"You're kidding, you're buying a house in Seattle..."

[mcoyote]

Yeah, we like it that much. Landlord decided to pressure us to buy his house, we started looking for new rentals when we're out in November, then went "waaiiit...we like this place...".

He's offering us a good price for this area, even factoring in the current softening market, and even if we keep most of our cash in the bank we can probably foot an affordable loan. We've looked in Wallingford, U-District, Fremont, Ravenna, Queen Anne, blah blah and even the outhouses with good roofing are going for +$400k.

Thinking that our pleasant, not-so-little hovel in our diverse West Seattle neighborhood is convenient to everything, not pounded with the bad traffic and bubbly market of things in North Seattle, and will probably be where everyone wants to buy anyway when the end of cheap loans truly shoo normal people away from up there.

And, yeah, we like Seattle.

A lot, as in we never want to leave, and it's just awesome to be able to go anywhere in a real city (when I'm coming from my house) and have a good time in <30min. I work in eastside and have associates up in Shoreline, Everett, and up as far as La Conner now and, although I like looking at the back of SUV's idling in traffic as much as the next guy, no dice.

Not really asking for anything, just thought I'd mention it.

[bizarro]

Well hell, welcome home. So I guess the commute isn't that band after all?  

[mcoyote]

Well hell, welcome home. So I guess the commute isn't that band after all?  

It is. Some things are worth enduring.

[bizarro]

[dinolee]

And, yeah, we like Seattle.

We've assimilated another one... muuuhahahahaha  

[RexRider]

Resistance is futile...  How 'bout a coffee?  


Edit to add:  Welcome to the neighborhood!  My wife and I bought in West Seattle almost three years ago now.  

[Vladimir]

Yep, same thing happened to me when I moved out here in the late 80's. About the only place I'd consider moving now would be down to the Columbia Gorge area maybe when I'm closer to retiring.  I definately fell hard for the Pacific NW, and being a military brat and then military myself I've seen most of the rest of the country, wouldn't live anywhere else!

[mcoyote]

Resistance is futile...  How 'bout a coffee?  

Umm...thx, but I'm set. What did my wife and I get each other as a 10th anniversary gift in May, do you ask (the "practical" gift, the lovey-dovey gifts are different -- and cheaper)? An 18psi automatic espresso machine . Would we have gotten this when we were living in Colorado? Rather doubt it...

WTF is it about this place? Is it, like, the last decent place in the US or what?

[bizarro]

WTF is it about this place? Is it, like, the last decent place in the US or what?

It's definitely one of them.  

[RexRider]

 

[Montyburns]

Congratulations on the new house.  My wife and I just bought a house in West Seattle too.  She works in Redmond and commented just this morning how jealous she is when she sees people fly past her in the express lanes on motorcycles while she is stuck in traffic.  She keeps talking about getting a motorcycle or scooter for the commute but I'll have none of it.  I'm fully aware of how hypocritical that sounds but if you'd seen her ride a bicycle, you'd be on my side.  

[Mrs. DantesDame]

Like Fritz said, welcome home  

Yep, I moved here 12 years ago and never looked back. In fact, one of my favorite (and oft-repeated stories) is that about 3 months after moving here I was on the bus and the woman next to me asked how long I'd been living in Seattle. My instinctive answer was "all my life"    

[highside]

Like Fritz said, welcome home  

Yep, I moved here 12 years ago and never looked back. In fact, one of my favorite (and oft-repeated stories) is that about 3 months after moving here I was on the bus and the woman next to me asked how long I'd been living in Seattle. My instinctive answer was "all my life"    

It seems like most people who werent born here claim otherwise. I suspect this has something to do with the weird xenophobic nature of the city, which is weird because the biggest xenophobes are people who immigrated themselves. Just one of the strange cultural quirks of the city I suppose, it makes the place a little less pleasant IMHO. It didnt always used to be like that.

[DNA]

Odd.  I went from growing up in Co to going to the UW and over 4 years of trying, I could never get adjusted to the rain.  Summers are the best place on earth - winters - not so nice.
It rained 19 straight days in Jan. of my senior year (many years ago) and on about day 14 I decided that my future lay elsewhere.

Glad you made the adjustment - I just couldn't do it.  Other than the wet (and the traffic) -I absolutely loved the area.  

[Mookie]

It seems like most people who werent born here claim otherwise. I suspect this has something to do with the weird xenophobic nature of the city, which is weird because the biggest xenophobes are people who immigrated themselves. Just one of the strange cultural quirks of the city I suppose, it makes the place a little less pleasant IMHO. It didnt always used to be like that.

When I tell Seattlites I'm from NC they always seem shocked I'm not a hillbilly with a crazy southern accent.  

It seems to me that the vast majority of people living in Seattle weren't born here anyways.  It's one of those places that people tend to move to in order to leave wherever it it was they grew up.  Of course, now that I've lived here 10 years I get to make fun of Californians that move here and drive up the housing costs

[highside]

When I tell Seattlites I'm from NC they always seem shocked I'm not a hillbilly with a crazy southern accent.  

It seems to me that the vast majority of people living in Seattle weren't born here anyways.  It's one of those places that people tend to move to in order to leave wherever it it was they grew up.  Of course, now that I've lived here 10 years I get to make fun of Californians that move here and drive up the housing costs

Thats pretty much how it works out here. The punchline to the story DD told is that the two strangers on a bus go on to have a conversation about the evils of all these invaders to the city. They get their purses mixed up when they get off the bus and each finds a California drivers license in the others wallet.

[Req]

Welcome.

And a big   to you for seeing the light better than I did, and not ending up in fucking Lynnwood.  West Seattle looks nicer every time I ride through there.  

[Stray Cat]

When I tell Seattlites I'm from NC they always seem shocked I'm not a hillbilly

Your not?  

 

I like West Seattle too, except for that damn bridge! It can be a hassle.....  

[Mookie]

Your not?  

 

   It's alllllll relative  

[denydog]

As a true Seattle native, Welcome mcoyote!  

It seems like most people who werent born here claim otherwise.

I was born at Virginia Mason hospital on pill hill.  As a pre-teen, I watched as I-5 was being built through my neighborhood in North Seattle. (I-5 had very little traffic for the first few years.  The cars were all like 200+ ft apart.)  I saw the excavation and first spindly legs of the Space needle go up.  The most fun I ever had was the occasional family trips to PlayLand amusement park surrounding Bitter Lake in N. Seattle (before that, it was a dog racing track).  It had a huge old timber roller coaster!  I remember the opening of the "new" Evergreen Point floating bridge, complete with toll booths.  My parents took me to the Aqua Follies at Green Lake.  I remember when jay walking was a serious crime (no kidding!) That was before we really had much real crime.   But Ivar Haglund was already an old guy to me.   When I first started traveling around the country, everyone I met assumed me, my family and everyone I knew, worked at Boeings.  I'm getting all nostalgic here    I've traveled and lived in many places around in the US and around the world.  I chose to come back to Seattle to stay.  (and not because I like my family or friends that much )

All of you who have come here to live have made a very good choice. Congratulations!

WTF is it about this place? Is it, like, the last decent place in the US or what?

You should have been here before it became popular.  It was way special then.  

[sagerat]

You're welcome to Seattle, its insane traffic, miserable weather, and mediocre sports teams.  

Seriously, glad you have a found place you enjoy and can afford.  Seattle has always been "nice place to visit, wouldn't want to live there" locales for me.  

[Tritium]

Welcome to the neighborhood, permanently!  

[brianhe]

Odd.  I went from growing up in Co to going to the UW and over 4 years of trying, I could never get adjusted to the rain.  Summers are the best place on earth - winters - not so nice.
It rained 19 straight days in Jan. of my senior year (many years ago) and on about day 14 I decided that my future lay elsewhere.

Glad you made the adjustment - I just couldn't do it.  Other than the wet (and the traffic) -I absolutely loved the area.  

Hm, 19 days of rain in January is pretty unremarkable.  I guess you made the right choice.  For me what's worse is the dark winter days, commuting to work in the dark and coming home in the dark is a bummer.  Even so, I wouldn't be anywhere else.

[highside]

Hm, 19 days of rain in January is pretty unremarkable.  I guess you made the right choice.  For me what's worse is the dark winter days, commuting to work in the dark and coming home in the dark is a bummer.  Even so, I wouldn't be anywhere else.

It kinda bothers me how much rain we have gotten in June this year, and I was born here. It gets everyone down sometimes.

[mcoyote]

...
As a true Seattle native, Welcome mcoyote!  

 I was born at Virginia Mason hospital on pill hill.  As a pre-teen, I watched as I-5 was being built through my neighborhood in North Seattle. (I-5 had very little traffic for the first few years...

So, we're really leaning towards our property in West Seattle, but we have noticed some fixer deals (<$300k) in places like Beacon Hill, which I take to be the same or close to "Pill Hill" -- East of I5 and South. Is that a correct belief, and if so how are the neighborhoods down there? I've been through there a couple of times and it seems more sparsely populated and run down -- older homes and such -- but not especially bad.

[Mr Sunshine]

It is. Some things are worth enduring.

Just wait until the new 520 bridge construction gets started.  

Glad you are going to stick around, where ever you live.  FYI....living in West Seattle makes me hate you....its just how the natural order of things are.  

[denydog]

So, we're really leaning towards our property in West Seattle, but we have noticed some fixer deals (<$300k) in places like Beacon Hill, which I take to be the same or close to "Pill Hill" -- East of I5 and South. Is that a correct belief, and if so how are the neighborhoods down there? I've been through there a couple of times and it seems more sparsely populated and run down -- older homes and such -- but not especially bad.

pill hill, unofficially named for all the hospitals located there (officially First Hill), is directly East of downtown and just South of Capital Hill.  
Beacon Hill is farther South, across Dearborn with Beacon Avenue running N-S down the middle.  It's an "interesting" area.  It's subdivided into three general neighborhoods.  There are some run down areas, but some are not too bad.  Lot of minorities grouped around, 50% Asian.  One relatively recent improvement was the tear down of the large Holly Park low income public housing area in the SE section. It was rebuilt as mixed income housing, with some market rate housing.  http://www.newholly.org/ 

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beacon_Hill,_Seattle,_Washington

I'd hate to be buying a house in Seattle these days.  But if I was, and looking for a reasonable house and neighborhood, I'd probably be looking in the area around, within a mile or so, of Shorecrest High school (near 15th NE & NE 160th St) in North Seattle.  Maybe because that's were I grew up.  
Good luck to you.

[highside]

I'd hate to be buying a house in Seattle these days.  But if I was, and looking for a reasonable house and neighborhood, I'd probably be looking in the area around, within a mile or so, of Shorecrest High school (near 15th NE & NE 160th St) in North Seattle.  Maybe because that's were I grew up.  
Good luck to you.

Yeah, thats a nice neighborhood, due largely to the fact that it isn't actually in Seattle.  

[Playinthestreet]

My brother went to Seattle in 80 for grad school.  Lived in Ballard and has been in Bothel since 89.  Wouldn't live anywhere else.  Every time I visit, the weather is crummy.  

[highside]

Ah so it's your fault, please stop visiting.

[denydog]

Yeah, thats a nice neighborhood, due largely to the fact that it isn't actually in Seattle.  

I said "within a mile or so" which reaches into Seattle.  Even so, 10 blocks outside the city limit makes it a nice neighborhood?  I don't even know about it being nice.  The word I use is reasonable.  I've seen some nice neighborhoods $$$  

[bizarro]

That area isn't too bad and it's likely to gentrify just like the rest of the near-Seattle neighborhoods. If I were you I still look in West Seattle (but that's just 'cause I like West Seattle).


BTW, the Wallyworld Block party is today starting at three and whoever wants to swing by, including those with kids, is more than welcome. PM for address if need be. I'll check back in a little later.

[highside]

I said "within a mile or so" which reaches into Seattle.  Even so, 10 blocks outside the city limit makes it a nice neighborhood?  I don't even know about it being nice.  The word I use is reasonable.  I've seen some nice neighborhoods $$$  

I actually live within a mile of Shorecrest (on the shoreline side) and grew up in North Seattle. That 10 blocks makes a big difference (i think it is actually 15 anyways).

[denydog]

Small world.  I lived on 15th NE at the entrance to Hamlin park till I was 17.  Attended St. Marks in North City, then Morgan Jr High, then Shorecrest.  It became a lot nicer neighborhood once I moved out!      I have a buddy that is fixing up his house right near Ridgecrest elementary so he can sell it.

I'm also thinking the areas down to East of Jackson Park Golf course are somewhat similar.  Not as pricey as some others, and not too many negatives, and not too far from the city center.  Of course you can always look towards Mountlake Terrace.  I think a real nice location that I just drove through yesterday,  is near North City in the direction of Lake Forrest Park (near Perkins Way),  but its probably a little pricier.  

[kdub]

Umm...thx, but I'm set. What did my wife and I get each other as a 10th anniversary gift in May, do you ask (the "practical" gift, the lovey-dovey gifts are different -- and cheaper)? An 18psi automatic espresso machine . Would we have gotten this when we were living in Colorado? Rather doubt it...

WTF is it about this place? Is it, like, the last decent place in the US or what?

SSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! DON'T TELL ANYONE ELSE PPPLEASE.

[RexRider]

FYI....living in West Seattle makes me hate you....its just how the natural order of things are.  

That's just 'cuz you live on the Dark Side...    I just hope I don't end up having to commute to Redmond, since Microsquish bought my company...  

[Jeff N]

A friend and former co-worker just relocated to the Seattle area this past January and he and his wife love it. Their youngest son had moved out of the house and my friend's then job situation prospects meant he might have been forced to move deeper into CA's central valley to keep his job, so he found work with the BPA and now he's a happy camper. Don't worry Pac Northwetters. He and his wife are full blown vegetarian liberals and only bought a small condo with their California Real Estate largesse; the rest of the money is invested for their retirement and kid's possible college fund.

[Mrs. DantesDame]

A friend and former co-worker just relocated to the Seattle area this past January and he and his wife love it.

I keep hoping that the influx of Kalifornians make it easier to pass the lane sharing bill that keeps coming up to the legislatures  

[Jeff N]

I keep hoping that the influx of Kalifornians make it easier to pass the lane sharing bill that keeps coming up to the legislatures  

But my friend is not a rider, so no luck there.  

[Mr Sunshine]

That's just 'cuz you live on the Dark Side...    I just hope I don't end up having to commute to Redmond, since Microsquish bought my company...  

Naw we don't seem to do that sort of thing...depending on what the company does.  Which company?

[RexRider]

aQuantive, Inc. (on-line advertising/marketing agency and technologies).  Didn't you see the big news recently?  It made the front page of the WSJ.  $6 billion deal.  

[Mr Sunshine]

aQuantive, Inc. (on-line advertising/marketing agency and technologies).  Didn't you see the big news recently?  It made the front page of the WSJ.  $6 billion deal.  

I don't pay attention to industry news....gotta stay away from work you now.

And $6 Billion?  That's like you dropping a quarter on the ground and not picking it up.  

[Mrs. DantesDame]

I don't pay attention to industry news....gotta stay away from work you now.

And $6 Billion?  That's like you dropping a quarter on the ground and not picking it up.