In the Black

[saavedra77]

In other good news: as of Friday (payday), after about a year of trying, I am officially OUT OF DEBT!

Comments

[saavedra77.livejournal.com]

Well, by Westsylvania standards, Seattle consists entirely of "bad neighborhoods" ... ;) You pretty much have to go to the suburbs to find concentrations of Republicans.

Of course, it all depends on what you're looking for: Do you plan to rent or buy? How pricey can you stand? Are you looking for quiet or lots of stuff to do in walking distance?

Neighborhoods I like:

Ballard: quiet neighborhood, not too pricey, kind of a mix of working-class and lower-income, several good restaurants (including one Puerto Rican one--although the neighborhood itself is historically Scandinavian & still overwhelmingly caucasian), a nice theater, one of the few actual beaches (as opposed to coastlines) in the city limits. Maybe 15 minutes from downtown?

Beacon Hill: almost totally residential, relatively cheap, one of the most ethnically mixed neighborhoods in Seattle. People I know who're looking to buy houses tend to look here, because it's affordable but presentable. It's adjacent to Chinatown, maybe 2 minutes from downtown. Curious facts, probably irrelevant, but still: Amazon.com has its headquarters on Beacon Hill, as does the local chaper of La Raza.

Capitol Hill: very mixed in terms of income, adjacent to downtown, restaurants catering to every ethnic cuisine imagineable, some decent clubs, a couple art-house theaters. Sections east of Broadway are fairly quiet, but west of Broadway it's loud, busy, grunge-y. And parking? Just forget about it: don't bother binging a car, here.

Fremont: hippy neighborhood undergoing gentrification (so getting more expensive). Some nice restaurants, not far from downtown, situated along the Canal. Big event of the year: Solstice Parade, featuring (among other things) naked, painted cyclists.

Greenlake: almost the suburbs. Highly residential, but with a few good bars and restaurants. Like most north Seattle neighborhoods, almost lily-white. (You might even find some Republicans, here ...) Location of the Woodland Park Zoo, if that's of any interest. And then there's the Lake, itself, which locals ritually jog/walk dogs/perambulate around ...

Magnolia: almost an island, very residential, probably the quietest neighborhood in the city, with the biggest city park (Discovery Park--it's miles & miles of woods). The bad parts: it's expensive, & a little remote--you need a car, here.

Queen Anne Hill: unless you're quite well-to-do, you can't afford to more than rent here, but it's really beautiful--lots of big old houses, restaurants, virtually everything you need can be found on Queen Anne Ave--walking distance, basically. The drawback: the hill's so steep that you're virtually stranded if it so much as snows a half-inch--seriously, people don't leave Q.A.H. when there's even a hint of snow (which happens about once a year, mind you ...). Oh, & did I mention that it's expensive as all get-out?

Wallingford: nice residential neighborhood north of Lake Union. Lots of pretty little houses, some great restaurants, close to the University District. No drawbacks that I can think of, offhand ...

West Seattle: another semi-island, connected to downtown by one long, seismically unreliable bridge (there's a land route, but it will take you miles out of your way). This is another quiet, overwhelmingly residential neighborhood--a place to buy, if you can afford it; not a lot of rental housing. Special features: a decent beach (by Seattle standards--we're not talking the Jersey shore, here ...), residents' insane enthusiasm for elaborate Christmas lights.

I must admit I don't know the suburbs, so well ...

[ryuusama.livejournal.com]

Thanks a lot for the info! I'm probably going to have to start looking in the next month or so.

A decent beach (by Seattle standards--we're not talking the Jersey shore, here.

So, you mean it's clean, right? Like, you can go swimming and not see syringes and used condoms floating by?

[saavedra77.livejournal.com]

I mean, it's itty-bitty--not going on & on like Long Beach Island. Most of Puget Sound's shoreline is rocky or just soil, not sand (think the coast of Maine). Ballard has a 2-mile-long stretch of beach called Golden Gardens that's pretty nice; West Seattle has Alki Beach, which is bigger but seems less like a beach to me.

Both ARE clean--you're more likely to see an otter than a condom.