Relocating to Seattle from Florida (Bellevue, Renton: for sale, apartments, rentals)

[cloe73b]

Hi all this is my first time posting things, I am truly stumped as to where I should live in the Seattle area. So I am relocating this summer to Seattle from Florida (I know bye bye sunshine) and will be working for Microsoft in Redmond. I have only visited Seattle once before and didn't get a good feel as to if I want to live near work or the city. I'm in my early-20s so I'm looking for something a little lively but safe.

Here is a little bit what I am looking for:
- near/in safe area to do early morning running
- walking/biking distance to grocery stores
- close to bus routes (I heard MS had a private bus but I haven't been able to find their stops online so if anyone knows where they are located that would be awesome!)
- near public library would be amazing!

So far I have been looking around Lake Union b/c its close to the highway but I would appriciate any pointers! I love to be outside so anyplace that is safe enough for me to walkabout would be nice.

Thanks for your help!

[seattlenextyear]

Do you have your heart set on living in Seattle or is the Eastside ok? Its best to live on the side of Lake Washington that you work in. Tons of Microsofties live in Bellevue, Redmond or Kirkland.

[allforcats]

Here is the Microsoft Connector Bus:
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/m...ctornewbig.jpg
As you can see, right now it services a lot of areas on the east side of Lake Washington and not in the city of Seattle. That will come, gradually, in time, assuming the economy doesn't completely depress. Lake Union is in the city of Seattle, on the west side of Lake Washington, and would require a ride of two public buses to Microsoft, or a long, slow, crowded drive which would eat long hours out of your life each day and to which there is no alternative, and residential parking in Seattle is expensive.

You can find everything you asked about in Redmond. Or Bellevue, Kirkland, or Issaquah. Also in eastern Renton, Newcastle and Newport Hills. Open Mapquest, search for just Redmond WA, and the map will show you all those cities. If you click a couple of times on + the map will show the Microsoft Redmond campus identified.

If you live on the east side, as most Microsofties do, you can drive 5 or 10 minutes to a Connector stop, park your car, and be finished driving for the day. Each of these cities has decent libraries in their downtowns and they can borrow from the Seattle Library System at any time. To travel green, there's also adequate public bus transportation in and around Redmond, Bellevue and Kirkland, less in Issaquah because it's newer as a residential area.

Lots of walkers and bikers here seem to be happy, all year long.

Some resources for rentals:
NWSource. Click on location names in the little map, which will drill down to smaller locations. You'll learn where east side locations are and Seattle neighborhoods:
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/m...ctornewbig.jpg
Seattle Weekly:
Seattle Classifieds
Craigslist:
craigslist: seattle-tacoma classifieds for jobs, apartments, personals, for sale, services, community, and events
And rent.com, forrent.com, apartments.com
Just remember never ever ever ever send any money to anyone until you verify that they actually exist, they are legally authorized to rent the property, and the property is exactly as described. Lots of internet scams about rentals go on all the time throughout the U.S. Enlist the empathy and assistance of your relocation specialist at MS.

[Under The Clouds]

I know several Microsofties in my my neighborhood (Capitol Hill) which is great choice for someone in her 20's. It's Seattle densest neighborhood, with good bus service, walkable streets to grocery stores, dry cleaners, etc., and a public library branch. Other good choices are First Hill, downtown, South Lake Union, and Lower Queen Anne. SLU, First Hill and Lower Queen Anne don't have their own library branch, but are close to the Central branch in downtown.

Regarding the Microsoft Connector Bus, I don't know how often it runs, but I have seen it running along 15th Avenue on Capitol Hill.

Finally, as the previous poster pointed out, the commute via public transit generally takes two buses from Seattle to Redmond (one bus from your neighborhood to downtown, and the second bus from downtown to Redmond). All the local buses in Seattle are run by King County Metro, while the buses between Seattle and the Eastside are operated either by Metro or SoundTransit. If you were to live close enough to downtown, you could do away with the local bus trip and just take the downtown-Redmond line.

[Heiwos]

cloe73b, For entertainment, Seattle proper is probably better at your age than living on the Eastside around MS, but you'll pay for it with a much longer, sometimes traffic-jammed commute. For that one reason it might be best to just visit Seattle whenever you want, after rush hour.

Today I read that FL houses near Fort Myers are going for $45K, less than 20% of Seattle prices! Well at least there are still jobs here.

[cloe73b]

Thank you all for your posts I was looking into living in Seattle side b/c I heard there was more in walking distance and just more to do in general. But I have heard that traffic can be insane crossing the bridges. I'm probably going to be doing a pro/con list and see if seattle(capitol hill looks nice) wins over eastside. Thanks again for your help! The search still continues!

[toughguy]

The commute is not that bad if you live close to the 545 route (or if you can ride the Connector). Both options have wifi connectivity, so you can kill time by talking sh** to your facebook buddies or surfing porn while you are sitting in traffic.

[deuterdu]

cloe73b how does it make you feel that you now are considered a Microsoftie? You haven't moved yet and already have a label!