Moving to Seattle
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Moving to Seattle
My company just offered me a promotion and a move to Seattle. Excited, but kind of worried about housing prices. I'll be working in the Southcenter area. Can anybody give me some advice about the best areas to live, the most affordable, and some commuting tips? Most importantly, where's the best areas for road cycling? Safest roads? Best trails? Should I be looking to the south or east for housing? Geez, questions, questions, questions......
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Originally Posted by slotibartfast
My company just offered me a promotion and a move to Seattle. Excited, but kind of worried about housing prices. I'll be working in the Southcenter area. Can anybody give me some advice about the best areas to live, the most affordable, and some commuting tips? Most importantly, where's the best areas for road cycling? Safest roads? Best trails? Should I be looking to the south or east for housing? Geez, questions, questions, questions......
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Raised my family there in the 60s & 70s. We lived in Kirkland & West Seattle. Preferred West Seattle but prices may be out of sight now. One way to get lower housing prices is to commute cross Sound, from 1990 to 1997 I lived in Poulsbo & Kingston, commuted to Seattle on the Bainbridge ferry. You might check out Vashon Island, there is a ferry from Vashon to West Seattle & South Center is not that far from that ferry dock. Housing prices get better as you go South but again that means a longer commute.
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Jeez just move already! The biking will take care of itself, don't you worry. King County has excellent bike maps to start with. Cascade Bike Club also has maps and organized rides that can get you familiar with any part of town and a chance to meet new people.
The hardest part, as you've mentioned, is where to live. If you're working in Southcenter that could be a blessing cuz then you could live farther south of the city proper where housing is way cheaper. If you're looking to hang on to city life, then you have to weigh in on $$ vs. convenience of being closer to the city. Do you need a family-sized home or just for yourself? Is it important to commute by bike or by car? Driving commutes can kill a person's spirit, esp to those used to 2-wheeled travel, so that may be a consideration in narrowing areas to look at. All these things weigh in and it's hard to suggest where to live w/o knowing your restrictions. There are lots of good places to choose from (ooooooooooh Vashon Island!!), but ya got to narrow things down a wee bit.
And congrats on having your company fork out a promotion and a move to Seattle!
The hardest part, as you've mentioned, is where to live. If you're working in Southcenter that could be a blessing cuz then you could live farther south of the city proper where housing is way cheaper. If you're looking to hang on to city life, then you have to weigh in on $$ vs. convenience of being closer to the city. Do you need a family-sized home or just for yourself? Is it important to commute by bike or by car? Driving commutes can kill a person's spirit, esp to those used to 2-wheeled travel, so that may be a consideration in narrowing areas to look at. All these things weigh in and it's hard to suggest where to live w/o knowing your restrictions. There are lots of good places to choose from (ooooooooooh Vashon Island!!), but ya got to narrow things down a wee bit.
And congrats on having your company fork out a promotion and a move to Seattle!
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#6
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Originally Posted by harlot
Jeez just move already! The biking will take care of itself, don't you worry. King County has excellent bike maps to start with. Cascade Bike Club also has maps and organized rides that can get you familiar with any part of town and a chance to meet new people.
The hardest part, as you've mentioned, is where to live. If you're working in Southcenter that could be a blessing cuz then you could live farther south of the city proper where housing is way cheaper. If you're looking to hang on to city life, then you have to weigh in on $$ vs. convenience of being closer to the city. Do you need a family-sized home or just for yourself? Is it important to commute by bike or by car? Driving commutes can kill a person's spirit, esp to those used to 2-wheeled travel, so that may be a consideration in narrowing areas to look at. All these things weigh in and it's hard to suggest where to live w/o knowing your restrictions. There are lots of good places to choose from (ooooooooooh Vashon Island!!), but ya got to narrow things down a wee bit.
And congrats on having your company fork out a promotion and a move to Seattle!
The hardest part, as you've mentioned, is where to live. If you're working in Southcenter that could be a blessing cuz then you could live farther south of the city proper where housing is way cheaper. If you're looking to hang on to city life, then you have to weigh in on $$ vs. convenience of being closer to the city. Do you need a family-sized home or just for yourself? Is it important to commute by bike or by car? Driving commutes can kill a person's spirit, esp to those used to 2-wheeled travel, so that may be a consideration in narrowing areas to look at. All these things weigh in and it's hard to suggest where to live w/o knowing your restrictions. There are lots of good places to choose from (ooooooooooh Vashon Island!!), but ya got to narrow things down a wee bit.
And congrats on having your company fork out a promotion and a move to Seattle!
First of all, thanks for the bike maps site! Good info. I also have a brother who lives in Bellvue and is a cyclist, so I'm sure he can help me out there, too. As for narrowing things down......our kids are grown and finally gone, so it's just my wife and me to move, so we're looking at a house - hopefully 3 bedrooms, don't need too fancy, just something in a safe neighborhood that doesn't need a lot of work done to it (I'm not THAT handy...). Mostly worried about it being affordable. I'll have to commute by car since I'll be working with the public and there won't be showers available on site. Getting more excited about moving over to the west side to take advantage of all the stuff to do over there. As far as being close to the city, it's really not that important. We don't mind a longer drive into Seattle to go to an event. We just don't know off the top of our heads how Fedreal Way relates to Burien or Covington liveability-wise or affordabiltiy-wise, for example.