Quote from CaroKann:
Looking to get an apartment in Seattle.. Any suggestions where is a reasonable place to live for a single guy?
Where is the nightlife and clubs? I remember a few places downtown by Key Arena.
Is downtown a decent area to live? or do you need to live farther out?
Is "international district" synonymous with "high crime area" or is it actually decent? There seems to be some cheap apartments there..
Well, alot of it depends on some pretty subjective tastes I guess. What type of clubs do you like to go out to? What type of music interests you? What type of people would you like to meet? Do you plan on having a job too that might involve commuting?
I have been in and out of Seattle for a couple of years now, so I've lived in a few different parts of town. When I moved here in 2000, I lived in Belltown, at 1st and Wall. I paid about $1100 for a 500 sq foot place at the top of the building with a great view of the sound and the mountains, with garage parking and broadband. The rental market was very hot then, and now you can probably get the same apartment for $100/month less, maybe even better than that. Belltown was, and is, really great...good bars, restaurants and clubs...nice people around, really cool. I'd move back there in a heartbeat. Mostly late 20s to 30s, job and career people, and alot of singles. Belltown Pizza and the Cyclops are great places.
I left for awhile, came back, and moved into a place on Capitol Hill, near 15th. Paid $750 for a 400 sq foot studio, no parking, no view...older "quaint" building. Capitol Hill has a reputation for being gay friendly, but it has alot more straight clubs and bars than otherwise. It used to be Sesame Street Seattle with everyone living happily in a classic liberal "I *love* your diversity" sort of world...but with Seattle's economic downturn, it's undergone some significant changes in the last couple of years, including a dramatic increase in crime, drugs, street hoodlums, and panhandlers. I left Capitol Hill and was none too sad for it. Doesn't come recommended, unless the unemployment rate drops back down again and the social services are funded again.
However, with the demise of Capitol Hill, some other neighborhoods have become pretty cool over the last year or so. Ballard used to be just retirees and small 1940's cottage houses, but now it has lots of great bars and bands...alot of my friends live over in that area now. Rent is lower than Belltown or Capitol Hill too. Also, Fremont, next door to Ballard, is pretty cool, just too many hippies for me. Only downside to living in Ballard is that it isn't walking distance to downtown.
The area around Key Arena is known as "Lower Queen Anne" and is changing really quickly. It was kind of sucking, but now they are building a bunch more high-end condos and apartments. It's walkable to downtown, but I don't know...there's no scene as of yet. The top of Queen Anne is nice, but a little quiet I guess, and a long walk to downtown. Expensive too.
The international district is still not great in terms of crime, but it's nothing compared to alot of other cities. I would be worried about my car there, if it was parked on the street. Parts of it are projects, parts of it are infested with huge herds of nomadic bums, and other parts are just your normal, enterprising chinese and vietnamese and their excellent restaurants.
So I guess my recommendation, knowing nothing except that you are single, would be Belltown or Ballard.
