West Seattle (White Center: for sale, rental, violent crime) - Washington (WA) -Seattle and King County Suburbs - City-Data Forum

newseattl-ite · 03-20-2007, 10:57 AM

I'm still researching neighborhoods that are within 30 min (bus) commute of downtown.....Does anyone have info about the crime levels in West Seattle? acceptable levels are relative I guess, but is it a reasonably safe place for pedestrians? I hear that it depends on how far south you are...I'm looking at a rental near SW Morgan and 35th SW, so about halfway between West Seattle and White Center-per mapquest

I really appreciate any suggestions!

newseattl-ite · 03-20-2007, 10:59 AM

I'm still researching neighborhoods that are within 30 min (bus) commute of downtown.....Does anyone have info about the crime levels in West Seattle? acceptable levels are relative I guess, but is it a reasonably safe place for pedestrians? I hear that it depends on how far south you are...I'm looking at a rental near SW Morgan and 35th SW, so about halfway between West Seattle and White Center-per mapquest

I really appreciate any suggestions!

pwright1 · 03-20-2007, 12:38 PM

Crime wise I think you're ok. It's kind of quiet over there and you're just a couple of minutes from Westwood Village which is a nice outdoor shopping center with Barnes & Noble, Target, QFC supermarket, Marshalls, 24 hour Fitness, Bed Bath & Beyond and more. Also metro buses run up & down 35th quite often.

pwright1 · 03-20-2007, 01:00 PM

Crime wise you're ok. It's kind of quiet over there and you're just a couple of minutes from Westwood Village which is a nice outdoor shopping center with Barnes & Noble, Target, QFC supermarket, Marshalls, 24 hour Fitness, Bed Bath & Beyond and more. Also metro buses run up & down 35th quite often. California Avenue is the main street in west Seattle. You'll find pockets of restaurants and businesses along this street. Many down on your end of California and about 1.5 miles north near Admiral. Where are you from?

BanteringBear · 03-20-2007, 01:44 PM

That area can be marginal. I would not say that it's safe to walk around at night. Especially for a single woman.

newseattl-ite · 03-20-2007, 04:32 PM

thanks so much for all the info!

mlee70 · 03-23-2007, 04:32 PM

We moved here from Eugene, Oregon in August of 2006. We live
around the 35th and Morgan neighborhood. In fact, we are 2 block away.
Anyhow, no problems so far. We choose to not use a car, and we walk everywhere: Westwood Village, Alki beach, and California street. However, I never walk at night alone. Also, the area is not heavily populated (50,000 or so). It has a small community feel, not to mention some of the most beautiful views of the islands, olympic mountains, and the sound. It's gorgeous.

Crime reports are made weekly through the west seattle herald newspaper website:http://www.westseattleherald.com/articles/2007/03/20/news/police%20blotter/cops.txt (broken link)

I read the reports weekly. A lot of attempted break ins (cars and houses) throughout west seattle. Violent crime seems almost always domestic violence disputes. Read the forums so you can make your own determination.
Seattle in general ranks about a 6 on the 1-10 scale for violent crime.

JennyPi · 03-24-2007, 07:04 PM

35th Ave is generally the dividing line between nice, sleepy-safe W. Seattle and the somewhat more run down, keep-your-guard-up Westwood/White Center. (At night, the cops west of 35th can be found hanging out at a local coffeshop.

) The long-time nagging question for those of us in W. Seattle has always been, "is the petty crime east of 35th bleeding over to the west yet, or is the middle class, law-abiding lifestyle bleeding over to the east yet?"

I don't live on the line myself, but I haven't sensed any uptick in major crimes at least. And in the last few years they put in a much-needed new police precinct at Delridge & Sylvan Way, right by the new Home Depot. (Before that, the closest precinct was way over in Seattle proper.)

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=e...01617,0.002304

Also, the improvements to Westwood Mall, with the Barnes & Noble, Bed Bath & Beyond, Pier One, etc., are an encouraging sight. As is the big (re)development of the High Point area called "The High Point". High Point was a neighborhood filled with housing projects, many of which I think were originally housing for the inflood of Boeing workers during WWII, & later were subsidized housing for the poor. I don't know if The High Point homes for sale/rent are subsidized housing, but they should look good for a few years at least.

http://www.thehighpoint.com/

All in all, it's an interesting area & IMO worth a gamble on (if you're in the mood to gamble).

newseattl-ite · 03-27-2007, 10:00 AM

Thanks everyone for being so helpful...I'm from all over- grew up in Alaska, college in Colorado, worked in Ireland, college again in Oregon. I'm Oregon now, obviously within travelling distance of Seattle, but I'm since in school am doing most of my research online. I'll be working at Swedish med center, so I need to be close to downtown. It's the Alaskan in me that wants to live somewhere I can go running outdoors with my dog and not worry too much about crime. I realize that no matter where you are it's about having common sense, but like everyone else I want to find a happy medium!