moving in January from Chicago (Seattle: apartments, motels, safe neighborhood)

[whoeveriwannabe]

We (myself, my hubby, and our 6 y.o.) are moving to Seattle in January. My husband will be working at the new proton therapy center at Northwest Hospital.
I want to live (rent) as close to Northwest as possible, but it has to be a safe neighborhood with a good elementary school. My husband would like to ride his bike or drive less than 20 minutes to work.
How close can I get to the hospital and still be in a good, walk-able neighborhood? The immediate area (Haller Lake) doesn't look very nice and the rents are dramatically lower, which is never a good sign.

[eskercurve]

Directly west and south there's the Greenwood neighborhood that is nice and walkable along the main street, south of 105th and north of 85th. Basically anything south of 85th will be nice on the west side of I-5. Walkable, safe, and different feels for each neighborhood (how familiar are you with Chicago? I grew up there, so I can make comparisons if you like as best I can). Since you have a 6 year old, I might suggest living a block or so away from the main areas of Ballard and Fremont due to how noisy it can get. Aurora has suddenly become very sketchy at night too, so you will want to stay away from there (the recession hasn't been kind to the old kitschy motels and old apartments along it, more graffitti and such now).

East of the highway is Northgate. It's a very multi ethnic area but does have a distinct lack of sidewalks in some areas. Though, it is very close to oneo f the major malls here, Northgate. South of Northgate is the University District and Ravenna. Ravenna is nice, UD is nice only north of 55th due to the students living there. East of UD, Windemere and around there, is nice but less walkable.

[RustinginSeattle]

Sunset Hill, west of Ballard, the North end of Ballard, and Phinney Ridge/Greenwood, Wallingford would all be good. I live on the west end of Ballard and I had both of my children at NW hospital. It was about a 15 minute drive, all on city streets. South of 85th has sidewalks, which makes it feel so much more walkable. It's tough going East/West in this city, so keep that in mind when looking at neighborhoods.