Runner moving to Seattle - best place to live for running?

F wrote:

I don't know why I'm bothering, but if you hop the 545 around 6:30 AM from RTC you get to 5th and Pine 30 minutes later. I don't use this route so I can't vouch for the accuracy but it seems reasonable based on my commute and the times I have taken the 545. If you got on more around Microsoftville than downtown Redmond, the transit would be closer to 20 minutes. Now just say you were wrong and move on.

"Microsoftville" isn't Redmond. Your first post was highly misleading as to suggest you could live in Redmond, Kirkland, Totem Lake etc and get downtown anywhere close to 30 minutes. Let's not give people false hope here.

Microsoft can be seen here. In Redmond.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Redmond,+WA/@47.6488418,-122.1521408,13.25z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x54900cad2000ee23:0x5e0390eac5d804f2!8m2!3d47.6739881!4d-122.121512

Metro 257 Kingsgate P&R 6:34 AM to 5th & Pine 7:01 AM.

Do you enjoy being wrong? Is this stimulating?

But I suppose you have some vague cousin to a point. You can't *literally* live *anywhere* in the north/east end of Lake WA and expect a 30 minute commute to downtown. I should have made that super duper clear so as to avoid confusion for people who thought I was saying "If you live on the north/east end of Lake Washington, there's literally no way you could ever spend more than 30 minutes on a bus going downtown, ever"

F wrote:

Do you enjoy being wrong? Is this stimulating?

But I suppose you have some vague cousin to a point. You can't *literally* live *anywhere* in the north/east end of Lake WA and expect a 30 minute commute to downtown. I should have made that super duper clear so as to avoid confusion for people who thought I was saying "If you live on the north/east end of Lake Washington, there's literally no way you could ever spend more than 30 minutes on a bus going downtown, ever"

Or you could say "If you live nextdoor to the transit center or this tiny sliver of 'Redmond' and want to catch the 6:23 AM bus every day, you can get downtown in under 30 minutes." For MOST of the NE Lake Washington area you speak of, the commute is more like 60 minutes, which makes your original post misleading and worth correcting.

Live close to g.reen lake and either close to the train or close to express bus stops. If I was going to be there long term I'd try to get a place close to the Roosevelt train station that's supposed to open in 2021. You can take the bus from the park & ride for the next 2-3 years and it's nonstop to downtown

You're absolutely right. I shouldn't have said "you can make it in under 30 minutes on the bus" I should have said: there are certain circumstances under which it is a possibility that you can make it downtown via the Metro or Sound Transit public transportation systems. These circumstances include but are not limited to; driving/walking distance to any number of bus stops, the time of day you are willing to commit to beginning your commute, and whether or not you consider this part of Redmond city limits to actually be Redmond. Disclaimer: it is highly likely that an end to end commute including but not limited to; bus time, travel to transit center, delays, time spent on breakfast prior to leaving home, and specific number of strokes on the morning have-at-yerself will exceed the optimal time of 30 minutes or less as stated above, particularly if you aren't willing or able to leave the house prior to 7AM"

I think that would have been a better way to get my point across.

West Seattle may be affordable, plus has some decent commute options; and decent running areas.

I second this! The only problem is the $$ for a house as it is very, very, expensive for what you get. North of the Ship Canal is good. Just stay away from Aurora Avenue. It's a cesspool of homeless, drug addicts, prostitutes walk'n the Aurora Avenue track, and other crime. Shoreline is better as is Edmonds and Bothell.

Clyde Hill and Medina are serious coin.

Redmond & Woodinville are nice too but not cheap.

jamin wrote:

The median house is not a decent house by any reasonable definition. There are houses on sale for ~$700k, but they are 1- or 2-bedroom 1920s teardowns, or those new, cheaply built boxy townhomes, on busy streets. And remember that there is supposed to be a 9.0+ earthquake any day that, according to seismetologists, will render the area "unrecognizable" and "back into the Dark Ages."

For half the monthly cost of a median house you can rent a house or luxury condo in a neighborhood of your choice.

Well, it depends on neighborhood. In Cap Hill, no, you can't get a decent house for $700k. But in some parts of South Seattle, you can. Check this one out:

Also, you cannot rent a house for half the cost of a mortgage payment.

As for the earthquake fears, wood-framed structures actually do pretty well in earthquakes, especially if the frame is bolted to the foundation. The most major problems with a big earthquake will be infrastructure disruption - no electricity, water, gas, emergency services, etc...

The effect also varies greatly depending on where you are in the PNW. I worked in the Pioneer Square neighborhood during the Nisqually quake of 2000, and that's one of the worst places you can be, because the buildings are make of brick (worst possible structure for earthquake) on top of the worst kind of topography. Map here:

F wrote:

I don't know why I'm bothering, but if you hop the 545 around 6:30 AM from RTC you get to 5th and Pine 30 minutes later. I don't use this route so I can't vouch for the accuracy but it seems reasonable based on my commute and the times I have taken the 545. If you got on more around Microsoftville than downtown Redmond, the transit would be closer to 20 minutes. Now just say you were wrong and move on.

https://www.soundtransit.org/sites/default/files/route_dir_pdf/545-westbound.pdf

I can vouch for this because I take the 545 quite often using my company ORCA card. The 545 rocks! It's pretty fast. I also get off at the 5th & Pine stop. It's right around 30 minutes from the Redmond TC. Getting to the Redmond TC is on you. Once on the bus it's a lot quicker than a car especially during rush hour. Plus you don't have to pay for parking which is great.

ohia wrote:

what is the big draw to seattle?

Rain.

Slow Bro wrote:

"Might also look at Bellevue. It is boring, but housing prices are less ridiculous."

Huh?

Bellevue median price is $929,000

https://www.zillow.com/bellevue-wa/home-values/

Seattle median price is $739,000

https://www.zillow.com/seattle-wa/home-values/

You can actually get a decent house in Seattle for $700k right now. A few months ago, it was more like $820k minimum

Median prices do not tell you anything about the market. Bellevue is a nice area from stem to stern. Seattle has hot neighborhoods, but it also has neighborhoods that are crap and a lot of neighborhoods that really aren't worth the sticker price. So, the prices for homes around SeaTac and Renton pull the median down and a lot of reasonably priced homes are in pretty lame parts of the city. You get more bang for your buck in Bellevue whether it is an apartment, condo or a relatively speaking reasonably priced mid-century mod. There are no bad neighborhoods. If you want to stay, you also get K-12 public schools instead of the insanity of navigating public/private school in the city.

I love living in West Seattle near Alki. Most of running will be paved, but it’s beautiful and if you want some hills, there’s plenty.

I commute to downtown as well and I personally avoid it by going in early and leaving early. I leave my place at around 6 am and be in the office before 6:30. To avoid traffic, best thing to do is avoid rush hours and have flexible hours.

That’s how I stayed sane when I used to live in LA by going into the office earlier than usual.

I agree.

I disagree. Much of Bellevue is dumpy.

Random house on Zillow:

I agree.

SeaTac and Renton prices don't factor in to Seattle median prices. Right?

You can get maybe 40% more square footage per $, but other than that, I don't see what bang you get for living in Bellevue, other than status symbol of having a zip code in Bellevue. Every town has nice neighborhoods and dumpy neighborhoods. Bellevue is crowded.

For $500k you can get a nice house with a yard in Sumner right by the Sounder station and get to AMZN in ~45 mins on a nice smooth train with wifi and a quick bus transfer, or a single express bus with comfy seating. But most people don't want to do that because it's not "cool" to say they live in Sumner.

If you live in one of the elite residential neighborhoods in Seattle, such as Windermere or Magnolia, your commute to AMZN will still be ~45 mins and it'll be on a bus with standing room only that slowly crawls its way to SLU.

lol There are trailer parks in Bellevue just like everywhere in the Puget Sound

There are homeless people hanging out in the libraries just like everywhere in the Puget Sound

There are some decent high schools, also some crappy ones. WA schools overall are mediocre.

Slow Bro wrote:

Also, you cannot rent a house for half the cost of a mortgage payment.

I didn't say mortgage payment; I said monthly cost.

You can rent a nice, 700-sqft apartment in SLU, Belltown, Queen Anne or Capitol Hill, for ~$2200/month, and walk to AMZN in 15 minutes or less.

If you bought a 700-sqft condo in the same area, your monthly payment, which includes mortgage, interest, maintenance, tax, HOA, etc., would be $5,000/month.

F wrote:

I don't know why I'm bothering, but if you hop the 545 around 6:30 AM from RTC you get to 5th and Pine 30 minutes later.

Sounds good, but how long is it going to take you to get to the 545's stop in the first place? You have to add in that time. Also add in the time it takes you to walk from where it drops you off to your office. You're looking at a 1-hr commute if you're honest with yourself.

You idiots pay that much for sh-t that looks barely a step above a trailer park?

Wherever jamin lives is best for running.

jamin wrote:

F wrote:

I don't know why I'm bothering, but if you hop the 545 around 6:30 AM from RTC you get to 5th and Pine 30 minutes later.

Sounds good, but how long is it going to take you to get to the 545's stop in the first place? You have to add in that time. Also add in the time it takes you to walk from where it drops you off to your office. You're looking at a 1-hr commute if you're honest with yourself.

You literally just wrote about how great the train commute from Sumner to Seattle is (45 minutes of train-only time). Are you somehow claiming that all of Sumner residential is walking distance to the train station and that the end of the train ride is walking distance to Amazon?

I'm honestly perplexed and fascinated by your logic here.

F wrote:

You literally just wrote about how great the train commute from Sumner to Seattle is (45 minutes of train-only time). Are you somehow claiming that all of Sumner residential is walking distance to the train station and that the end of the train ride is walking distance to Amazon?

I'm honestly perplexed and fascinated by your logic here.

Here is a house right by the Sumner Station:

That same house in Bellevue would be $1,000,000+ and in a hot neighborhood in Seattle would be $2,000,000+.

The train from Sumner station takes ~30 minutes to King Street Station, never gets stuck in traffic, and you can easily get work done while riding. You then take a short bus ride from King Street Station to SLU, an extra ~10-15 mins. That is all less time than it would take to get to SLU from the East Side.

I've done the following 1-bus commutes within in Seattle:

* Greenwood to Westlake on the 5

* Green Lake to Westlake on the 62

Both of those took about 40 minutes. Could've run to work faster (an idea to consider). Sometimes got stuck waiting over an hour just to catch the bus home whenever there was a protest or other backup.