Housing & Neighborhoods

Seattle’s central neighborhoods are considered very desirable places to live but are more expensive than more distant locations. The neighborhoods of Capitol Hill, Wallingford, Green Lake, Ravenna, Roosevelt, and Fremont are all great places to live and are a short bus or bike ride from the University, or in the case of Capitol Hill and Roosevelt, 5 minutes on the light rail. Ballard and Queen Anne are a couple of other very nice neighborhoods you might consider, although they are slightly farther from the university. Ballard is an especially popular choice, has lots of apartments, and has good bus service to UW; Queen Anne has sweeping views of the downtown skyline and Mt Rainier but bus connections to UW are less direct. Columbia City, south of downtown, has a direct rail connection to UW. Greenwood is another place with lots of apartments and amenities, although it’s a little farther away. Northgate is not especially interesting, but it does have a light rail connection to UW that will get you to the U-district in 10 minutes and has lots of apartments. There is plenty of off-campus housing nearby in the University District, including new on-campus graduate housing options for those who prefer to go that route.

The farther from the city center you go, the lower prices tend to be. Those looking for the least expensive apartments will find them in the north and south end suburbs (not the eastside suburbs – due to Microsoft et al, housing in Bellevue, Kirkland, and Redmond is as expensive or more than central Seattle, although there is now a light rail connection from Bellevue and Redmond) but will have a longer commute and less interesting surroundings. If you do opt for less expensive housing in the suburbs, you’ll want to choose one that has frequent all-day bus or light rail service to the UW. The north King County suburbs of Kenmore and Bothell fit this requirement (all day & evening bus service via #372 metro transit, as well as connections to light rail via the the #522 sound transit bus) and Bothell in particular has lots of amenities. Directly north of Seattle, Shoreline, Mountlake Terrace, and Lynnwood have lots of apartments and good connections to the UW via light rail paired with unremarkable surroundings.

Prices vary, but one bedrooms start around $2100 per month and two bedrooms start around $2400…and go much higher. Seattle has become expensive in recent years, but it’s still less expensive than the Bay Area, Los Angeles, Boston, and New York. If you’re moving here from a midwestern college town, you can anticipate a bit of sticker shock.