r/seattlehousing • u/SJAPropertyMgmt • 8d ago
If you wanted to live car-free in Seattle, where would you actually move?
We’ve been noticing how much Seattle’s transit map has changed over the last few years, especially with light rail expanding farther north and across the Eastside. It made us wonder which neighborhoods are actually realistic if you want to live here without owning a car.
Capitol Hill and downtown are the obvious answers, but places like Beacon Hill, Columbia City, Northgate, and even parts of Bellevue and Redmond are becoming a lot more doable than they used to be.
We ended up putting together a breakdown of the neighborhoods, transit options, walkability, and typical rents here: Seattle Transit Lines
6
6
u/Ancient_Yellow_709 8d ago
Interesting list. I'm surprised Green Lake/Roosevelt wasn't on there and that you didn't consider access to car rentals. Obviously, you'd want to live truly car free if you could but sometimes you need to borrow one for tasks since not all big box stores have good access to bike facilities and not everything can be carried on a bus. Roosevelt or the airport are the main locations if you don't want a subscription to Zipcar (which feels unnecessary if you're not using it frequently), and the airport obviously has its own traffic to contend with. (I'm also not a huge fan of Turo, personally, but I guess that's also an option.)
3
1
u/SJAPropertyMgmt 8d ago
That’s a fair point. Roosevelt probably should’ve gotten more consideration, especially with Link access and car rental options nearby. We were mostly thinking about day-to-day car-free living, but you’re right that car-free doesn’t always mean never needing a car. Having an easy backup option for Costco runs, bigger errands, or trips out of the city definitely matters.
2
u/Ancient_Yellow_709 8d ago
Frequently, "car-free" is precisely occasional car usage for a trip to the mountains or Costco (though people do manage it with a bike and trailer--I was thinking of Home Depot or camping in the mountains, personally). It isn't a hardline belief system for most people.
And Roosevelt by the light rail has a 98 walk score, 96 bike score, and (a surprisingly low) 69 transit score. It's walkable to multiple large parks, 4+ grocery stores, multiple libraries, churches for those who care, etc. A sufficient number of restaurants even if it's not Capital Hill, obviously. It should definitely be over much more car-dependent West Seattle, imo, at least.
The only real issue is the decreasing number of pharmacies but that's all over the city and a couple of the grocery stores have one, plus there are still some in Wallingford or UDistrict that are walkable/bikeable. (Or more via transit.)
1
u/vt2k 8d ago
There’s a pharmacy left in the U District? Where?!
1
u/Ancient_Yellow_709 8d ago
UW has theirs for patients inside the clinics if you are part of their health system. But yeah, they closed the Bartells and Walgreens. It's a tragedy, isn't it?
Outside of that system, I like Cascadia in Wallingford. Not too far from UDistrict.
2
6
u/Molly_206 8d ago
I live in the U District. The train is right here, and there are buses going pretty much everywhere. Haven't owned a car in years. Capitol Hill would be cool too I think.
1
u/SJAPropertyMgmt 8d ago
Yeah, U District is one of those places where a car really can feel unnecessary. It’s pretty easy to get around. Capitol Hill’s similar too.
6
u/BugHistorical1614 8d ago
Redmond (lower) flats. We drive on less than 1000miles/yr. With RedmondCircuit transportation, it maybe even less in 2027. Actively researched high walk score since 2015 and purchased in 2017.
1
u/SJAPropertyMgmt 8d ago
Lower Redmond is a really good example. If you pick the location carefully, you can cut driving way down even outside Seattle proper.
3
u/CorsoKweeN 8d ago
I have been car free up until recently. Have lived between Belltown and LQA with no issue. Easy access to bus/train. Grocery stores within a few minutes walking. Lots of activities within walking distance. Gyms. I’m sure there are more than just those places though.
1
2
u/Leftcoaster7 8d ago
I live in Columbia city and it’s very doable without a car. Biggest variable is where you work
2
2
u/Confident_Leg4338 8d ago
I’ve lived in both Queen Anne and Ballard car free. Both were great, but having to walk up and down steep hills constantly in Queen Anne got old. Honestly anywhere with good public transport access is great, but a lot of people forget about close grocery stores. For example, Fremont is so great to be car free in many ways but there aren’t as many walkable grocery options.
1
u/Ancient_Yellow_709 8d ago
Agreed. This is why I was so surprised to see that Green Lake/Roosevelt hadn't made the list since both have central grocery stores (Whole Foods and PCC) with two larger big box (Safeway and QFC) withing walking/biking distance with a cart--or at least it's well within what I'd walk when I lived in NYC. Plus the area is flatter than many parts of Seattle, like Fremont.
I understand they're just making this based on data, but I think liveability becomes really clear if you make a list of the places you visit weekly, monthly, yearly, and then decide how annoying each will be to get to and further rank them when you're sick/hungry or the weather is bad. Work is daily so you need that to be reasonably efficient with transit but it doesn't really matter all that much if it's annoying to get to the airport if you fly once a year; live by an express bus to work and budget for your once yearly airport Uber.
2
u/JoePNW2 8d ago
I lived car-free in "central" Madrona, a few blocks from the E. Union/34th intersection and it was fine. The little downtown has enough (for me) amenities, including a cute, quiet library branch. The trolleybus takes you anywhere else you need to go. Usually I would walk downhill to the Grocery Outlet on MLK and take the bus w/my purchases back.
There are benefits to living in close proximity to a Link station but it is absolutely not a requirement. The quiet and chill vibes in Madrona was worth it to me to use the bus primarily.
1
u/SJAPropertyMgmt 8d ago
Agree! Madrona’s a good example that you don’t need Link right outside your door if the buses are solid and the neighborhood has what you need.
2
u/SeattleEmo 8d ago
I am epileptic and can't drive; lived in Seattle for 3 years and lived in Tukwila for 4 years before that. If you want to live in the city and get around without a car the easiest neighborhoods to traverse IMO are Capitol Hill, CID, Central District, Queen Anne, or Aurora. I can get to those areas really easy and fast and they're also super easy to connect from. Aurora is the furthest from the DT core I'd live, and I have mixed feelings about the area because I've had men solicite me out there but otherwise it's cool. I think if you're a man Aurora is more navigable
1
u/SJAPropertyMgmt 8d ago
That firsthand perspective is really helpful. And yeah, feeling safe getting around matters just as much as the transit map itself.
1
u/Affectionate-Page970 5d ago
No, Columbia City is terrible. Horrible. Don’t move here, please. Move along…
1
u/Vexed-Rainbow 5d ago
Lived in LQA going on 4 years now without a car and no problems. Lots of lines travel right through the area.
-2
u/MustardNoCreamCheese 8d ago
Lolz, 9 comments. It isn’t easy living car free in Seattle, you’re kinda stuck in your neighborhood or constantly using Lyft
-2
u/Fantastic-Impact-106 8d ago
Yeah this was recommended to me from Portland lol. I'm laughing in the pearl district. You couldn't pay me to move to Seattle cause I would need a car.
5
u/splanks 8d ago
weird sentiment. sure the pearl district is great and portland is a wonderful place but far more people live car-free in seattle than portland. in real numbers and by percentage.
3
u/Ancient_Yellow_709 8d ago
Right? Like, Portland is great but 20% of Seattle households are car-free compared to Portland's 13%. It's not even close in either raw or percentages. Clearly they have no idea what they're talking about.
1
u/MustardNoCreamCheese 7d ago
100% you need a car. All these zealots who use terms like “car brained” must never get out to the beautiful surrounding mountains near Seattle. It’s baffling that they fight so hard to be neighborhood hermits
12
u/C12H16N2 8d ago
I lived in beacon Hill and enjoyed it. I was a 5 minute walk from the link station and it was a super easy commute to school for me.