Hey tri peeps,
I may be moving to Seattle (from San Diego) and don’t know the area or anyone. I can live almost anywhere as I work from home. Some questions: Where is a good place to live? (I would rent at first, and am a typical type “A” triathlete). Where is a bad place to live? (so I can avoid looking there). How are the roads for riding? How’s the open water swimming? How’s the tri club? Any other general advice is welcome.
thanks in advance,
-TC
There has been a fair amount of hashing of this subject over the past 12 - 18 months, so run a search and you will get a basic outline. What it comes down to is what type of community you want to live in and how much you want to commute for your training options. Living on the eastside is good for training, less optimal for socializing. The converse can be said about the westside. We live in Greenlake (on the westside) and it’s one of the few communities where you have running, indoor/outdoor swimming and trailheads all coverging. I think it is a great training community, but others like Bellevue and Kirkland. I would avoid nice areas that are “transition” communities from a commute perspective – Montlake, Magnolia, Belltown.
PM me if I can be of help.
I am also contemplating a move to Seattle. I would need to be fairly close to the UW medical center, Harborview, and sometimes the VA for my job as a resident.
How is the commute from greenwood to Harborview? or to the UW Medical center?
What about the capitol hill area?
Can I afford to buy a 2bed/2bath or bigger place with parking for around $300K?
It looks like there are a few nice townhomes going up in the greenwood area, can I get one of these for this price?
Thanks
JD
Depending on where you were in Greenwood, a commute to most of those places would be 15 - 20 minutes during rush hour. Greenlake, Phinney, Revenna and Greenwood have seen a fair amount of townhouse development over the past 12 months. Two bedroom/two bathroom places run around $300,000 - $350,000 in Greenwood.
Capital Hill is fairly young and pretty hip. You would have better commutes, save for UW, but prices will be higher. A two and two in a condo will run you $500,000 in Capital Hill. There is also a lot more petty crime in that area due to the population density.
Can I afford to buy a 2bed/2bath or bigger place with parking for around $300K?
YOU CRACK ME UP!!!
Median home prices in King County just dropped below $400k and that number includes condos. The closer you are to Seattle the further north of $400k the price gets.
No really, our real estate market has taken a hit over the past year but it was SO over valued that its still no where near that price range in Seattle. You could find something for that in Lynnwood or Kent but not right in Seattle.
As far as other question go about living & training in the area here’s my situation:
I live on Capitol Hill, I can bike from my doorstep and do a 100+ miles of riding on mostly bike friendly roads. Running from my place is also easy & comes with plenty of hills to suffer through. There are plenty of pools in the area, quite a few masters groups & open water swimming is easy to do around here memorial day through labor day. (some make the open water season much longer than that though)
Greenwood to Harborview depending on the time of day isn’t too bad. Bankers hours 30 to 45 mintue commute, non bankers hours 10 minutes.
Travis
dumb blog
I am also contemplating a move to Seattle. I would need to be fairly close to the UW medical center, Harborview, and sometimes the VA for my job as a resident.
How is the commute from greenwood to Harborview? or to the UW Medical center?
What about the capitol hill area?
Can I afford to buy a 2bed/2bath or bigger place with parking for around $300K?
It looks like there are a few nice townhomes going up in the greenwood area, can I get one of these for this price?
Thanks
JD
Ms. Roady has basically done both commutes (CD and Greenlake to the UW) and much prefers the former.
I almost think it’s a tubular/clincher thing, but I much prefer being on the south side of the bridge (I’m in the Central District/Madison Valley area), particularly the riding. It seemed that when I was in Greenlake I had to spend 20-30 minutes to actually get to a stretch of road to train, where as from my current location I can be doing intervals on Mercer Island in 10-15 minutes, or Madrona repeats in less than 5 minutes.
I don’t know much about open water swimming, but my old dog sure liked swimming in Lake Washington…
They’re both good places to live–just different. It would probably be worth checking out both.
Thanks for the help
It looks like purchasing a place is going to be tough. I did see a fair number of 2/2 places in the greenwood area for around 350. I won’t be there for a year so who knows what the price will be then.
If you had the option of moving to Seattle or near the Palo Alto, CA area, what would you choose?
Obviously triathlon training isnt the sole criterion, but it is one factor.
Cali is more $$$$$ but less Rain.
If you had the option of moving to Seattle or near the Palo Alto, CA area, what would you choose?
Obviously triathlon training isnt the sole criterion, but it is one factor.
Cali is more $$$$$ but less Rain.
Umm, is that a joke??
Seriously, don’t ever ask that question this time of year. We just finished with the ‘4 hrs. of daylight per day’ thing…
It’s all puppies and rainbows in Palo Alto–who wouldn’t want to live there??
If you had the option of moving to Seattle or near the Palo Alto, CA area, what would you choose?
Obviously triathlon training isnt the sole criterion, but it is one factor.
Cali is more $$$$$ but less Rain.
Umm, is that a joke??
Seriously, don’t ever ask that question this time of year. We just finished with the ‘4 hrs. of daylight per day’ thing…
It’s all puppies and rainbows in Palo Alto–who wouldn’t want to live there??
No joke. I grew up in BC until I was 20, so I know what it’s like in the pacific northwest. I still think a summer day + winter day in seattle is better than 2 summer days in Cali.
Cali is the same everyday. I don’t mind a little rain.
I don’t live in Seattle, but travel there about every 3 weeks from the Los Angeles area on business. My thoughts on Seattle. It never stops raining. It’s a light rain, but it’s always raining. Okay, a couple of days it hasn’t rained. Although it the summer, it is light until like 10:00pm. Nothing wrong with that for an evening bike ride.
If you’re moving there, I wouldn’t buy a house right away. Wait. The real estate market has just started dropping there. Just like the S.D. market started dropping before L.A. did, it’s now happening in Seattle. 6 months ago, friends in Seattle thought they would be immune (yeah right) to the bubble bursting.
In Bellevue, they’re building tons of condo’s in high rises, and asking prices are ridiculous. They will come down big time.
If it weren’t for the cost of living, I’d choose Palo Alto. But Seattle isn’t bad. Friends tell me it takes two to three years to get used to the weather though.
Good luck.
You did not ask me, but I’ll chime in anyway to support the chamber of commerce…housing prices in Palo Alto are insane and the socializing is totally bunk. Short and sweet.
You should come during the summer when we have 4 - 6 week stretch of 70 - 75 deg, no humidity and no rain. We haven’[t had rain in the past 10 days. It actually rains as much in New York as it does in Seattle, just more frequently here. But on the plus side, Hawaii is just a non-stop away.
If you don’t have to be in Seattle, I might suggest the Olympia area. Lots of quality roads for riding “right out your door” as well as plenty of good running routes. Some decent pools and you’re almost smack-dab in between Seattle and Portland.