Ballard, Lower Queen Ann, West Seattle: Are all those neighborhoods nice for a family with little kids? (Garfield: apartment, rental market)

[movingwiththewind]

If not, why? What neighborhoods in the Seattle proper which are good for families have I missed? Thanks everybody for help and advice.

[Ira500]

Lower Queen Anne is pretty dense with lots of apartment buildings. Some people might say that's not so great for little kids. Of the neighborhoods you mentioned, I think West Seattle ( especially Alaska Junction and Admiral Districts) are especially kid friendly, and I'd add North Capitol Hill, Wallingford, Phinney Ridge, and the top of Queen Anne.

[W & C]

West Seattle is. LQA and Ballard are mostly for single people.

[movingwiththewind]

Thanks, Ira.

Originally Posted by Ira500

Lower Queen Anne is pretty dense with lots of apartment buildings. Some people might say that's not so great for little kids.

We currently live in a pretty dense neighborhood in Manhattan. Well, comparing with Seatlle, anywhere in Manhattan would be dense, I guess. Still, there are lots of kids, playgrounds, schools and so on all over the place. Is Seattle different in this regard? Does that mean Queen Anne density makes the neighborhood kids unfriendly?

Originally Posted by Ira500

Of the neighborhoods you mentioned, I think West Seattle ( especially Alaska Junction and Admiral Districts) are especially kid friendly, and I'd add North Capitol Hill, Wallingford, Phinney Ridge, and the top of Queen Anne.

We don't consider North Capitol Hill and top of Queen Anne, because we think it's very expensive. Basically, we're looking for a 2 bedroom appartment in the range of $1,500 and up to $1,700.

[movingwiththewind]

Thanks, W & C.

Originally Posted by W & C

West Seattle is. LQA and Ballard are mostly for single people.

I thought both Ballard and Lower Queen Anne are pretty big. What makes them singles only neigborhoods?

[W & C]

Originally Posted by movingwiththewind

Thanks, W & C.



I thought both Ballard and Lower Queen Anne are pretty big. What makes them singles only neigborhoods?

I didn't mean they were singles ONLY; I just meant that's who mostly lives there. F.E. you're a lot more likely to see a bar on a street corner than a playground. You don't see too many kids if you're out and about there. But you may be OK with that.

[Ira500]

We currently live in a pretty dense neighborhood in Manhattan. Well, comparing with Seatlle, anywhere in Manhattan would be dense, I guess. Still, there are lots of kids, playgrounds, schools and so on all over the place. Is Seattle different in this regard? Does that mean Queen Anne density makes the neighborhood kids unfriendly?

Honestly, I don't think there are a lot of neighborhood kids on lower QA, and I don't think there are a lot of playgrounds. Though there's lots to do for kids at Seattle Center. As far as schools go, Queen Anne has two elementaries, Coe and Hay, and both are considered amongst Seattle's best. Hay is on Garfield Street about 2/3 up the hill and Coe is near the top of the hill on 7th Ave West.
Ballard is big and there are schools and playgrounds, but not so much in the heart of the retail district around Market St and Ballard Ave...The area between Ballard and Fremont (aka Freelard) is also pretty interesting...Ballard also has one of Seattle's only great pizza places, which should be important to any NYer.

[SeattlitefromNC]

This has been alluded to a lot, but here goes: Seattle, as a whole, is a city where you are WAY more likely to see folks with dogs than with kids. It is not apparent right away, but it becomes more apparent when you pay attention.

For instance, I was in Ballard today. I happen to pay the "kid vs. dog" game when I'm boretd and walking about, so I counted how many people under the age of 16 that I saw versus how many dogs I saw. By my count, I saw three kids and 20 dogs whilst walking from 15th and Market to 22nd and Market. True story.

This is not to say that Ballard is family unfriendly, per se. I do think, however, that if neighborhoods teeming with kids are a priority, Ballard may be lacking. Ballard is a lovely mix of elderly Scandanavians, young hipsters, and nearly everyone in between ... but not a lot of kids. I think a lot of that has to do with the rental market and the way that the area has been marketed primarily to the young and single.

[movingwiththewind]

Thanks, everybody. So, what families with kids who chose to live in Queen Anne or Ballard do? How do they entertain their kids? Drive somewhere else? In addition, how about Eastlake or Northgate in this regard? Are they different? What neigborhoods in Seattle proper, other than West Seattle, are "ultimate" kids friendly areas with playgrounds and other infrastracture?

[jojo7]

I am not too familiar with Seattle neighborhood, however, I wanted to mention that Hay School happens to be a really good public school in Seattle. I know several people with children in that school and they are extremely satisfied with the quality of their education. If you go on greatschools.net you can read what parents have to say about each individual public school in the Seattle area and you will notice it vary greatly depending upon the neighborhood. I always use greatschools.net because it's opinions and experiences from parents who have children attending the school and not rated based upon test scores. It's definitely important to know about the public schools because should you decide to send your children to a private school, tuition is very expensive out here. I use to live on the east coast in NJ and private schools are more expensive out here. Hope this helps and good luck.