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I've been browsing around here quite a lot the past few months and have been very impressed with the quality and thoroughness of answers, and the general sense of community here (with a few exceptions of course!).
My situation:
Currently living in Bergen County, in northern New Jersey, right on the Hudson River, commuting into Manhattan 3 days a week. My plan is to relocate to the Seattle area and work from home. I have a wife and 9-month-old baby, with plans for more kids. We simply have reached the point where we feel the areas around here that we can actually afford have awful school systems, and property taxes are criminally high here. I'm paying $5000/year in PROPERTY TAXES right now for an 850-sq-ft 1-bedroom condo right now, along with $425/month in maintenance fees (plus an ongoing $350/month for an assessment while our condo association is fighting our builder, but that's another story).
I've been using zipRealty to get a sense of housing prices and neighborhoods, and we'll be planning a trip out to visit the area (for the 1st time!) during the mid-fall. Before we go, I'd like to limit the areas we're planning to look to a few. So far, we're considering Bellevue/Redmond/Kirkland on the East side, and perhaps up as high as Kenmore/Bothell.
The problem is the Seattle side. If I do end up working in the city, the office would be along E Madison St by Martin Luther King Jr Way. I've had recommendations for Queen Anne/Madrona, but was wondering about areas on the northern shore, around Green Lake and further north. I've seen several lovely-looking townhouses and even single-family homes in the 375-425K range with lots of space, located just west and north of Green Lake, in the 65th-88th St range.
So, what are pros/cons/feelings people have about areas such as Phinney, Whittier Heights, Green Lake, Maple Leaf, and out to Ballard, Sunset Hill, Crown Hill, Loyal Heights...
Which have a suburban/urban feel? Family-friendly? Non-strip-mall (ie. local) shopping? Decent places to eat? We're pretty laid back and not into the bar/club nightlife, but like to have access to a bit of culture and some nice places to eat. We're also not crazy outdoorsy types, though we'd like to be in a somewhat walkable area for evening strolls.
Also, which of these areas has a decent-sized Japanese population? My wife is Japanese and we've heard of Uwajimaya, which has 2 Seattle-area locations. We've found some nice homes for rent near the Bellevue location, but buying seems a bit pricey out there. Anyone have thoughts on the area of Seattle near the Seattle Uwajimaya?
The Seattle Uwajimaya is in the Chinatown/International District, not far at all from what was once known as Japantown. It's an area in transition. Only a few years ago, the only people who lived there were either elderly or poor. That's changing, as they've built quite a few condos and apartments in the area. But I'd still rather shop there and eat there than live there...But, it's close to North Beacon Hill, which is mostly a nice residential neighborhood with some neighborhood retail, and has become increasingly popular in the last few years...
If you're going to be working at MLK and Madison, that's very close to the Madison Park neighborhood, which is very nice. Houses cost a lot there, but rentals might not.
Other than downtown Bellevue, most of Bellevue has a suburban feel to it...There's a lot to like there, but you'd have to cross the bridge to get to work, which can be a pain, and they're going to be adding tolls to the bridge. I grew up in NJ and have been stuck in traffic on the Parkway and the Turnpike, sitting in traffic and paying a toll for the privilidge of doing so.
Of all the neighborhoods you mentioned, the ones I personally like the most are Greenlake and Phinney Ridge..But do keep in mind that although Seattle has some excellent public schools, you have to seek them out and stay vigilant, because Seattle also has some public schools that are downright bad, and that Bellevue/Kirkland/Issaquah have better reputations for being good school districts.
Thanks for the detailed response Ira! My situation is very flexible right now, so even if I did end up working at MLK & Madison, I would likely only head into the office once or twice a week, so commuting wouldn't be too big a factor in all this. I will focus on the Greenlake and Phinney Ridge areas to start with, and look for school info first and foremost
I spent the first 30 years of my life in NYC. YAY the L.I.E. parking lot!
I agree with Ira500's comments.
I worked in Tokyo for many years and can't live without Uwajimaya, so I drive to my Bellevue branch. But I bought my home in 1990 and could never afford today to live in Bellevue.
If I lived in Seattle, I too would not live in the International District, despite the wondrous restaurants and shops which I go to whenever I'm in town; I would take a bus there any day of the week, though.
The places you mentioned are:
Suburban/urban feel check
Family-friendly check
Non-strip-mall shopping check except sometimes in suburbs (east side of Lake Washington)
Decent places to eat check
Walkable for evening strolls check
A pretty quick bus ride from the spectacular array of restaurants in downtown Seattle and closely-surrounding areas check except for much of the east side which has its own much smaller collection of amazing restaurants
Access to culture check except for much of the east side
The Japanese-American population is scattered all around; traditionally, families established themselves in Seattle (within the city limits), Auburn, Tacoma, lots of places, then on the east side, etc. The best way to find Japanese-Americans would be at cultural clubs, authentic restaurants where not a lot of English is spoken, Uwajimaya, the O-Bon festival, and so forth, and start conversations with others there. Just remember that most Japanese-Americans do not speak Japanese.
It's a frequent chant here that newcomers should rent first, for at least six months to figure out what they really want, as there is a mind-numbing lot of choices. Buying at the start has two hazards: buying in a place you don't know can bring great regret; and the real estate market here is in some areas in a very very slow slide, in others it's steady, in others it's rising. How to know where to choose? Live here for a while and learn. You can get six-month or one-year leases, while you figure out what place suits you.
5000 for property taxes for a 1 bedroom condo -ouch!!! Try and get a realtor show you around when you come on your investigatory trip. You will get a much better sense of what there is in your price range. House postings on the internet can be very, very misleading.
Second Jennibc. We thought we had a ton of reasonable possibilities in the $425-475 range until we saw them in person. Ouch!
We moved here in January with a 9-month-old baby. One thing to consider is that you probably won't want to be taking the bus everywhere with a baby or toddler. Too big of a pain. Seattle folks love to brag on their bus system, but then, those folks aren't big kid-people (to make an ungenerous sweeping generalization).
Perhaps you're already dealing with that where you live now and have the whole how-to-take-mass-transit-with-baby-gear stuff down pat; that's great. I just know I am too darn tired to do the stroller-fold-up, backpack stow, shopping-bags-down-safely, hold-the-kid-don't-let-him-run-around thing on a bus. Now add rush hour and standing-room-only, and it's hell for me.
So, if you plan to do your shopping and travelling in a car, you might look closely at the neighborhoods and make sure there's parking at the grocery store(s), there's parking at the restaurants, etc that are beyond walking distance. Having things a short bus ride away can be like having things in another state, if you've got young kids and you are exhausted.
(Having all those things within walking distance, on the other hand, would be excellent. No loading up the car with crap. No unloading crap on the other end. No sitting on 405 because the thing you HAD to have was in Tukwila and you were in Sammamish).
Good luck with the move. The people we bought our house from are doing your move in reverse. They have a 6-year-old and moved from Redmond to NJ to commute to NYC. I don't understand it at all, but I'm glad they did, because I like their house! I think I heard their new property taxes are around $16k a year. Couldn't believe it.
...But you can buy more housewise than you could have bought a year ago. Prices in Duvall and carnation have fallen over 10% in the last 12 months, and down in Bellevue, Redmond, and Issaquah 6-7%, Renton 9%, Seattle 5%.
I'm seeing houses in Bellevue and Issaquah for 50,000 dollars less than they were a year ago. Which is not to say that it's a great time to buy or that we've hit bottom, but homes are becoming a little more affordable.
We moved here in January with a 9-month-old baby. One thing to consider is that you probably won't want to be taking the bus everywhere with a baby or toddler. Too big of a pain. Seattle folks love to brag on their bus system, but then, those folks aren't big kid-people (to make an ungenerous sweeping generalization).
+1
I work with a ton of people with kids and not one of them uses mass transit, recombinant bike, horse, kayak, electric egg car, dirt bike, or segway to get to work.
(I have seen/heard on news of people using all of these methods to commute in this area)
Maybe a few take a ferry with kids, but I wouldn't know.
A local radio station even had one of their hosts try to commute into Seattle from Maple Valley and wound up having to park illegally, take 2 hours longer than normal, and put up with a couple of crazy dudes to make it into work.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ira500
...But you can buy more housewise than you could have bought a year ago. Prices in Duvall and carnation have fallen over 10% in the last 12 months, and down in Bellevue, Redmond, and Issaquah 6-7%, Renton 9%, Seattle 5%.
I'm seeing houses in Bellevue and Issaquah for 50,000 dollars less than they were a year ago. Which is not to say that it's a great time to buy or that we've hit bottom, but homes are becoming a little more affordable.
It might even be worth it to rent, and if you really find somewhere you like, break your lease. It'll cost you to break the lease, but it might be less than if you simply bought a house somewhere the moment you got here and the price went down.
Thanks all for your wonderful advice and suggestions, and comments about the Japanese aspect of things as well!
Basically the choice as I see it (thanks to you all!) is between the north Seattle areas I mentioned near(-ish) to Green Lake, or the eastside. The Japanese population is spread out enough that we'll just seek it out rather than try to be surrounded by it like we are here.
At present, I'm leaning towards the north Seattle choice simply because of the easier access to the city, and the neighborhood feel you have described up there, versus the super-suburbanized feel of the eastside. Please correct me if I'm wrong!
Any thoughts on what daily traffic is like throughout the north side areas, NOT on the highways?
I think we will try renting a townhouse or single-family home for a year to get a feel for things and then take it from there, watching the house prices and pouncing if anything great comes up.
I've found a place on N 88 St near Aurora Ave. Anyone live around there? Thoughts?
Ira - I've noticed the prices are well within our means now, while staying in North Jersey would basically cripple us financially... thanks for your insights!
AllForCats - what were you doing in Tokyo? Your post was VERY helpful!!! Thanks for the links
Jennibc - I KNOW!!! It's absolutely insane!!! And the school systems aren't anything special in most towns, awful in many. I'll take your advice about a realtor.
jenlion - were the homes you looked at found on a site with MLS listings? or something more casual like Craigslist? Some of the new construction townhomes look lovely to me, but I don't have particularly good taste in these things We will likely do most of our shopping/travelling by car. My wife has been pretty good about bringing the baby into NYC by public transportation, and that's pretty much the worst thing imagineable in my opinion! She's a pro at handling the stroller, etc. and it amazes me seeing her do it all at once (she's rather tiny). I'll definitely take your advice about car/neighborhood compatibility
Obsidian - That's insane! We live in a waterfront condo right now, and I'm so tempted to hang a kayak from our balcony and brave the Hudson River rapids into Manhattan some days when the traffic is terrible... Even if it takes longer, it'd be far more fun!
Any thoughts on what daily traffic is like throughout the north side areas, NOT on the highways?
In my experience -- not nearly as crowded as in Queens... During the day, there's quite a bit of traffic but it's mellow. People don't honk horns here, and they don't yell out their windows at each other, unless they come from New York and New Jersey... At night, it's pretty quiet.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OnMyWay
I think we will try renting
Good for you! Very smart! Avoids making choices from ignorance.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OnMyWay
AllForCats - what were you doing in Tokyo? Your post was VERY helpful!!! Thanks for the links
I thought it was intellectual adventure, which it was, and professional exotic madness, which it also was; eventually it became apparent to me that it was karma and I was back, comfortably, smoothly, in a culture of which I had been a part before. You're very welcome.
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At night, it's pretty quiet. 
