Seattle, WA

[lambspam]

I'm moving to Seattle from the east coast. What banks do people tend to use out there? Wachovia and BB&T, the major banks in our area, don't really seem to exist that far west.

[was1984]

I'm moving to Seattle from the east coast. What banks do people tend to use out there? Wachovia and BB&T, the major banks in our area, don't really seem to exist that far west.

Wachovia was purchased by Wells Fargo, so you can use a Wells Fargo if you already have a Wachovia account.

[zack ambrose]

Hi,

I'm moving to Seattle this fall to start graduate school. I've been trying to find apartments online but it seems that they are only available about a month out.

I'm currently in Pittsburgh where you can rent for the fall now in certain student neighborhoods.

Any suggestions on searching etc..?

I'm planning to come out in August to find a place. Will that be enough time before the September school start?

[neuropsych76]

On 5/3/2011 at 8:31 AM, zack ambrose said:

Hi,

I'm moving to Seattle this fall to start graduate school. I've been trying to find apartments online but it seems that they are only available about a month out.

I'm currently in Pittsburgh where you can rent for the fall now in certain student neighborhoods.

Any suggestions on searching etc..?

I'm planning to come out in August to find a place. Will that be enough time before the September school start?

i'm facing a similar problem. the place i'm moving too has most of their housing up only a month before i can move it. i love to plan things out way in advance so its driving my nuts not knowing where im going to live for awhile.

however, i tried craigslist and already got a few responses for apartments starting in August. that seems to be a decent place to start

good luck!

[Kirobaito]

I'm heading up to Seattle for a few days at the end of April to meet my advisors and scope out a living situation. I'm generally used to getting things done as early as possible, but is trying to find housing for September 1 in April too much of a stretch? If it is, I guess I'll just look at neighborhoods (Wallingford and Ravenna both seem ideal), come up with a list of possibilities, and then rent-from-afar later when they become available.

[brandyalexander]

I'm heading up to Seattle for a few days at the end of April to meet my advisors and scope out a living situation. I'm generally used to getting things done as early as possible, but is trying to find housing for September 1 in April too much of a stretch? If it is, I guess I'll just look at neighborhoods (Wallingford and Ravenna both seem ideal), come up with a list of possibilities, and then rent-from-afar later when they become available.

Spoke to a secretary in the dept I am planning to attend. She said that findin housing does not take more than three days and that you shouldnt really look earlier than mid August!

I'm worried about finances though. Anyone know if it is possible to survive on 13,000 a year here??

[lonelymonk]

Greetings!

I am international student joining UW, Seattle in fall 2012 for the graduate program in Mathematics. I too don't know anybody in Seattle. I am currently hunting for apartments and roommates. It woulf be great if some of you can give me pointers on how to go about the search. Personally, I would like to share the apartment with two more students(preferably graduate students). Assuming that I select a decent apartment in a good neighborhood, how much do I need to pay for rent per month? How much should I spend on food, internet, gas etc do lead a 'comfortable ' student life . My budget is around 1200 $ per month.

I checked out some apartments online and on craiglist. But it is difficult to guage the condition of the house just from the pictures. It will be very helpful if anyone of you can suggest in which neighborhoods should I start searching.

Thanks !

[postapocalypso]

How do folks feel about Montlake? I've been casting my beady eye thereward, as it seems to be situated nicely between the University district and downtown, but Wiki describes it as "affluent," which... is not normally in my vocabulary. Not to mention I'm concerned about what that body of water might entail. (The satellite view from Google Maps makes it look crossable on foot--true fact?)

[MashaMashaMasha]

Montlake *is* very affluent, and I'd be surprised if you could find a house for rent, let alone at a reasonable price. If you do come across one though, it's conveniently located, pretty and very pedestrian/bike friendly. The Montlake bridge has big wide bike/pedestrian only sections on either side.

[Usmivka]

Oddly enough, Montlake use to be a student neighborhood because of the houseboats, which back in the day nobody but students would rent. But that was the 70s, nowadays any rentals in Montlake are luxury units. Ravenna and Sand Point have the same sort of feeling as Montlake, but have some affordable rentals.

I'd consider broadening your search. Fremont and Ballard are fun and friendly neighborhoods with lots of ameneties and plenty of very reasonable rentals, but quieter sub-neighborhoods too (they used to be independent towns) and are super accessible to the UW by bike: 15 minutes on the bike trail from Fremont, 20-30 from various parts of Ballard. Bus service is awful going E-W though, and parking is at a premium in the UDistrict, so this only makes sense if you are serious about self-propelled commuting.

I've lived in every neighborhood along the ship canal, and I will never live in the U-District or the part of Wallingford immediately adjacent to the freeway again. Way too expensive ($300-500/month more than you would pay for an equivalent property in Ballard) and noisey for what I think are some of the crummiest housing north of the cut. If you are going to pay that much or can't deal with the poor public transit to Fremont/Ballard, live somewhere interesting like Cap Hill or lower Queen Anne, both of which have very good bus service to the UW.

Most UW grad students I know live in houses together or with their significant others in the nicer parts of Wallingford, Fremont, or Ravenna, and pay $400-500 per person. Expect to pay more if you want your own place, one-bedrooms of good quality are $750-1200. More than that you are being gouged or paying for the convenience of your location.

Edited June 12, 2012 by Usmivka

[postapocalypso]

Thanks much for the info! I've been trawling places like CraigsList and ULoop for housing, and spotted a couple ads seeking roommates for what seemed like reasonable prices. I'm trying to keep rent/utilities at under $600 without sacrificing location (I don't have a car and would prefer to avoid being totally reliant on public transportation). So it's definitely good to know that public transit can get iffy in Fremont and Ballard! Are there any rental companies or landlords I should definitely avoid?

[Usmivka]

I'd avoid many landlords and all rental companies in the U-District, many are slumlords. Check the place out first, or get a friend to, and check the Seattle DPD website (http://www.seattle.g...andlord_Tenant/) to make sure there aren't outstanding complaints against the landlord. Rental companies in general are unusual in Seattle, and are usually building specific. Rental "finder's fees" are always a scam in Seattle (personally I think they are a scam out East too, but renters here seem to accept them...). Don't sign onto a sublet without checking into whether it is allowed in the lease, otherwise you could find yourself evicted by the landlord with little notice--you have few rights if you aren't on the lease.

If you are going to the UW, send an e-mail to your department's student listserv seeking a room, this will likely net you better accommodations and roommates.

Also, unlike most parts of the country, mold is more or less expected in Seattle because of the climate, but pests are a big warning sign (As opposed to Boston, where every building has mice, but mold sticks out like a sore thumb). Keep this in mind when asking the landlord about potential issues.

Fremont public transit can still be good at the bottom of the hill (better than Wallingford, actually), there are many buses going all over the city, including an express to the U-District and back (#46). But the top of the hill near 46th Ave is only served by the #44, which can get really jammed. And Ballard is fine into downtown. It is just E-W transit that suffers, N-S is usually good. So I say Ballard is spotty from the perspective of going to the UW by bus, but it is great to get to city center. And still totally bikeable in all weather regardless--to be clear, you will likely need a bike if you don't have a car.

Also, if you want walking distance, consider Eastlake. You have to cross the bridge, but it is is very close to the Medical Center and South campus.

Edited June 21, 2012 by Usmivka

[grover3000]

Capitol Hill is a pretty great place to live too. Rents can be expensive but it's not impossible to find deals here and there. Cap Hill is perfectly situated between downtown and the U-District. It's a pretty young, dense, vibrant district that caters to many types of people. There are tons of places to eat, endless things to do and the bus access is excellent. If you like people watching then Cal Anderson Park is a wonderful place to sit down and chill (especially on sunny days when they come!) Volunteer Park is a gem as well, a nice place to have a quiet walk and/or visit the Conservatory or Asian Art Museum. The 43 and 49 both run frequently to downtown and the U-District. Fremont and Wallingford would also be good choices too as other posters have mentioned. Ballard seems a little out of the ways, but thats just my opinion.

[RiseofthePhoenix]

With all the fluctuations in the economy and all I thought I'd seek an updated response from you Seattlelites. I applied to two separate programs at UW and they're my 1st and 2nd choices respectively so I'd like to believe that I may be headed there in Fall hopefully. I'd ideally like to live on my own and I don't have any pets or so's moving with me.

Specifically, I'd like to find out the ballpark range for rent in a tiny studio (have an MA used to grad style matchbox housing, lifestyle etc), and any ideas as to what areas to look for quiet and affordable housing.

Thanks in advance.

[Usmivka]

See the above posts from June.  Studios are concentrated downtown, U-District, and Capitol Hill. None of those areas is an epitome of "quiet and affordable," although there are some pockets at the North end of Cap Hill that seem nice (but pricier). Not that studios don't exist elsewhere, they are just less common.

Ballpark $600-1000/month in those areas, whereas you could get a one bedroom for similar in the quieter neighborhoods noted previously.

 

Consider also Phinney Ridge or Greenlake, just north of Fremont. As with the previous person, your decision may be constrained by what sort of transit you plan to use and what you consider to be a reasonable commute (everything is fast by biking, buses are often slow E-W but fast N-S, and car commutes to the UW are very difficult).

Edited December 28, 2012 by Usmivka

[RiseofthePhoenix]

^thanks for the info. I appreciate it.

[stillalivetui]

Seems like everyone is mentioning all the neighborhoods except the Central District. It's a really good residential location that is smack dab in the middle of Seattle. You can find some really good spots here (It's where I'm currently residing), and its really close to the UW with very accessible bus lines if you don't have a car. 

 

If anyone has any particular questions about the city, feel free to ask! I'm going on my fifth year here, and I cannot rave enough about how great Seattle is.

Edited January 9, 2013 by stillalivetui

[Usmivka]

Seems like everyone is mentioning all the neighborhoods except the Central District.

I'd take this with a grain of salt. The Central District has relatively few amenities and the primary bus access (#49) is the longest and least on time route in Seattle. Being "in the middle" on a north-south axis doesn't help a whole lot when most services are concentrated well west or north of the neighborhood. This is primarily a result of the area traditionally being home to underserved populations with little political clout. It was one of the few low-income neighborhoods in Seattle with significant demographic diversity, but a slow steamroll of gentrification (driven primarily by college students in the core and academics and professionals on the fringes) is forcing minority residents south into the Rainier Valley. I'd describe it as a "high stress" neighborhood given tensions resulting from the above, and crime, including murder, is above the Seattle average. A better discussion of what to think about if you are considering moving to the Central District is found here. The net out is that the Central District is more like Boston--things can get dramatically better or worse in a few blocks, and I personally think you need to have feet on the ground and can check out the specific block you are thinking about before considering moving in. Most of the other neighborhoods named above are less complex in a sense, because the majority of the are within a neighborhood is similar and can be succinctly described without major caveats.

Edited January 9, 2013 by Usmivka

[fishasaurus]

Seconding Usmivka. I've lived in Seattle my entire life, and I avoid the CD because 1) there's no reason to go there because there is nothing there 2) there's too much gang activity for me to feel safe. On top of that, even if the 49 goes down there, that bus is ALWAYS late. ALWAYS. I used to rely on that route to get to work, and I got written up so many times because of how late it is. Even when I got to the stop 30 minutes early, the 49 (supposed to come every 15 minutes) would be 45 minutes late. Sure, it's not always that bad, but I would not depend on it.

[stillalivetui]

I LOLed at the gang activity. If you guys ever go to Los Angeles, make sure you stick to staying in Beverly Hills. You might feel a little better there being surrounded by rich white people.

Edited January 9, 2013 by stillalivetui

[Usmivka]

I LOLed at the gang activity. If you guys ever go to Los Angeles, make sure you stick to staying in Beverly Hills. You might feel a little better there being surrounded by rich white people.

I don't think you were really paying attention to what either of us wrote, if this is what you keyed in on. I don't think the CD is a bad place compared to neighborhoods in other major cities where I have and would live(d), including LA. I just think that it has a lot of caveats that other major Seattle neighborhoods don't, and was suggesting that this is why it hasn't shown up previously in these forums. A major concern (that I made pretty clear above) and that I'd hope a student of history would be sensitive to) is that students moving into the area are driving up prices and driving out an underserved community from one of the last non-gentrified neighborhoods near the city core. A way to be socially responsible about your move is to do what I suggested above, to learn more about the caveats of the area, and to actually go spend time in the neighborhood prior to making a move there.

 

PS: when I was growing up, gang activity in the central district was pretty bad. I realize it isn't that way now, but I can totally see Seattle residents continuing to have that impression, especially given the spate of high profile gang murders in the last 3 years (sources 1, 2 (in Rainier Valley, but by a CD gang member), 3, 4). Gang activity is also related to property crime, which is a problem when Seattle has greater property crime per capita than a place like LA (5% in Seattle [~30k incidents/620k people] vs 2.5% in LA [100k incidents/ 3820k population [1,2]). So, yeah, I did feel OK when I was in LA, because I didn't think I'd be a target of a gang murder either way, but muggings and robberies were less likely.

Edited January 9, 2013 by Usmivka

[6tZSoKE3FTnq]

Other places to look for cheaper apartments are Northgate or Lake City. They are not walkable to campus but bus access is good to the U District and downtown. Lake City is not the nicest neighborhood but there is grocery store access. Either would be a reasonable bike to and from campus. 

[fishasaurus]

I would not consider Northgate or Lake City to be a reasonable biking distance, especially not with all the hills and when it's raining. I bike from Laurelhurst on the Burke-Gilman trail, and even 2.5 miles each way can wear me out after a long night or a busy day.

 

Not to say they aren't good places to live--just if I was biking from either, I'd ride the bus most of the way.

[Usmivka]

I would not consider Northgate or Lake City to be a reasonable biking distance, especially not with all the hills and when it's raining. I bike from Laurelhurst on the Burke-Gilman trail, and even 2.5 miles each way can wear me out after a long night or a busy day.

 

Not to say they aren't good places to live--just if I was biking from either, I'd ride the bus most of the way.

Agreed. My comfy biking distance is 4-6 miles (25-40 minutes depending on traffic), and I think neither option fits that bill. Lake City is close to the Burke-Gilman trail, which is a very safe, flat ride directly to the UW, but it is >8 miles. Northgate is a  little closer if you take arterials, but farther if you stick to safer streets and trails. Serious bike commuters (you have a road bike, lots of reflectors/lights/bright gear for all weather) will have no problem, but in my experience that is a small subset of grad students.

 

Bus connections are good to both, and it is right on the freeway at the farthest Northern edge of the city, so if you have a car it is easy to escape the city and go hiking or take a road trip North (or West via the Edmonds ferry). Cost of living is significantly lower in both areas than some of the trendier neighborhoods mentioned elsewhere in this thread.

Edited January 27, 2013 by Usmivka

[songsong2012]

Lived in Seattle for two, Helsinki (Finland) for one, Sunny State one, and rest, a tropical Asian country. Seattle has the worst weather, it's just endless drizzles and rain, I didn't even want to go out or anything. Transportation sucked according to my standards (compared to NYC, Helsinki, and said tropical Asian capitol), city is just bland, not a great place for foodies even though they claim to have great variety of food (yep, I said it), and generally a hipster town that claims to be really diverse but really doesn't, most importantly, I didn't have much friends from Seattle who weren't transplants (Canucks, out-of-state people, international students, etc). Seattle really has this breeze that is impenetrable, they kind of just let you do your stuff and carry on with the divide. Some say it's because the culture is a blend of Japanese and Scandinavianness, I would agree but Seattle seems to take it up a notch with the pretentiousness. UW campus is really beautiful, though.