What's Seattle really like these days?

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You should look at West Seattle, the peninsula southwest of downtown Seattle. Burien, Normandy Park, and Des Moines are also fine communities near the airport. Having lived in West Seattle since 1991 I love it here. West Seattle is great "small town within the city", surrounded by Elliot Bay and Puget Sound. We have outstanding restaurants, interesting "mom & pop" shops, Alki Beach, and an excellent city boat ramp with plenty of trailer parking.

Being on the west side of I-5, there are multiple routes to get to Sea-Tac airport. West Seattle does have some issues with homeless camps and thefts, but minor compared to downtown Seattle and other neighborhoods close to the city.

With Southcenter Mall nearby and Amazon Prime, there is little need to visit the war zones of downtown Seattle and Capitol Hill.

Everyone loves Seattle weather in the summer. Come visit for a week or two in January when the sun rises at 8:15 am and sets at 4:30 pm, combined with perpetual rain, drizzle, and grey skies. If you can handle not seeing the sun for two weeks or more, you might be a good fit for Seattle.

Of course, boating is a great motivator to move here. We are fortunate to have the San Juan Islands, Canadian Gulf Islands, and the gateway to SE Alaska at our doorstep. Good luck with your search and decision on moving to the left coast.
 
I neglected to mention that Kent, Washington is where the Toland Family started building C-Dory boats back in the early 80's!
 
I can leave my CD22 parked on the street in front of my house and not worry about anything happening to it overnight
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You obviously live in a much safer area than 2021 Western Washington. You couldn't safely do this even in the nicer areas mentioned, let alone within the city of Seattle. Heck, your catalytic converter isn't safe in front of your house here!

There's a little detail, which as a fellow West Seattleite I feel bears mentioning: The West Seattle Bridge is completely closed for structural repair, not scheduled to re-open until this time next year. Commutes are a nightmare, friends understandably decline to visit, and residents are loath to leave the "island" unless absolutely necessary. Maybe an option for next year, but definitely should be on the avoid list until then.
 
My point is that much of the movement of these workers and resulting lower rent is driven by a pandemic and the response to it as opposed to all of the other factors mentioned above
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Wise man said " we will see". Its just not what I am hearing from those same people that are leaving. Every agent I know has the same stories from there clients. The pandemic and work from home is allowing them to do what they very much have been wanting to do for the last few years, since well before covid. CHOP scared a lot of people. Also its the " I am 30 now and want a family and nice place to raise them so bar hopping is not important and being down town is not safe for that"

I mean if down town does not provide the life style you want because its not safe or all the business you used to maintain that style are gone why stay? A lot of restaurants, bars , clubs are not coming back. Whats the use of green lake if the local homeless camp is polluting it ( kiro news today) . Look I liked Seattle as I stated.
For a city it was clean fun and interesting. Good to visit or run down town. I used to take a day off just to run the boat from Kenmore , our first home, to pick up Susan at the dock under zymogenic and take her to lunch at Ivars. Where else can you do that and fish on the way home?? Its just not clean or safe anymore. And I am the first to admit its certain areas but those areas are getting bigger and far more of them.

All of western Washington is worse then when we moved here. I live on a dead end in the country but spent 5 years battling drugs and prostitution at the end of my drive way until I finally just took care of the problem. We were calling the cops at least once a day. Now the cops have not been called twice in the last 3 years.

I hope that Seattle proper can pull its self out of this spiral but it will not and can not be done by the same people and policies that put it there. Doing the same thing over and over and expecting an different result is insane. Doing the same thing but with more money is insane and expensive. Seattle spends 1 billion a year on the so called homeless problem year after year and its not working but getting worse. Roger how was ling season? we got ten keepers in a week.
 
Mercer Island. Some issues now getting on/off due to access to i-90, but very safe IMO. Wealthy tech execs live on the water, but if not on the water housing is somewhat reasonable. Well... relatively. I don't recall seeing much/any homeless there and close to city for commute.
 
krc":13fvkdjg said:
Mercer Island. Some issues now getting on/off due to access to i-90, but very safe IMO. Wealthy tech execs live on the water, but if not on the water housing is somewhat reasonable. Well... relatively. I don't recall seeing much/any homeless there and close to city for commute.
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Mercer Island is VERY nice, little of the major Seattle problems, but one of the most expensive places in the region. I've worked on land stability issues there...it is probably one of the worst places to build a home geology-wise. Nothing is really affordable there compared to just about any other place (excluding Hunts Point, maybe).

There are currently 17 available homes listed ranging from $1.5 to 18 million. Even if you were rich and wanted to live in a similar area with people like you, the commute to the airport would still be a major issue with Mercer Island. You have to use I-90 E and then 405 or I-90 W and I-5. These are all serious rush hour bottlenecks. There is no light rail. I think the words "commuter's hell" would often apply.

If you could commute during the middle of the day, and return late (or vice-versa) it might be nice if you could afford it.
 
Commuting south from West Seattle is reasonable, as there are multiple options for going south. Commuting east or north from West Seattle is a royal pain with the West Seattle bridge out of commission until summer or fall of 2022. Normandy Park is a nice community and a short distance from the airport, but no boat ramp.
 
Many of the posts in this thread lament how Seattle has changed in the last 10 to 20 years. I suggest an additional factor......folks themselves change in 10 to 20 years, and they typically see things very differently. What was once unnoticed, now becomes a problem.

P.S. I've had occasion recently to listen to several hours of recorded lectures on ancient Rome. Yesterday it reminded me of this thread since some quotes were given from the older generation complaining how Rome was "not like it used to be"; more complaints followed about the younger generation. Some things never change :wink: .
 
I suggest an additional factor......folks themselves change in 10 to 20 years, and they typically see things very differently. What was once unnoticed, now becomes a problem.
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Well my last word on this. If you think what is happening is Seattle is some thing I " have not noticed in the past" then I would ask you just how far your head is up yourself. I mean really?? Just how often 20 years ago would you see the head judge at the county court house state that its unsafe for not only his staff but the witnesses, victims and jurors that try to get in the building?? See people throwing large rocks, bikes and other stuff from the over pass everyday, businesses getting robbed $900 at a time? Parks and lakes getting polluted with waste, trash and needles? The crime rate in Seattle per 100k has gone from the low 500s to the 800's and the murder rate is at a 27 year high ( all from the Seattle PI). Maybe if you live around this type of depravity long enough you stop seeing it,,,,, You know from Anacortes..... where crime is going down... And the maddening thing is that it does not have to be this way. But as long as we do the same thing over and over and expect a different out come it will not change and only get worse. The city council and its harmful self defeating policies have to go. but have a nice day in your bliss......
 
We live within a rock throw of Las Vegas but in a controlled growth community that is so conservative that even the dogs vote and the cats have a suit/tie. Less than 16,000 residents and only one grocery store. The only town in Nevada that does not allow gambling. Police with a deserved reputation for not tolerating even 1% of what Portland and Seattle call normal. Small is the new big. We live less than 30 minutes to the Strip but 50 years back in time. We are 15 minutes to all the big boxes but no traffic as in none. The first section of the new Interstate 11 was just built 100% in our town but there is not one off ramp within the city limits. Is it perfect? No, but we could not stand the related costs and stress that came with living on an island in the middle of the bay in Newport Beach, California. Guess some of us are small fish in a small pond. Sorta like a C-22 vs a Nordhavn, my pool is too small for a big boat.
Bob Jarrard
 
Many of the posts in this thread lament how Seattle has changed in the last 10 to 20 years. I suggest an additional factor......folks themselves change in 10 to 20 years, and they typically see things very differently. What was once unnoticed, now becomes a problem.
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Spoken like a protected liberal who doesn't live in Seattle, and therefore doesn't need to deal with the decay. The chin-scratching keyboard musings of someone who lives in a quaint, isolated community, surrounded by a moat of water, where urban blight is (someone else's) intellectual problem. Cause that's what CNN tells you, while the city is burning in the background.

If you truly believe, Sandy, that Seattle's current problems have always existed and the real issue is the intolerance of some of its aging residents, then you are not in reality. Earth to Sandy.
 
Not sure if I am the effete coddled conservative you mention (or is that Sandy?) but as I grew up rural and have no fear of stepping in manure, I can move to Seattle if I wish. I also spent 50+ years working my rear end off so that I can afford to live where I please and I don't ask for help from anyone unless it is a blessing to them to help an old man lift heavy stuff. Last time I looked this is America and hard work is generally rewarded with choices and alternatives but you have to pay the piper for "living on the dole" as my dad used to say. There is no excuse, not one, for being a destroyer and not a builder. You don't have to be Smoky the Bear to see that there seems to be a lot of folks with no respect for the property of others, who feel the "world or history" owe them a no need to work living, and that if you take a good gander at much of "small town moat loving isolated America" there are quite a few good folks who would give you the shirt off their back if need be. Of all the forums that I follow, I pray that this one stays sane, safe, and dedicated to goodwill among the members. As for Rome, it was not built in a day but it did not take long to fall apart either. Now lets all be good here!!!
Bob Jarrard
PS: If you need to flame on someone, call me, I can handle it, I already raised three step children!!! 714 686-2728 and that is my only number! BJ
PSS: I was born in Inglewood, California where they invented the phrase "Urban Decay" and I worked for the LA County Redevelopment Department in the Watts and Firestone/Willowbrook area and more than once had all four tires taken off my County car while I was trying to help out folks in dire need. BJ
PSSS: I've been poor and I've been rich and have come to like the middle the best but I would rather be rich than poor!! BJ
 
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