sse2k

Hi folks!

In just under a month, I will be moving to Seattle, just accepted a great opportunity to work for Amazon at the SLU campus.

Currently I've been in the Phoenix metro area the past 6 years, but before that lived all over Southern California, mostly in Orange County. My wife and I will be relocating, along with our two cars and dog. We will likely be renting for the first year or less, unless we can find something that completely fits our needs. I'm looking minimize my commute as much as possible, while still retaining garage space for at least one of our cars.

We're very urban lifestyle people, so location is incredibly important, being able to walk places is key. We will be taking a house hunting tour trip shortly, but I wanted to get some ideas from locals on specific areas and neighborhoods in Seattle proper that could work. A 2 car garage and a yard would be ideal, but given the tradeoff between space and downtown proximity, I'm trying to get a feel for what options might be.

Given the strong desire to be close in to the downtown core, something else I am considering is loft style living close in, and keeping the S2000 in a managed garage space further out. Are there facilities like this in Seattle? We have some in the Scottsdale area, where people store their collector cars when they live out of town, for example.

Looking forward to the move!
Any feedback or advice is appreciated.

Thanks!

spets

Calling Manga_Spawn!

He's a fellow Amazon worker and also from PHX.

Manga_Spawn

Lol. Do you think this happened without my knowing or involvement? . Can't wait to have you up here Sean.

As for locations checkout Greenlake and Fremont to name just a few. Closer enough to downtown that the commute is good but you have a chance at a garage. I'll send out the email about rental properties and see if anyone had anything.

street_ruler

I think theres a sticky on where to live that someone wroteup and i wrote out some good places to hit initially when in seattle. after those you can form your own opinion

ill try and find the thread and ill edit this with a link if i do

sse2k

Thanks guys. So much planning lol.

More importantly, which HPDE groups should I join? NASA, PCA, something else? Checked the sticky really quick, looks like there's a few options. I run with ProAutsports here in AZ, and I believe they started a chapter up there too. My equivalent NASA run group is probably HPDE-3.

spets

There is a NASA NW chapter that recently started up and a few S2ks are in that one.

Most of the PNW S2ki gang likes to run with Turn2 Lapping, they are on the more relaxed side in terms of tech inspections, rollbar requirements, etc.

I used to run with NASA-AZ at PIR/Firebird back in my college days with my Integra

skibbz

I'd recommend Capitol Hill (the north end), it's a 20 or so minute walk to work and is a fun, interesting neighborhood but it's a lot quieter than further south. You'd be rubbing shoulders with the mayor, Macklemore, etc. The area near Pike/Pine is great if you're in your early 20's.


I also like Queen Anne / Fremont / Wallingford / Green Lake / Eastlake if you're after something a bit more chill. Ballard is great but is a bit deep, depending on where you plan on spending your time and how you'll get around.

Whatever you do, don't move to SLU, it's overpriced and offers VERY little, except proximity to Amazon :-p

Welcome to the neighborhood!

ALFYonso

Argh, all you Amazonians are driving up the rent in the city!!!

I'd echo what Matt (Skibbz) said. Capitol HIll is a good neighborhood. Good night life, good restaurants, walkable to downtown, Pioneer Square, etc. It used to be Seattle's artistic / indie / gay / hipster neighborhood, but lately, it's gotten infested with a pretty douchey / bro-y crowd. It's still got it's character, however, and I'm still personally down with it. I live in Capitol Hill in a 1 bedroom, 630 sqft apartment and park two cars in the building's secured garage. It's been working out pretty well thus far. It can get a little loud on weekend nights, but I'm probably contributing to that...

If you're not too big into the bar scene and want more quiet, Wallingford is a good place to check out. It's close to SLU and has really good eating and stores that are walkable. You'd also be more likely to find something with a usable garage in Wallingford, while still being able to walk to most places you need to. Fremont, which is next door to Wallingford, has a similar vibe, but is more 'drinkable'. Ballard is further out from SLU, but it's got a cool neighborhood-y vibe. Again, great places to eat and drink, and everything is walkable. It also seems like a place to find a decent garage setup.

Good luck!

Manga_Spawn

Capitol Hill is nice just very pricey and I feel like the chances of finding a decent sized place with a garage isn't great. Most of the nice big houses in there only have a 1 car from what I have seen. Maybe these guys can point you to something in there that has a garage?

sse2k

Thanks for the advice everybody.

So yeah I guess a little bit more about me and what we are looking for might help narrow down neighborhoods. I'm coming up there with my wife and dog, and S2000 and Fit. We are very much urban lifestyle types, but definitely need space for 2 cars. We're in our early 30s, so I feel a place that is quiet, but accessible to food, entertainment, and walkable is important. Neighborhood-y yet hip I guess.

We're in corporate housing for 2 months, so we have some time to settle. I definitely want to stay close to SLU, like within 5-7 miles to keep commute times down, so I guess the focus right now is the tradeoff between space and convenience.

We will be taking a trip up to tour neighborhoods in a week or so, so thanks guys for helping me get a short list of areas to look at. I guess the next question we'll have after visiting is whether to rent or buy immediately. Decisions, decisions. So much to do.