Ladytee17 (Seattle, Bellevue, Everett: real estate, construction, earthquakes)

[ladytee17]

Hello, my husband and I will be relocating to the Seattle Area in early December. Can anyone give any advice on which would be a better area to live: Edmonds or West Seattle? We are from Florida and would like to be near grocery stores, shopping, medical facilities, etc. Will be working in downtown Seattle. Also, not a huge fan of big bridges, is there any areas where we won't have to cross those huge bridges? Any advice will be helpful.

[Bill Loney]

Define huge bridge?

The West Seattle Bridge isn't what i would refer to as huge. But size is relative. The Freeway Bridge on I-5 is pretty good size, as is the Aurora Bridge.

Why the Bridge fears? Earthquakes? The Alaskan Way Viaduct is coming down so that won't be around much longer per se.

West Seattle for the most part is a shorter commute. As such it's reasonably close to the "pill hill". Also know as Capital Hill, where you'll find several top notch hospitals. There are some really nice areas in West Seattle...some not so much.

Edmonds however, is a wonderful "village". A smallish community with all the attributes you seek (Stevens Hospital is close, and Providence Everett isn't all that far.) There are also areas of Edmonds that fringe on Lynnwood that get a little dicey. But for the most part it;s a great little town.

Both have great access to grocery stores etc.

[Hemlock140]

Coming from Florida, you might like the Alki Beach in West Seattle, though you'll only have a couple of months warm enough to use it. The real bridges are I90 and 520 across Lake Washington. The bridges from both these cities are more like long overpasses.

Edmonds is a bit more of a commute but West Seattle to Seattle will be a mess for a few years until 2016 when all the construction is done. If you can handle a fairly short ferry ride, and bus the rest of the way, you can skip the driving from West Seattle.

Existing Services - King County Ferry District

[Inkpoe]

My friend works in the U-district and lives in W. Seattle. He doesn't use the bridge to get to/out of W. Seattle and says its faster than using the West Seattle bridge. And yes, it's definitely a mess down there with all the construction and the rest of the commuters.

Edmonds, you'll have to use a bridge to get to Seattle regardless.

If you really want to avoid using bridges at all, then look to south Seattle in areas like Columbia City, Mt. Baker, Beacon Hill, et. c which has easy access to the "Pill Hill" (where all the hospitals are). Groceries and other amenities are plentiful in any direction of Seattle, really.

[ladytee17]

Thanks everyone for the advice on Edmonds vs West Seattle. We aren't definitive on any area as of yet. Can anyone tell me if the traffic is heavier commuting into Seattle north or southbound in the mornings, and vice-versa in the afternoons? This may help to narrow down some areas as well.

[Ira500]

I-5 is bad in the morning going in both directions, but worse going into downtown Seattle from the north.
I think that's true in the afternoons also, as it's more dense going north from downtown.

[ladytee17]

Thanks Ira, I see that you are a Real Estate Agent, correct? Can you recommend any areas to live maybe within the city limits? We are not the partying type every weekend, so we don't need to be in the middle of all the action. Mainly we are looking for not a long commute to downtown, and the convenience to get to restaurants, jazz clubs, museums, etc. One thing we would prefer is off street parking.

[ladytee17]

Hi everyone, can you tell me if Bellevue is too far away in traffic from downtown Seattle? Looks like a very nice community from the internet.

[Ira500]

Downtown Bellevue is a 15-20 minute drive from downtown Seattle in no traffic. Buses take about half an hour, depending on what part of Bellevue. And most of Bellevue is pretty nice.

[ladytee17]

Thanks so much! All information is very helpful!