Capitol Hil and University District - Seattle
 

My 12-year-old daughter is looking forward to visiting this store on our upcoming visit to Seattle:

http://www.redlightvintage.com

It has two locations, one in Capitol Hill and one in University District.
312 Broadway Avenue East
4560 University Way Northeast

I've figured out how to get to both of them from where we are staying (Springhill Suites at 1800 Yale) so that's not an issue.

But if we are only going to visit one of these stores, which is the more interesting neighborhood?

Broadway has a wider range of cool stores and restaurants; University Way (aka "the Ave") is somewhat seedy these days by comparison.

Broadway is the main drag (them's the jokes, folks) for the gay community in Seattle; the Ave tends to low-end commercial aimed at the university-budget, pierced and skateboarding subsections of the population. If she prefers the latter, fine, but go with her.

Capitol Hill is much more interesting and much more conviently located to your hotel. You could even walk there if you don't mind climbing a hill. The area is home to two intersting movie houses--Harvard Exit and The Egyptian. If you're there Tue-Fri have lunch at El Greco--delicious.

Thanks for the tips. My daughter was under the impression that the University District is better for some reason, but I prefer Capitol Hill. We'll see!

Maybe a 12-year-old girl will see things a bit differently from the kinds of folks who post messages on this site. The "Ave" (University Avenue) is loaded with funky joints and mindboggling dumps of all kinds. Perhaps that is her cup of tea. There are loads of busses to the U District and your transfer is good for the return trip if it hasn't expired.

Jimshep, we've finally decided that we will do both. We'll take the bus to the U District and on the way back visit Capitol Hill, or vice versa.

We're also spending time at the Seattle Cherry Blossom Festival at Seattle Center (a Japanese-American cultural event), since she is very interested in Japanese culture. We went last year and she really liked it. We will also be seeing some laser light shows at the planetarium at Seattle Center.

Sounds like a good plan. Have fun.

Our itinerary ended up a little different than expected (doesn't it always). But my daughter proved that it is possible to spend 8 hours in the University District without getting bored in the slightest. We did not feel threatened. I let her go by herself on The Ave (we both had cellphones) and visit the stores that interested her. I visited a bunch of used bookstores and went on some long walks and had lattes and read in the coffee shops. She also visited the Japanese festival, the EMP, and we went to Northgate Mall (which I think was somewhat of a disappointment to her compared to what she had read about it online).