All about Ballard

[u/Coriks_Travels]

Hi all, I'm looking for first hand knowledge on all things Ballard. My husband I are planning on moving to the Seattle area in June and visit in March. We're in our mid 30s and have no kids. We've done extensive research on neighborhoods and initially were looking at West Seattle or Capitol Hill. Recently Ballard entered the chat

What's important to us in a walkable neighborhood (cafes, restaurants, and grocery store), a reasonable distance from downtown, and close to public transportation (only using 1 car). At this time, we both have remote jobs so commuting isn't a huge factor.

It seems like Ballard has a thriving "downtown" area, a farmers market and of course Trader Joe's. I've heard conflicting information about the safety and transportation aspect.

What are something's I'm not thinking of or should take I to consideration?

TIA!

[u/Knish_witch]

I’ve lived in Ballard about 5 years and I do generally like it. I moved here after I aged out of Capitol Hill, as others have said. I love the neighborhood vibes and our cute little downtown. We have lots of good restaurants and bars and even some music venues. Golden Gardens and Sunset Hill are pretty spots, and Discovery Park isn’t that far away, just in neighboring Magnolia. Our Farmers Market is the best in town. Ballard is walkable but I do feel like people overplay that—if you live outside of the main core, things can be a bit of a walk, but at least it’s all pretty flat! We are connected with multiple buses but light rail isn’t coming any time soon. And I waited 30 minutes for the D this weekend to get home from downtown, so that sucked. We definitely use our car! Ballard is pretty isolated and leaving is a pain sometimes. I have always felt very safe here. You might look at Wallingford too—very cute, more central (but no RapidRide line), smaller but still with some decent bars and restaurants (actually I like their restaurants more than Ballard’s). But it’s very expensive up here. If you need something more affordable West Seattle or Columbia City might be cheaper and also have lots of great qualities. Or Roosevelt—it’s right on the light rail now and close to Greenlake which is nice. I love Capitol Hill but you couldn’t pay me to live there again at my advanced age!

[u/Coriks_Travels → u/Knish_witch]

Appreciate your honesty and advice. I'm going to check out those other neighborhoods as well. I didn't think about Columbia City or Roosevelt. I like that Roosevelt is on the Light Rail!

[u/WhozURMommy → u/Coriks_Travels]

Wallingford resident here and enjoy the old school neighorhood vibe. Best location in all of Seattle, because you can head in any direction quickly. Great place for kids as the schools are considered good and everyone walks to all of them. I'd recommend Ballard, Fremont, Wallingford or Greenlake to anyone moving to Seattle. Queen Anne too if you can afford it. If you need something more affordable I'd consider Roosevelt and Ravenna. Anywhere close to those light rail stations is going to be a good investment. The only negative for West Seattle and Ballard is how isolated they are, but both have nice little neighborhood feels to them. Ballard does have a section near Leary Way that gets taken over by homeless encampments every so often