7 ms·

Because Seattle's a pretty great city to live in? You can still easily find rent below $1500/month for a 1 bedroom on Capitol Hill, it isn't too insane. Editin

Because Seattle's a pretty great city to live in? You can still easily find rent below $1500/month for a 1 bedroom on Capitol Hill, it isn't too insane. Editing to add Seattle has world-class rock climbing, mountaineering, and hiking under an hour's drive from downtown, and if you aren't doing that you're probably missing out on half the joy of living here.

daenz 7y ago
I lived in Chicago and paid $1500/mo for a 1500 sq/ft loft in River North, AC, dishwasher, in-unit laundry. The rents here are insane compared to other places.
- monksy 7y ago
  How long ago was this? For a smaller place (900sqft for a 2 or 3 bedroom) they're asking $3200 in logan square. Right arround the corner (western/armitage) they're asking $1800 for a studio.
  - daenz 7y ago
    This was 7 years ago. It was also on the top floor of a building with no elevator, so there were contributing factors to the $/foot. Everywhere I lived in Chicago got much more "bang for the buck" than Seattle though. Better summers and winters (I enjoy snow), and much better food as well. The difference in the homeless situation was shocking as well. The only thing Seattle has going for it, imo, is the nearby nature, but I honestly haven't taken advantage of it to warrant the cost of living increases on everything else.
  - notfromhere 7y ago
    If you’re in a trendy neighborhood in new construction, sure. There are plenty of neighborhoods where you can. Get $1.6/sqft Chicago rents have been increasing but nowhere near west coast or east coast prices
    - monksy 7y ago
      Those are becoming further and further way from the city. Even Pilsen is seeing costs higher than that.
  - 60654 7y ago
    You can still get $1500/mo for a 2br on the north side. Just be on the brown line instead of the blue line. The trendy neighborhoods can be just as expensive as SF SOMA, but there's so much inventory, so the non-trendy but nice neighborhoods are much, much cheaper.
justincormack 7y ago
Not sure people will want to live in a one bedroom if they start working from home even some of the time, you want space.
mantas 7y ago
Define "great". A lot of people don't give a fuck about blings aside from cushy job. So far blings are what make up for the sad reality of city living. But if cushy jobs are not restricted to few areas anymore... Why bother.
- kolikotime 7y ago
  Most companies are not going to go fully distributed. Partial remote? Sure. Maybe a few full remote roles set aside for superstars? Sure. But mass distributed remote? Highly unlikely. This experiment hasn’t gone that well.
autokad 7y ago
> "Because Seattle's a pretty great city to live in?" I feel like thats a minority opinion. The weather is terrible, the food is terrible, service at restaurants (or pretty much service in general) is terrible. A huge portion of the city shuts down at night. Where NYC is a city that doesn't sleep, Seattle sleeps. There are drug needles in the streets, and I routinely see homeless people defecating on sidewalks. I even saw a bus stop turned into a homeless person's 'house'. The only thing I see that Seattle has going for it is low taxes.
- BurningFrog 7y ago
  > Where NYC is a city that doesn't sleep, Seattle sleeps Are there any other US cities that don't sleep?
  - milkytron 7y ago
    I'd argue Las Vegas.
    - jaywalk 7y ago
      NYC bars close at 4am. Las Vegas bars don't close. I don't think there's much of an argument, really.
    - BurningFrog 7y ago
      Agreed. So two cities then?
- _hardwaregeek 7y ago
  I'm a native New Yorker with all the chauvinism that comes with it, but I didn't find Seattle that bad! The weather is no worse than New York's brutal humidity in the summer. The food isn't that bad. Sure the Asian food is thoroughly mediocre compared to New York's, but that's mostly cause New York has great Asian food. The seafood is wonderful too. Service wasn't that bad either—I suspect that's very subjective. Sure, Seattle does shut down at night but how many cities realistically have an all night culture? Even New York's "city that never sleeps" is super exaggerated. There's only a handful of places that stay open past 2-3 am (Gammeeok, Veselka, Coppelia, Great NY Noodletown, Wonjo if you want a few). The homeless does seem to be a problem, albeit I'd say the homeless in Seattle are a little less grungy (heh) then New York's.
mdszy 7y ago
$1500/month is absolutely insane for one bedroom lol My apartment is $850 and that gets me 2 bedrooms, 1200sqft. In a definitely not as large city mind you, but $1500 is insanely expensive for one bedroom.
- beamatronic 7y ago
  Ever looked into San Francisco prices?
  - ballenf 7y ago
    SF is practically free compared to a room on the International Space Station.
- leetcrew 7y ago
  what kinds of businesses can you walk to?
  - mdszy 7y ago
    Paying double my rent is not worth being able to walk more places, sorry bud.
triceratops 7y ago
> world-class rock climbing, mountaineering, and hiking under an hour's drive from downtown, Seems like you could have all of that without living in downtown...
- ahelwer 7y ago
  Yeah, but then you lack all the benefits of the city. Downtown isn't a nice place to live, also.
Kephael 7y ago
You can maybe get a micro studio in cap hill for $1500/mo, but any 1 Bed / 1 Bath at that price point probably hasn't been renovated since 1974. You need to spend 50% more to get something "decent", and your walking commute to actual jobs is going to approach 30 minutes for the lower priced stuff.
- ahelwer 7y ago
  Let go of your desire to have something built within the past five years and your horizons broaden considerably. There are plenty of beautiful buildings just a few blocks off the Pike/Pine corridor that are perfectly comfortable & livable. A quick look at craigslist confirms this, although prices are higher now that weather is nice - you can usually save $200/month by renewing your lease in January or February.
  - Kephael 7y ago
    In those old buildings without a concierge your packages will get stolen and you'll be living in a high crime area. I've lived in old places before and it's terrible. At minimum, you deal with poor infrastructure (no in unit laundry or dish washer) and bugs. Prices are actually low due to COVID. I've lived nearby to Pike and Pine and know the area well. I'm happy to maximize my TC and not worry about the extra $10k a year to live in a nice, modern building.

daenz 7y ago

I lived in Chicago and paid $1500/mo for a 1500 sq/ft loft in River North, AC, dishwasher, in-unit laundry. The rents here are insane compared to other places.

monksy 7y ago
How long ago was this? For a smaller place (900sqft for a 2 or 3 bedroom) they're asking $3200 in logan square. Right arround the corner (western/armitage) they're asking $1800 for a studio.
- daenz 7y ago
  This was 7 years ago. It was also on the top floor of a building with no elevator, so there were contributing factors to the $/foot. Everywhere I lived in Chicago got much more "bang for the buck" than Seattle though. Better summers and winters (I enjoy snow), and much better food as well. The difference in the homeless situation was shocking as well. The only thing Seattle has going for it, imo, is the nearby nature, but I honestly haven't taken advantage of it to warrant the cost of living increases on everything else.
- notfromhere 7y ago
  If you’re in a trendy neighborhood in new construction, sure. There are plenty of neighborhoods where you can. Get $1.6/sqft Chicago rents have been increasing but nowhere near west coast or east coast prices
  - monksy 7y ago
    Those are becoming further and further way from the city. Even Pilsen is seeing costs higher than that.
- 60654 7y ago
  You can still get $1500/mo for a 2br on the north side. Just be on the brown line instead of the blue line. The trendy neighborhoods can be just as expensive as SF SOMA, but there's so much inventory, so the non-trendy but nice neighborhoods are much, much cheaper.

justincormack 7y ago

Not sure people will want to live in a one bedroom if they start working from home even some of the time, you want space.

mantas 7y ago

Define "great". A lot of people don't give a fuck about blings aside from cushy job. So far blings are what make up for the sad reality of city living. But if cushy jobs are not restricted to few areas anymore... Why bother.

kolikotime 7y ago
Most companies are not going to go fully distributed. Partial remote? Sure. Maybe a few full remote roles set aside for superstars? Sure. But mass distributed remote? Highly unlikely. This experiment hasn’t gone that well.

autokad 7y ago

> "Because Seattle's a pretty great city to live in?" I feel like thats a minority opinion. The weather is terrible, the food is terrible, service at restaurants (or pretty much service in general) is terrible. A huge portion of the city shuts down at night. Where NYC is a city that doesn't sleep, Seattle sleeps. There are drug needles in the streets, and I routinely see homeless people defecating on sidewalks. I even saw a bus stop turned into a homeless person's 'house'. The only thing I see that Seattle has going for it is low taxes.

BurningFrog 7y ago
> Where NYC is a city that doesn't sleep, Seattle sleeps Are there any other US cities that don't sleep?
- milkytron 7y ago
  I'd argue Las Vegas.
  - jaywalk 7y ago
    NYC bars close at 4am. Las Vegas bars don't close. I don't think there's much of an argument, really.
  - BurningFrog 7y ago
    Agreed. So two cities then?
_hardwaregeek 7y ago
I'm a native New Yorker with all the chauvinism that comes with it, but I didn't find Seattle that bad! The weather is no worse than New York's brutal humidity in the summer. The food isn't that bad. Sure the Asian food is thoroughly mediocre compared to New York's, but that's mostly cause New York has great Asian food. The seafood is wonderful too. Service wasn't that bad either—I suspect that's very subjective. Sure, Seattle does shut down at night but how many cities realistically have an all night culture? Even New York's "city that never sleeps" is super exaggerated. There's only a handful of places that stay open past 2-3 am (Gammeeok, Veselka, Coppelia, Great NY Noodletown, Wonjo if you want a few). The homeless does seem to be a problem, albeit I'd say the homeless in Seattle are a little less grungy (heh) then New York's.

mdszy 7y ago

$1500/month is absolutely insane for one bedroom lol My apartment is $850 and that gets me 2 bedrooms, 1200sqft. In a definitely not as large city mind you, but $1500 is insanely expensive for one bedroom.

beamatronic 7y ago
Ever looked into San Francisco prices?
- ballenf 7y ago
  SF is practically free compared to a room on the International Space Station.
leetcrew 7y ago
what kinds of businesses can you walk to?
- mdszy 7y ago
  Paying double my rent is not worth being able to walk more places, sorry bud.

triceratops 7y ago

> world-class rock climbing, mountaineering, and hiking under an hour's drive from downtown, Seems like you could have all of that without living in downtown...

ahelwer 7y ago
Yeah, but then you lack all the benefits of the city. Downtown isn't a nice place to live, also.

Kephael 7y ago

You can maybe get a micro studio in cap hill for $1500/mo, but any 1 Bed / 1 Bath at that price point probably hasn't been renovated since 1974. You need to spend 50% more to get something "decent", and your walking commute to actual jobs is going to approach 30 minutes for the lower priced stuff.

ahelwer 7y ago
Let go of your desire to have something built within the past five years and your horizons broaden considerably. There are plenty of beautiful buildings just a few blocks off the Pike/Pine corridor that are perfectly comfortable & livable. A quick look at craigslist confirms this, although prices are higher now that weather is nice - you can usually save $200/month by renewing your lease in January or February.
- Kephael 7y ago
  In those old buildings without a concierge your packages will get stolen and you'll be living in a high crime area. I've lived in old places before and it's terrible. At minimum, you deal with poor infrastructure (no in unit laundry or dish washer) and bugs. Prices are actually low due to COVID. I've lived nearby to Pike and Pine and know the area well. I'm happy to maximize my TC and not worry about the extra $10k a year to live in a nice, modern building.