Moving From Phx, HELP! (Seattle: apartment, rent, condo)

[alouchouetta]

Ok, so my boyfriend and I are planning to move to Seattle from the Scottsdale/Phx area this May, and we are in need of information. I have a million questions, but I would appreciate an answer to any of them.

Working: I keep hearing that it takes a while to find a job. If I want to move by the end of April, when is too soon to start applying? He will be transferring through work with Marriott, so that shouldn't be too much of a problem, but anyone have a clue about what the hospitality season is in Seattle? It's from Sept to Easter here....

Living: We're young and I just finished school, so we want to stay in the mix of things without ending up somewhere too small? Suggestions?

Driving: I grew up in the LA area, is traffic really that bad in comparison? I know that people complain about traffic, but how bad is it really?

Thank you, thank you, thank you, for any help you can give us. I lived in Belgium and I love rainy weather and green! I can't wait to move, I just wish I could lock down some information so that I'm not flying completely blind!

[the dufferz]

First,

The tourist "season" is from May to September in that what draws people here (other than relatives) is the natural beauty and scenery, which is typically best viewed when it's not cold, rainy and cloudy. We have cruise ships that embark from Seattle, but I am not sure how much additional "hospitality" needs there are due to this.

Next is the job market. Starting applying now would probably be a good idea. Not that the market is that bad, but even if you get offers too soon, you will be able to plant seeds and guage the market so that when you are ready to commit you have a better chance of getting a job at the right time. Or not.

If you want to be in the mix of things, and with Hospitality being your stock and trade, anywhere in the Seattle and surrounding areas will get you to downtown pretty easily where the action is at.

As for traffic... there is only a fraction of the cars on the road in Seattle compared to LA. Don't get excited about that though. In LA they have a freeway ration of 10 to 1. We have I-5 that goes north and south, I-90 that goes east and west. I-405 loops to the "eastside" of Seattle. These are the three main freeways in Seattle that gets you to the burbs. What that leaves you with is a traffice density that equals and sometimes probably exceeds LA if the weather is bad. Rush hour in the morning starts at about 6 am, ends at about 10 am. Afternoon rush starts at about 2 pm and ends at about. 7 pm. A drive of 20 miles usually will take about an hour, depending on the day and the roadway you use.

There are a multitude of places that are outside the city where you can be close to the big city feeling, but far enough away to be able to afford the cost of living. If you supply more info as to what you are looking for in you "mix" and housing budget (especially if you want to buy) this will be helpful to all who respond.

Looks like that leaves 999,997 questions left, so have at it!

[compltlyme]

I can answer about the traffic... Not as many freeways and bad traffic on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being horrilbe... LA is a 12 and Seattle a 7

The difference is it keeps moving for the most part and doesn't become the parking lots we were used to in LA or OC. And check this out....use your blinker up here and people let you in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Down there it is a command for them to speed up and try to block you. I have had people actually stop to let me in!!! The car pool lanes actually move!!! And you can cross the line at any point! LOVE IT!!!

And Sorry Duff I have never been sitting in traffic at 2!!! Usually around 4 I see it backing up...with one exception... the exits North AND South at That darned 169 on I 405. That is a bear!!!

So for the most part.... it isn't bad... However I do realize if we keep talking people into moving up here.... it may become just as bad!!! YIKES!!!

[alouchouetta]

Originally Posted by the dufferz

First,

The tourist "season" is from May to September in that what draws people here (other than relatives) is the natural beauty and scenery, which is typically best viewed when it's not cold, rainy and cloudy.


There are a multitude of places that are outside the city where you can be close to the big city feeling, but far enough away to be able to afford the cost of living. If you supply more info as to what you are looking for in you "mix" and housing budget (especially if you want to buy) this will be helpful to all who respond.

Thanks for your posting. Ok, I guess to give a little more info on the hospitality aspect. We both banquet serve at hotels and resorts, he just happens to do it full-time. So we're looking for the hotel seasons. Which I'm guessing will probably coincide with the tourist season.

Second, we were hoping to do one of two things with the housing. We'd love to find a neighborhood that isn't too "family" where we could rent a house/multiplex/condo for less than about $1200. Or to find anything that's not an apartment in a relatively nice/fun area that has at least one bedroom in the same area. Basically we just want to live in an interesting neighborhood that's not too far away from the downtown area (or has a totally brutal commute). It doesn't have to be right near downtown, just not so far away that we're smashing our heads on the steering wheel during rush hour. I think we'll rent for a bit just to make sure that we really like Seattle. The plan is to move back to Europe in a couple of years when he's through with school, and we figured Seattle would help him acclimate to the Belgian weather.

I hope that this has helped explain my needs a little better...

[the dufferz]

Originally Posted by compltlyme

And Sorry Duff I have never been sitting in traffic at 2!!! Usually around 4 I see it backing up...with one exception... the exits North AND South at That darned 169 on I 405. That is a bear!!!

K. Maybe I should clarify a wee bit more. Sorry for the overgeneralization.

I guess I consider rush hour to start when you can no longer go within about 20 MPH of the speed limit.

Part of my turf is Seattle. About 2ish there is a noticable increase in the traffic densinty both north and southbound I-5, north of the ship canal bridge. At this point you can get where you are going, but minute by minute the traffic starts getting heavier, and by 3is it's starting to look pretty serious. The 2 to 3 pm hour is when I consider the rush hour to begin on I-5 for Seattle commuters.

For I-405 it is a lot better. When I am stuck in the office, I leave between 2:30 and 3:00. Northbound is getting heavy and anytime after 3:00 the traffic starts getting heavier. I would say that I-405 is about an hour behind I-5 in density.

For either freeway, getting on board after 4:00 is putting you in a bind.

Been a while since I have been in LA, so I will trust Compltlyime for the comparison to the freeways there.

[the dufferz]

Originally Posted by alouchouetta

We'd love to find a neighborhood that isn't too "family" where we could rent a house/multiplex/condo for less than about $1200. Or to find anything that's not an apartment in a relatively nice/fun area that has at least one bedroom in the same area. Basically we just want to live in an interesting neighborhood that's not too far away from the downtown area

I would recommend starting your search in the hills. Seattle has two hill neighborhoods that sound like what you would be after. Capitol hill (aka pill hill due to the number of hospitals) is east of Downtown, has an exciting feel to it. On a warm summer night the sidewalks along the main drags are teaming with people walking around and lots of single/young people activities. Queen Ann Hill on the north side of the city is I think a little quieter, but is also fun with easy access to the Seattle Center. You can also look toward the U-district (University of Washington) where there are areas that have more of a college feel to them (around NE 50th and University). From any of these locations, freeway traffic is not a real problem if you are working at a downtown hotel/facility.

The only thing I don't know about is the price of rent in these areas, but you will probably have a real tough time finding a non apartment for that price. Hopefully someone in those areas can chirp in here....