Fremont would be my top two choices (over Capital Hill)

Greenlake is cool and walkable, but further from downtown.

Good luck!