Safe, cost efficient and outdoorsy area close to SEATAC (Seattle: real estate, apartments)

[N4865G]

Good day all,

Thinking about moving to Seattle area later this year.
Work at the airport and looking for the community within 45`-max 1 hour commute by car.
Hope to find modern and furnished 1B apartment to rent at around 2400-2500 a month.
Key parameters we are looking at are safety, walkability and proximity to nature (forest, cycling paths, etc).
I did a little bit of research and the eastern side of the metropolis (Renton, Newcastle, Bellevue, etc) seems like a good fit.
I would appreciate locals' input on some local gems we could have a closer look at.

Thank you

[N4865G]

Forgot to mention, we are in our early 50s and love sports, like tennis and golf.
Hope this adds to the full picture.

[homesinseattle]

Originally Posted by N4865G

Good day all,

Thinking about moving to Seattle area later this year.
Work at the airport and looking for the community within 45`-max 1 hour commute by car.
Hope to find modern and furnished 1B apartment to rent at around 2400-2500 a month.
Key parameters we are looking at are safety, walkability and proximity to nature (forest, cycling paths, etc).
I did a little bit of research and the eastern side of the metropolis (Renton, Newcastle, Bellevue, etc) seems like a good fit.
I would appreciate locals' input on some local gems we could have a closer look at.

Thank you

Hi N48, Often when people mention "walkability" they do it in terms of proximity on foot to nearby cafes, coffee shops. Sounds like you might mean something different, more like peaceful walking options where you live? Yes, the areas you've mentioned are genrally nice, of those 3 Renton would be the most affordable. You might throw West Seattle into the mix, it's nice out there and pretty easy to get to Seatac.

[CrazyDonkey]

Dash Point/Brown's Point area of northeast Tacoma.

https://www.zillow.com/b/3217-tacoma-wa-CJcs5S/

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/4...69547437_zpid/

https://www.zillow.com/apartments/ta...illage/5XjVRt/

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1...81164801_zpid/

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3...68019202_zpid/

[N4865G]

Thank you,
Many people recommend West Seattle but it looks a bit distant from the airport?
Thanks

Originally Posted by homesinseattle

Hi N48, Often when people mention "walkability" they do it in terms of proximity on foot to nearby cafes, coffee shops. Sounds like you might mean something different, more like peaceful walking options where you live? Yes, the areas you've mentioned are genrally nice, of those 3 Renton would be the most affordable. You might throw West Seattle into the mix, it's nice out there and pretty easy to get to Seatac.

[homesinseattle]

Originally Posted by N4865G

Thank you,
Many people recommend West Seattle but it looks a bit distant from the airport?
Thanks

Nope, not at all. You can even get to the airport without even getting on busy I-5. Go to google and input this and see “Endolyne Joe’s to Seatac”. Endolyne Joe’s is fun restaurant on the south side of West Seattle. You’ll see that it is 20 minutes, that would be roughly 30 minutes from the middle of West Seattle.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by N4865G

Thank you,
Many people recommend West Seattle but it looks a bit distant from the airport?
Thanks

West Seattle is much closer than Bellevue. Renton is even closer. There are other communities close by the airport, but we're giving you the ones that meet your criteria the best, and are the best in terms of safety. West Seattle's Lincoln Park is a real gem, and it's not the only park there Plus there's beachfront, neighborhoods of cafes and restaurants, and it has a passenger ferry to take you downtown should you ever need to go, without having to deal with traffic.

How close to the airport you're located in W Seattle, of course, depends on which part of the area you locate in. If you could find something generally in the vicinity of Lincoln Park, you'd be doing well. Don't go too far south, i.e. into White Center.

I'm not familiar with Renton, personally, but others can give you more info.

[Ruth4Truth]

OP, I just looked at Craigslist to get an idea of what's available in W Seattle. The listings would be very confusing to an outsider, I discovered; the site is saturated with corporate-owned rental complexes, many of which aren't in West Seattle at all, but in the suburbs to the south. There also appears to be a lot of fairly recent development of rental complexes in the area known as "The Junction", which I wouldn't advise. For one thing, you need to be farther south in West Seattle. And The Junction is closer to industrial areas and the noisy West Seattle bridge. I just don't think it's what you're looking for, although there are a couple of large parks in the area.

Your best bet might be to look up property management companies in West Seattle, and look for locally-owned units. The corporate-owned complexes raise the rent annually until it doubles. This would push you out of your new home within a few years' time. This is an issue all over the US, not just Seattle. You can google "property management" and "West Seattle" to see what businesses come up. As you peruse available options, you can use this forum as a resource if you have questions about the suitability of locations, etc.

And by the way, you said you wanted to be near "forest". The NW forests are a long way away, be aware. You could definitely head out there for weekend hiking, but you're not going to find any forest in the vicinity of your apartment, except for Lincoln Park, which is a wonderful refuge, and also has beachfront.

I'm just giving you a reality check. Good luck with your search! We're here for you. And FYI, I found the rents in the area to range from under $2000 to slightly over.

So affordability doesn't seem to be an issue, at least--in the beginning. Check the website of any listings that interest you, to get a better understanding of the rents. Corporate-owned buildings typically do not provide a fixed rent on their websites! They present a range for each category of unit, beginning with the starting rent at the beginning of occupancy, rising to the top rent after years of annual rent hikes. If you peruse the corporate websites more thoroughly, you'll find a page that states that the buildings are owned by an investment group. They are using people's rents to pay dividends to their investors. Their loyalty is to their investors, not to their renters. These rentals are to be avoided unless you find one that starts below your minimum rent ($1800/mo., say), so that you can ride out the rent hikes for a number of years before they hit your upper threshold.

If you work with one or two property management companies, you can specify that you want to avoid buildings owned by investment groups, and are looking for units owned by individual landlords.The rental market has become brutal in the last 20+ years. I don't know how you managed in the area you're moving from,but Seattle being such a hot job market, it attracted these corporate investment entities (Real Estate Investment Trusts, or REITs) 30 years ago already.

[Ruth4Truth]

West Seattle forest parks:

https://www.seattle.gov/parks/allpar...-preserve-park

https://www.seattle.gov/parks/allparks/lincoln-park


West Seattle bike path/bike lane map:
https://rideyourbike.com/bikeroutes.shtml