Mid-March 2008, relocate to Seattle questions

I am moving to Seattle in mid-March to begin a job with the USACE near Boeing Field. I am trying to pen down areas to live and likely buy. I have been looking at homes/townhomes in West Seattle, as I would take a bus. I don't want to get hung in commutes. Does anyone have any other suggestions?

Thanks,

Andrew

PS. I would like to hook up with some people to ski. I had to cancel an excursion during the summer with Scotman.

Yea I remember talking to you !
I don't live in Seattle so I'll let others respond. West Seattle very nice area though.
Pm me when you get here and we'll get you out on a tour with some of the reprobates here!

Do I pass muster as a reprobate?

Hard to avoid the traffic here ( almost no matter what you try ). There are lots of great places to live in Seattle but the specifics depend on your needs. This is an absolutely incredible part of the United States.

I live in Beacon Hill, your commute from here would be almost nothing. Also, in the event of another large city snowfall the street skiing is pretty good.

Beacon Hill definitely isn't for everyone, but it's worth looking at if you don't mind a very diverse
neighborhood. Also, you can probably save a couple of bucks compared to some other places around the city.

Gotta say I'm big on West Seattle having lived there for 15 years and both of us commuted to well Georgetown. We kinda just fell off the hill in the morning. We used the back road highland aveto get near Boing.
The words given on Beaconhill are good as well.

Here are some useful tools for scoping out:

The Seattle real-estate market:
www.zillow.com/homes/map/Seattle,wa_rb/
www.redfin.com/search#search_location=Seattle%2Cwa

Crime Rates:
web1.seattle.gov/seastats/doStatistics.aspx

The daily Seattle traffic disaster:
www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/seattle/

I'm not sure about the roads around Boeing Field, but commuting by bicycle is a great way to avoid traffic jams and keep the legs in shape for the slopes. In spite of the rain Seattle is a great city for bike commuting. My commute is about 6 miles and is faster by bike than bus. Plus you are on your own schedule, not trying to time the bus and waiting at stops etc.

These links have some maps that may be helpful.

www.kingcounty.gov/transportation/kcdot/Roads/Bicycling.aspx

www.cascade.org//Community/seattleinfo.cfm

I have to agree with BobS. I ride my bike from West Seattle to Georgetown and it is much faster than the bus and some days it's actually faster than driving. Plus it's great cardio training for backcountry skiing!!

West Seattle is certainly pricey, but there are pockets that are cheaper. We have lived in West Seattle for a year and a half and we love it!!

Good luck with the search!!

Dan

Hi-

I work at Boeing Field and have a house in Burien. My wife and I have been very happy here for the last three years. These are the items that sold us.

-The commute is very pleasant - about 10 minutes in the car and 30 to 45 minutes by bike - no traffic problems at all.

-We have decent mountain bike trails, two disc golf courses, a nice public beach, a skate park, a golf course, good road biking and more all within 10 minutes from downtown.

-For the region, house prices are low because of the proximity to the airport (seatac).

-There are several nice places to go out to eat in town and a good brew pub (Elliot Bay Brewery). And we have a Trader Joes.

-Depending on traffic, the commute to downtown Seattle is 10 to 20 minutes. There are two freeways that service the Burien area only (518 an 509), which make traffic in and out of town uniquely good for the Seattle region.

West Seattle is also a very nice area, but it is more expensive and the commute is more troublesome. When we first move to the region, we had a place on Beacon Hill - it was OK and the commute was good, but the community was not for us.

Orion

Man! You people have sold me. What a place, and what warm, friendly people, and ski partners, into the mix! Dangit, I'm gonna move to Seattle - wait, I already live there! Darn, I was SO looking forward to moving, too...

West Seattle is where it's at. Easy to downtown, Easy to where you're going to commute, great community, year round farmers market, yada yada

Bad Parts: It will SUCK when the Viaduct is under construction....or heading north in general sucks.