Anyone know of any decent apartments in Mercer Island or Bellevue? (Seattle: section 8, apartment complex)

[Cobber_09]

I have been searching the internet and can't seem to find more than a few apartments in the Mercer Island or Bellevue area. The apartments that I have found get horrible reviews. Now I'm trying not to take all the reviews to heart but they are hard to completely ignore. Many of these reviews talk about all the other apartment complexs in both areas that are much better to live in. What complexes? I can't find them! I'm currently living in Minnesota and if it wasn't for that I would just drive around and search them out myself. I want to get all my research done so when I do fly down to Seattle for a couple of days I get look at the apartments I really want to see. So I was wondering if anyone knows of any decent apartment complexes in the Mercer Island or Bellevue area. Even if its just a name of a building you drove by! I need something! Thank you so much!

[AzDreamer]

Are you interested in an apartment where you can easily walk to stores for your daily needs? You might like the Mercer Island business district. There are some brand new buildings and many a few decades old. If you have a question about a specific complex there is probably someone on this site with first-hand knowledge.

Shorewood on Mercer Island is another apartment complex where you need to drive for just about everything, would that bother you?

[dacx]

One reason you're having a hard time is that alot of apartments in Bellevue are turning condo.

[VeronikaW]

If I were going to live in an apartment in Bellevue, I'd live at the Avalon Meyednbauer (http://www.avaloncommunities.com/avaloncore/nfloor.asp?comm=309 - broken link). We live in an apartment now that was run by Avalon, and when they owned it, it was great. They sold it last year, and the new management sucks.

[eskercurve]

I currently live on Mercer Island in the Island Square apartments. It's really nice, but the ceiling is thin so my upstairs neighbor sometimes gets to me with his inability to learn how to walk normally and not stomp. Also do not live on the end facing or near the QFC since in the summer a lot of kiddies with all the free time in the world like to blast their ghetto tunes till 2 AM. Eh, beats them going to dives on Rainier or in the U district and get into real trouble, but it is still annoying.

Other than that it has been peachy.

The new buildings going up / are up are The Mercer and another one just opened up ... forgot the name. Island Square is new here too. Basically they're all new, with Island Square the "oldest". They're all very conveniently located to the shops, grocery store, to the highway and bus, and it's a safe community. Good schools if you have kids.

Beware of online review sites. Most people will only review if they have something bad to say. I personally have found living on Island Square to be nice and the office attentive.

There are older places, like the Shorewood apartments and Island Crest apartments. I toured the Island Crest and it has Section 8 housing, has outdated appliances and interiors, the bathrooms feel like old 70s era motel bathrooms, are dark, and the on-site laundry consists of public washer and dryer units, but only 2 washers and 2 dryers for over 70 units. Pretty abysmal, but it's only $750 / month. You also have to drive everywhere because it's up on a hill and not practical to walk to the store for groceries or to the bus station. I recommend staying away from here.

[Cobber_09]

Thanks! Very helpful information! We were actually seriously considering Island Square and Avalon Meyednnauer but they got such bad reviews on the internet that we got scared off. It is nice to hear feedback from someone who doesn't have a chip on their shoulder.

The information about Shorewood and Island Crest was also very helpful. We looked at those apartment complexes and others but were wondering if the money saved would really be worth it. You pretty much affirmed what we feared. I would rather pay more to have a nice apartment, be walking distances to stores and cafes, and have some amenties.

Is it hard to get an apartment in these areas? Do they have any type of requirements I should be aware of?

[eskercurve]

If you have a job that will afford you the apartments (for two people, a 1 br will be something like 1100 a month all said and done), and don't have a major criminal background, then it shouldn't be a problem.

[jojo7]

The Park in Bellevue apartments are pretty nice and are in a great location. Walking distance to just about everything. Here is the wesbsite.... The Park in Bellevue I do know someone that lives in them and she hasn't complained about them. There are also another complex right next door but I cannot remember the name but both are on Bellevue Way right next to the post office. If you drive along Bellevue Way you will see quite a few apartment complexes especially heading towards I90 past the Main Street intersection.

[Cobber_09]

Thanks for the tips and info! Very helpful! My fiance has a job in downtown Seattle. Does anyone have an idea about how long it would take him to get to work in the morning (guessestimate)? I heard traffic can be brutal on that bridge...

[VeronikaW]

Well, your fiance is probably not going to want to drive to work, as traffic is an issue, and parking is ridiculous, and not free anywhere. He'll probably want to take the bus, and from Bellevue, I'm guessing that's maybe a 30 to 45 minute bus ride depending on where in Bellevue. We live in Issaquah (which is further East than Bellevue), and my husband's commute downtown via bus is 1 hour door to door.

If you're on Mercer Island, I'm thinking 20 minutes top via bus.

V. =)