Seattle

Just came back from a long weekend in Seattle with Laura. We visited the following neighborhoods:

• Downtown
• Pioneer Square District
• Belltown
• Capitol Hill
• Ballard
• Fremont
• Wallingford
• Lake Union area (Montlake/Eastlake)

The aesthetic appeal of the city involves the transitions between a dense, skyscraper-heavy hub and the lush, watery neighborhoods around it. High-rises and high-density housing blocks concentrate, for the most part, around the Downtown, Belltown and Capitol Hill neighborhoods. Significant portions of the other neighborhoods have higher concentrations of low-elevation homes designed in a "mild" modernist style.

This offers residents a smooth shift between a highly urbanized visual experience and a less hectic and greener experience without having to travel "out" to the suburbanized areas. The greener areas of Seattle do not have the traditional suburban features (i.e., sprawled clusters of homes, roads leading to shopping hubs, reliance on traffic arteries). These neighborhoods are surrounded by northwestern greenery, but homes within them do not have large tracts of empty land isolating them from other homes. Modernist homes and bungalows lie close to each other but their privacy and individuality are conserved by the lushness around them.

Of course, this is an initial impression gathered from a four day visit and selective sampling of the neighborhoods. Other parts of Seattle will not fit this description (e.g., industrial South Seattle and certain spots in Ballard); but I think this description captures the essence of what was appealing about Seattle.

While I was there, Forbes Magazine released a list of the Most Overpriced Places of 2004 and Seattle came in as #1. In a nutshell, their reasoning boils down to the claim that "the cost of living and housing is not proportionate to the job and income growth in the area." A scan of real estate listings revealed that rentals are about 10-20% cheaper than in Philadelphia while the sales market was comparable (perhaps slightly higher). Given that I am mulling over a potential move and that Seattle is a prime candidate, I must admit that I did not sense it as overpriced -- though that may change if I know more about the typical salaries in the area and whether the homes in the removed islands and uber-wealthy regions are outrageously priced.

I shall post a Seattle photo album shortly.