Me, my family, and my soon to be finished car are 99% sure we are moving to Seattle at the end of the month. We've been looking at houses from Ballard to Bothell.

Anyone have any advice?

-Aaron

About...? Housing? Schools? Weather?
Lot of ground to cover
Dont sweat it you'll enjoy the NW

I think I'm OK with the weather. Maybe areas and schools. We were mostly looking around lake forest park out to Bothel.

-Aaron

where are you going to work? commutes can be a ... well compaired to the L/A area never mind. but really the rush hours [6am - 10am then 3ish pm -7pm] suck on 405 and I5 up hear in the north end and east side. [east side ios bellevue, redmond, kirkland, bothell, issaqua, and renton]

Move to bremerton and be my friend! All of the Autocross action in on the Westside!
lol

WAMU Building in downtown... I have my pick of hours, but I'm really sort of a 9:30 - 5:30 guy at heart.

-Aaron

Buy some ponchos, drink some coffee, see some bands.

The housing costs vary a lot as you move through the areas you mentioned. Lots of different neighborhoods with radically different feels. I personally like Bothell a lot better than anything else Between here and Seattle around the north end of the lake. However, the farther you get from downtown the exponentially worse your commute will be during high traffic times.

it rains......


loved living there after grad school....still have family and friends there.


it rains.....

For where you are going to be working I would think North Seattle would be your best fit. You can go down 15th, greenwood, Aurora, or I-5 to get to downtown. Plus there is a lot of different things you can do in that area. You would be close to the Zoo, Greenlake, U-district and other nice locations. Now you could go from South Bellevue to the I-90 bridge, but you may not like to take 520 every day. It is a beautiful area. We will love having another nice teener up here.

Sent you a pm.

If your are working at WAMU tower, you will be taking the bus. There is a tunnel bus stop under the WAMU building. You can drive, but you will have to pay 20 bucks a day. Shoreline has decent schools and is good for bus service to downtown. Will you be renting or buying? Keep in mind that your work hours are the worst for traffic. Stay away from Bellevue and the East side. They are getting ready to implement a $6 toll on the bridges each way. Forget the ferries, they are too expensive and break down too often.

My 2 cents.

Eddy

consider further south too. far cheaper. the commuter train stops in tacoma, puyallup, sumner, kent, renton, and tukwilla. short bus ride uptown. the bus ride from LFP is a hassle. slow. the drive from anywhere can be painful. on a bad day extreemely so.

k

I like Beacon Hill plus it has two literail stations that will be up and running in the next year...schools are decent in Seattle. What age kids?

Access to downtown from Beacon Hill/Mt Baker is excellent about 10 minutes...I know a guy who works at WaMu downtown too...plus Chinatown/Little Saigon are 10 minutes away too...

Whats your price range?

This commute takes 45 minutes on average from Everett to 1111 3rd ave (WAMU tower) in the car pool lane or about 1.25-1.5 hours non car pool. Normal drive time is 26 minutes. I bet you never guessed that everybody knows where the tower is. I guess the question is which floor and which department. Talk to you soon. Plan on Teener Tuesday during winter and some fun drives on Tuesday evening during the summer. It stays light till after 9pm, so plenty of time. Bad new is that during winter, your commute to and from work will be in the dark.
Chris

I have two kids - on is almost 4 and one is almost 1. As far as price range I'd kinda rather keep that between myself and those that need to know...

I'll be on the 9th floor with Pure Networks.

-Aaron

Another fellow teener with kids Sweet. Maybe we can leave the wives with the kids as we cruze in our 914s. Oh, hope my wife doesn't read this Teener tuesdays are fun. We need to have them more often.

A lot of Californians move up north (to either OR or WA), and find that the constant unrelenting grey skies in the winter are more than they can cope with. It was something of a standing joke about a decade ago... I only get up to OR during the holidays, and it wears on me pretty quickly.

Just keep that in mind--those "fake daylight" lights may be in your future.

--DD

LOL. I'm not native to CA. I grew up in MD and spent 5+ years in Boston prior to moving to CA. That being said, I am worried about it...

Right now north of Seattle has gotten pretty expensive and takes forever to commute from.....West Seattle, Mt Baker are really nice, great neighborhoods and close in in the $400-600k range.

Jon, don't you do real estate?? otherwise I have a friend who does...

I think the SAD stuff is overblown now that we have global warming, Seattle is now like SF, SF is like LA, LA is like Mexico City etc.....nowdays lots of sunny days. I know Seattle has changed as I have worked in construction for 30 years.

With the rain and such in Seattle, and the fact that our 914s really don't like wet conditions, I will be glad to offer my srvices in storing (and driving) your 914 here in sunny California while you enjoy the wonderful northwest monsoons. I know it's asking a lot of me, but I will suffer through the daily drivves to ensure you teener is fully charged and ready to go should you decide to return tc Southern California.

Please let me know whe re I can pick up the keys...

Actually, I grew up in Oregon and have participated in more than one "Seattle to Protland" (STP) bicycle tour. Yeah, the rain and dreary clouds are a reality, but when spring comes - WOW!!! Also, the fact that in the summer the sun doesn't set until after 9:00 means extra time to skull on Lake Washington. Don't let the other BS worry you, it reeally is a great place to live.

But really, you should consider leaving your teener in my good care

Oh, and beware of persons that say they are 914 experts around the University of Washington. As a University or Oregon alum, I understand there are a lot of in-breeders up there

Oops, another reason why not to post while drinking...

Suprised no one has commented about schools and other things. I'm a proud graduate of Bothell High School (1978) and lived in Woodinville for over 30 years.

Northshore school district is one of the best in the state. It rains more in Bothell and Woodinville than further south. The commute to downtown is a bear from Bothell during high traffic hours.

It rains more - but you might consider North Bend, up Hwy 80 toward Snowqualmie - lots of really nice people there, and the commute is a straight shot down I80.

good luck with the rain and the darkness in the winter. I left in 1998 for Idaho, and have not missed the rain at all. Good Luck.

So does living in Boston make you a Redsox Fan ? The weather up here is NOT as bad as people that have never lived up here think it is. I love it up here, but then again, I have lived here my whole life.

Hey Geoff

Yes, I am a real estate agent I already let Aaron know that I am happy to help him if I can. Nothing like helping a fellow teener.

I did mention to him already that the Lake Washington school district is one of the best in the state, but that was in a PM. Seattle schools are good as well. Some of the private schools in the area are very good but they cost a bit to send your kids to. The one I went to was just a little less than going college.

I went up today to Puyallup and drove up to Bellevue with Kevin. I got the car at 1:30pm. If we had not been able to use the HOV lane I would just now be getting home. The traffic was a nightmare. Then you get to buy $3.56 a gal gas to sit and idle on the freeway. Whoopee

That's why I don't like South of Seattle or 405. From S Everett to Seattle I-5 is generally good as long as you take the 80th/85th exit and take the Aurora bridge. The ship canal bridge is always backed up. I guess people have never gone over a bridge like that before. Talked to my client that lives in Kirkland and works in Seattle. He goes into work at 6:30 and he says on average it takes 25 minutes to get from his house in Juanita/ Kirkland to the top of Queen Anne. He says it is a nice commute as it is reverse. So the Kirkland/ Juanita area may be a good fit.

So? I grew up in the Midwest ("downstate" IL). The winters in the Pac NW aren't the brutal affairs they were at home, but they are uremittingly grey. Grey, grey, grey, grey. Really gets me down. Feels like the sun sets at 3:00, even though it "technically" is up until 5 or so, because the grey sky gets dark grey...

If you've lived in CA more than a few years, you've almost certainly gotten dis-acclimated to "real" weather. It surprised me how quickly that happened.

The NW summer was pretty amazing, though. The sky was so blue it damn near hurt! And plants actually get green, and stay green, up there! (Did you know that grass could be green in the summer? Who'd'a thunk!!)

I'm not trying to tell you not to go to the NW, but I am saying the winter weather had much more effect on me than I would have thought.

--DD

Oh wait I mean welcome to the great pacific northwest. You will enjoy it here.

who are you trying to kid jon? i don't care whether you're driving north or south out of seattle or the eastside in the afternoon, or into seattle from ANYWHERE in the mornings the traffic is horrid. traffic reports in the am or the evening, it's ALL the same. 3 major routes on the north south axis in and out of the city and too many cars. 2 bridges for the east west travelers. seattle is basicly surrounded by water.

dave, the "dark short day" syndrome is over and really is only accute for about 6 weeks. do you have to have your lights on when commuting to and from work? this winter has been quite sunny actually. the key is getting out of the office during mid-day if only for 1/2 of an hour.

you're going to pay a premium for a residence in seattle and bordering communities. plan on using mass transit to preserve your sanity and save a small fortune.

i quit boss. day old doughnuts as compensation just doesn't cut the mustard . enjoy the traffic.

k

My wife takes the bus home from work everyday and when I don't have to go downtown. She leaves everett at 7:15 and gets to work by 8am. She leaves at 4:30 and is waiting for me at the park and ride at 5:20. I understand the SAD (seasonal affected disorder) as my mom has it ( she lives in Alaska). I am a SoCal native (San Diego). There are really 4 seasons here. Not just summer and a few days of rain. Compared to LA traffic on the 405 through Culver City, this is really not that bad. Of course, we should shoot whoever decided that 2 through lanes under downtown was a good idea, but for the most part, I have been really suprised at the diversity this city offers.
I agree with the blue sky statement. It really is beautiful to see the Mountains over the Sound with all the boats. I think I will have to go down to Dukes for some Chowder and watch the world go by.

you locals will love this. yest around 11:30 am the 2 regular lanes, sb 405, were at a standstill from the 167 interchange to midway up kennydale hill. no wrecks, no reason other than a few onramps and folks lining up to exit to 167. at 1:30 the backup was over the top the hill and about 1/2 way down the north side. if i hadn't been with craig it would have taken him a minimum of 45 minutes to cover the distance the 5-7 minutes the hov took. what's your time worth craig? bear in mind, that time saved would have put him on 167 around 2:30 to 3. there's around an hour to puyallup. back peddle to to the Ft Lewis/Mccord/Olympia I-5 nightmare. that would have put him in the vancouver/pland commute mess. he wouldn't have gotten home until 8.

no more, so sorry, haha.

k

Shhh! That's SUPPOSED to be a secret!

Alright Kevin... You know best. After all, I only drive 150 miles a day average. I just have no idea how traffic really is

Pansyboy, check is in the mail....

:rotflmao: Oy. Look out Craig, don't flick too much crap or he may unleash the new breed of man-eating-venus-fly-trap next time you step foot on the property.

Love ya Kevin..... Damn that front spoiler looks nice on my car!