Advice needed from Seattle members

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64conv65hard

64conv65hard

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I have a opportunity at work to transfer to Seattle WA and was looking for some advice from members in or around the Seattle area. I will be working in downtown Seattle near Quest stadium (Seahawks). I have heard the traffic can be bad, but probably not as bad as here in DC area. Any recommendations on neighborhoods to look in or to avoid ? Kids are grown so no need to worry about school districts etc. Any help, ideas or info would be appreciated. Will be in Seattle approx. 3 weeks from now, for 2 weeks of work and recon. Thanks.........Kevin
 
Just know you are coming when it rains the most here
 
How long of a commute did you want? Did you want to live downtown or further away? I live in Lynnwood, about 20 miles north of Seattle, rent is less expensive there and around Bothell, if you dont want to live in the city.

Same with the areas south, Renton, Kent, Auburn, are less expensive but the commute at the end of the day is bad, 1:30 or so to go, 20-30 miles, not as bad going North.

West Seattle is a nice area, except White Center, as long as you dont live on Alki, pretty expensive, plus on a nice summer day it will take forever to get home, as its a cruising area, and there are really only two ways to get there.

The Queen Anne area of seattle is the "hipster" area, Beacon Hill is ok, Capitol Hill is ok, its the hmmm "free thinking"area. Fremont and Ballard are getting expensive i think. The bad area used to be the Central District, around 23rd and Jackson, i had not been there for a while, but helped someone move a while ago and its cleaned up.

Let me know if you have other questions
 
Well it all depends on what kind of place your looking for, and how much you have to spend $$$ most of the homes around Seattle are expensive even with the bad economy. Bellevue, Redmond, & Kirkland are all nice areas and are close enough still to not be to bad of a commute. But those areas can be expensive. Issaquah and Nord Bend are beautiful and get you out away from the city but they are still a straight shot back in on I90. Also expensive by most peoples budgets. Don’t want offend anyone by saying stay out of one city or another but I’ve always heard people complain about the air traffic noise around Seatac Airport & Boeing Field so you might want to stay away from the south west part of Seattle (Burien, Renton, Des Moines) That’s not to say there isn’t nice places in those areas just a lot air traffic. I heard good things from people who live in West Seattle but it is right in line with the airports to. To far south and you will have long long bumper to bumper commutes to look forward to. I spent a number of years driving a delivery truck all over Seattle and the Eastside (Bellevue, Kirkland, & Redmond) and it can be a challenging commute at times. You have about 6 million people in King county and every dam one of them has a car or 2 …… LOL But hey I got the hell out a year & a half ago and moved over to the east side of the state. No traffic and sun for 300 plus days of the year. I’m sure you will be able to find something that fits your needs. Good luck!
 
Rain coat was the first thing that came to my mind.

Check out Bellvue (sp?) Wash. Nice town just outside of Seatte.
 
I haven't really researched this, but I cannot imagine that Seattle would be more expensive than D.C.
 
I haven't really researched this, but I cannot imagine that Seattle would be more expensive than D.C.
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good way to find out is to hit up Craigslist for some of the towns and cities listed and see what people are asking. Then look around the area you live in (DC) and it will give you an idea of the market. I just know that there are a lot of high end homes in the areas I listed as "nice" but still near Seattle. "Expensive" is always a relative term, to some they may be cheep but for the most part the area around Lake Washington is Expensive by most peoples standards. I mean after all that is where Bill Gates lives (owner of Microsoft and only one of the richest people in the world) just pocket change for me lol!
 
I figure Seattle is a little cheaper but not by much. Right now I have a 40 minute commute (35miles) but of course I leave at 4:45am. I am home by 2:15pm though. Airport noise is something to think about. I guess the commuter trains could also be an option for me. How is the commute coming in from the north or northeast? Sounds like the south of the city is like here in DC, terrible. Price range is around 4.
 
I live in Gig Harbor which is in Pierce County. The property taxes are much lower than King County. Microsoft has really driven up property values around Seattle and to the East around Bellevue.
 
all I know is that we have some of the worst traffic in the country.... It sucks trying to get from one place to another, there are buses and now a few trains going from north south of downtown.
 
The Seattle region sits on the east edge of Puget Sound for the most part and Seattle itself is wedged in between the Sound and Lake Washington, This means you really only have one major north-south arterial (I 5) in Seattle proper and only a couple major east-west ones feeding into Seattle across Lake Washington (I 90 for one). This makes commuting by car a slow and arduous process at best and nearly impossible at times due to weather and traffic bottling up I 5.

Because King Street station is literally across the parking lot from the stadiums, commuting in by train from somewhere far more affordable (and some would say far more livable) than close-in Seattle looks to be a real option for you. The more local Sounders are the commute train, but still run all the way in from Everett in the north and Tacoma in the south. While not in the same league as northeast corridor high speed rail timewise perhaps, the regional commute Cascade Talgo trains coming in from as far away as Eugene Or and Vancouver BC make commuting in from as far away as Olympia in the south and Mount Vernon in the north quite doable, although with less flexible and longer commute times.
Type Sounder Train or Amtrak Cascades into your search engine to look up their timetables and maps.

i've met a lot of people over the years living on the Olympic penninsula and various islands in the Sound taking ferries (Washington State Ferries) to work in downtown Seattle, too. If the scheduling worked out for you that might be a viable option also.
 
Seattle traffic sucks but to be fair. Seattle has a bad rap on rain. Winter into spring it does rain, not uncommon for a coastal city . Seattle can have some beautiful weather and i think Portland actually gets more rain and if you want HOT come over to my side of the state, summer avg 85 to 100 +.
 
I'm with you there zigs, already made the jump over the mountains to Tri Cities area and loving it! Lived down south of Seattle out by Lake Tapps, nice place but the wife and I both grew up there and it has changed so much in the last 10 to 15 years that it just wasn't home anymore. The company I work for opened a place in Pasco and offered up a transfer and we couldn't move fast enough. Plus the property is half the price. They give traffic reports on the radio here but we can't figure out why, oh and the speed limit is 70 mph on the freeway and you can do it or far faster during the so called rush hour.
 
I hate Seattle traffic. I won't drive over there. Let my wife do it shes crazy. i don't have the patients for it. I laugh when i watch the news and they get a little snow ,they stop there cars and get out and walk... ON THE FREEWAY. lIKE THERE GOING TO SLIDE OFF THE ROAD GOING 2 MILES AN HOUR IN BACKED UP TRAFFIC.
 
I've been here for 25 years now and if I was going to stay for a short time I would definately check into renting a furnished condo in the west seattle area. 20 min commute, cool nitelife, nice community, lotsa condos available for the week or month. C-list is your best bet.
 
volarerob said:
Well it all depends on what kind of place your looking for, and how much you have to spend $$$ most of the homes around Seattle are expensive even with the bad economy. Bellevue, Redmond, & Kirkland are all nice areas and are close enough still to not be to bad of a commute. But those areas can be expensive. Issaquah and Nord Bend are beautiful and get you out away from the city but they are still a straight shot back in on I90. Also expensive by most peoples budgets. Don’t want offend anyone by saying stay out of one city or another but I’ve always heard people complain about the air traffic noise around Seatac Airport & Boeing Field so you might want to stay away from the south west part of Seattle (Burien, Renton, Des Moines) That’s not to say there isn’t nice places in those areas just a lot air traffic. I heard good things from people who live in West Seattle but it is right in line with the airports to. To far south and you will have long long bumper to bumper commutes to look forward to. I spent a number of years driving a delivery truck all over Seattle and the Eastside (Bellevue, Kirkland, & Redmond) and it can be a challenging commute at times. You have about 6 million people in King county and every dam one of them has a car or 2 …… LOL But hey I got the hell out a year & a half ago and moved over to the east side of the state. No traffic and sun for 300 plus days of the year. I’m sure you will be able to find something that fits your needs. Good luck!
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Sure Rob, tell him all about 20 below zero and all the sunshine you can handle. 8)
 
If you can work the off hours your commute will be much better than the rest of us. I commute 75 miles one way but in the morning I leave my house at 4:30 and it takes me a little over an hour to get in. The evenings are a whole 'nother story. If I haven't left by 430 I usually stay until 630 and let the traffic clear out. When I have a carpool partner it helps a ton as well. I work right next to Safeco and Qwest fields and if I can roll in the carpool lane I can get on the express lanes at Cherry st and stay in the carpool lane all the way up to the north side of Everett, saving me at least 45 minutes. As far as snow on the ground and people leaving their cars and walking, as stupid as it sounds it happens. If people around here can see snow, not even on the road surface, I will gaurantee that the commute will be miserable and you will see people do things that there is absolutely no logical explanation for. And rain, well it seems to have the same effect on roughly half of those people, even though they saw it yesterday.

Jason
 
Sure Rob, tell him all about 20 below zero and all the sunshine you can handle. :cool:
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no it's only gotten to -6 for both the winters that we have been here.... lol but the up side is 110 in the summer :glasses7:
 
I moved to Seattle in 1966 and recall listening to the radio one morning on my way to work. The DJ commented that we had just beat the Bible...that it was the 41st consecutive day of measurable rain.

The Pacific Northwest is beautiful country when the sun is out, and they have much to brag about...but it wasn't for me. Rain, volcanoes, earthquakes, hurricane-force winds, horrible traffic, and left coast politics. It took thirty years before I could get away, and except for the glut of old Mopars, I don't miss it for a second.
 
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