Seattle - Fremont, Queen Anne and the U-District

Fremont - the Center of The Universe

Yes, indeed - that spot does mark the center of the universe. Just read the vertical post if you dont believe me! And if that isn't proof enough, maybe this will convince you:

 

Fremont, to me, is a blue spot in a blue city in a blue state, where the bluest of the blue congregate.  Even the Fremont Bridge is painted blue!  Where else would you see an apartment building that looks like this?

 

Or a celebrated landmark like this (notice the VW bug being crushed under the troll's left hand)?

 



Corporate America hasn't ignored Fremont either.  Adobe Systems has a presence - maybe even an HQ presence - as does this little known outfit.

Seriously, Fremont is such a great place to hang out.  In a few closely concentrated blocks,  you'll find a variety of restaurants, bars, coffee shops - ok, this is an oxymoron for Seattle, but still - and even a boutique guitar amp builder.  And Fremont has a great farmers market too.

Although not as big as the Ballard market, it is every bit as interesting, and is right next to the canal.  You can get something to eat from one of the many great vendors

or a food truck that was on the Travel Channel (or was it the Food Network?):

 and eat it while looking at a view like this.

But just to score over the Ballard market, Fremont has this - you can pick up all kinds of knick knacks here.

 

 

A few blocks away from the Center Of The Universe, perhaps up the hill on Fremont Ave, or one of the side streets, it gets a lot quieter, with many apartment/condo type buildings and houses.  I imagine you could have the best of all worlds living in one of these streets, but I got the sense of there being either a very busy section or a very quiet neighborhood, with not much in between.  Ballard, on the other hand, seemed all in between; which appealed to me much more. 

 

Fremont reminded me very much of Takoma Park, except on a much larger scale.  There was a much greater tourist presence (my own being one), as evidenced by the number of cameras being used.  Interestingly enough, I felt like the only non-local in Ballard, something I think I'd like a lot more if I lived in that neighborhood.   

 

Fremont pictures

 

Queen Anne:

 

I doubt that anybody who visits Seattle misses Queen Anne Hill.  A leisurely drive through its many streets will make it obvious why it costs so much to live there.  As you get closer to the top of the hill, the views get more and more spectacular as does, I imagine, the value of real estate.  There is one small part of the top of the hill that is very walkable.  This part of Queen Anne Ave reminded me of a mini downtown Bethesda - definitely more elite than proletariat. 

 

 

 

The top of the hill was definitely a great place to visit, but perhaps not so much as a place to live - for me, anyway.  To me, it was too small to be self contained, and most likely way beyond my reach.  That said, you can't argue with the delightful ambiance of the neighborhood - if you can afford to live there!

 

As with the other neighborhoods I visited, there is the obligatory coffee shop (or three, or four, or...), this one with a bookshop - and not a Barnes & Noble either!

 

 

The big surprise to me, however, was Lower Queen Anne.  This is the neighborhood at the bottom of the hill, and generally includes the area around Seattle Center and the Space Needle.  The Hampton Inn, where I was staying, was in Lower Queen Anne, and I had no idea I would like it as much as I did.

 

 

With a much more urban feel, this neighborhood has many more options than the one up the hill.  But even though it has a slightly less exclusive feel, I doubt that it is much more affordable considering how much closer to downtown it is - I imagine some people think of it as actually being downtown.  I walked around this neighborhood most evenings in search of dinner, and had no trouble finding several interesting choices.  I loved the salmon tacos at the Blue Water Taco Grill...:)

 

 

 And how could anything beat walking around while the sun is setting and seeing this?

 

 

Or being hit by delicious irony like this? 

 

 

 

Even so, Lower Queen Anne, I decided, was not for me.  It was definitely endowed with visitable coolness, but for my taste, way too urban to be liveable.

 

Likewise, the downtown area known as Belltown felt like living in the central business district of a major city.  I have no doubt that many people love that setting, and there is much to recommend it.  You can live automobile-free and yet have access to everything you might need - except a shopping mall.  Oh wait...you've got the Westlake Center!

 

 

If you're not a mall rat, you could always go here:

 

 

 

But if you lived in Seattle, would you really want to go to Pike's market?  Needless to say, I went, and loved it - but as I was waiting at the counter for a fantastic grilled salmon sandwich, I heard the vendor joking with one of the customers and ribbing him about being a Seattleite and coming to Pike's market.  That said, what a great place to go to - if you could go home some place else at the end of the day!

 

Belltown, to me, had very little to differentiate itself from any other major downtown - if you discount the view of the Puget Sound.

 

Queen Anne Hill pictures

 

Lower Queen Anne and Downtown pictures

 

The U-District:

 

The University District is home to the University of Washington (U Dub), and my online research had indicated that the neighborhood was by no means restricted to college students.  This is technically true, but the whole area, to me, had a distinctly younger feel.  Obviously, there is nothing wrong with that at all, but I suspected I would find it very hard to get comfortable with such a disparity between the youthfulness of the neighborhood and my own age.  As wonderful as it is to feel that infusion of energy and enthusiasm, my days of late nights and partying are so many years behind me, I don't even think I can remember them.  

 

To provide a little contrast (not meant to be pejorative in any way), the area around Northwestern University in Chicago has a youthful college feel too,  but also comes across as being grown up and sophisticated. 

 

Still, the U-District had a fun ambiance.

 

It even has a small, but very viable farmers market - actually bigger than the Bethesda farmers market.

And is it just me, or does this intersection seem eerily similar to Wisconsin and M in Georgetown?
 

Two other neighborhoods that were initially on my short list, but only got a very perfunctory once-over were Capitol Hill and Pioneer Square.  Both of them were, to me, far too congested and urban, and Pioneer Square's transitional feel made it seem just a little more edgy than I like.

Thus ended my exploration of the wonderful city of Seattle.  It is undeniably one of the most beautiful places in the world.  There is an inexplicable charm about it, no doubt.  But what about moving there?

This is where I stand conflicted.  Granted, if I actually did decide to move to Seattle, I believe the odds are extremely high that I would want to live in Ballard.  But then, the question is, what am I trading it for?

The DC area, where I have spent most of my adult life anyway - especially Bethesda - is nothing to sneeze at.  While I can't walk to shops from my condo, I can most certainly walk to the metro and be two stops away from downtown Bethesda.  The traffic is bad, but the traffic in Seattle has become more and more like the DC area.

Still, the dream of being in Seattle is very much alive.  I'm just not sure I want to trade one place for another....yet!    I wonder what the good chief would say?

U-District pictures

Next....the long trip home!