Sounds great. Seattle is high on my list of want-to-visit cities.
Any idea of "newer townhouse" prices?
Do you have a recommended hotel in the area?
Since I live here, and have lived here for so long, I really don't know much about hotels. My sister stays at the Renaissance when she comes, she gets some kind of deal there. A flight attendant I knew said her crews always stay at the downtown Sheraton. My ex's Dad stayed there too, and I went to a few conferences there. It is well located, and maybe a bit cheaper than the Renaissance. There are quite a few members on the board who come here frequently; they may be good sources for hotel suggestions. Zero is one person who comes a lot.
About the town homes- google Redfin Seattle. Price so much depends on how the neighborhood is perceived. This thread started out being about urban living, then gentrification, then I don't know what all. Urban living should not be conflated with gentrification, at least in Seattle, where the nice urban neighborhoods have always been more expensive than most suburbs, other than a few upscale ones on the East side of Lake Washington. In recesions the urban neighborhoods hold up, the suburbs go bad. There are these stable, high quality urban neighborhoods. Then there are gentrifying neighborhoods with very good momentum and where I would be willing to bet and live, and other questionably gentrifying ones where I would not be willing to bet or live, and others that I doubt will ever make it in my lifetime anyway. I think access to Link rapid transit is a real plus for one's own use, and it is like getting a warrant on the future. When I went shopping, I got a Link map, with timing, with what was funded and what not yet, etc.
I think in established, well located areas there are pretty nice places from maybe $350k to $850k(usually with view for these expensive ones). For neighborhoods with frequent bus access downtown and little or no issues of "gentrification", look at lower Queen Ann (now called Uptown), First Hill, Capitol Hill, Ballard, farther from downtown but very nice in itself, University District and Ravenna, Green Lake, Fremont. Also really nice, expensive, and having less frequent bus service is Madison Beach (most upscale) and Madison Park. All these have their own character. Capitol Hill and Uptown are closest to downtown-like easy walk from most areas.
The cheapest OK looking town homes are in the areas a bit less far along the gentrifying path, as there are still little bungalows with enough lot that a builder may be able to put together a few and tear them down and build on in front, one in back on a single lot. IMO these suck. There are also nicer town homes that use the whole lot of the teardown, and these are usually at the edges of the well established good neighborhoods. But I think some of these are 5 star, in that the neighborhood change is coming and will not be stopped, yet you can buy a nice place without spending an arm and a leg. Also these are usually in neighborhoods that were once primo, prior to WW2. So the surviving homes are big and pretty, and the trees and such are very pretty.
The only time I looked at townhomes was when I was out on a Sunday with my GF and she wanted to. I like condos and apts better and they are cheaper.
Anything you see on Redfin or elsewhere, pm me and I will be happy to give whatever candid opinion I might have, or I may know nothing. I'm not a real estate guy.
Ha
