seattle apartment
 

A family member of mine has moved to Seattle for a temporary one year job and is living currently living in a room in someones house in the suburbs paying $600. I'm told the bus system is used by the homeless to sleep because they are long rides one can get on.

I am trying to find him an apartment share in downtown Seattle but he tells me the prices are crazy high. What is the best way to find an apartment in downtown Seattle? thank you

>>he tells me the prices are crazy high<<

They are . . .

He is <i>there</i> so wouldn't he have a better chance to find something in his budget?

<i>I'm told the bus system is used by the homeless to sleep because they are long rides one can get on.</i>

Malarkey.

<i>I am trying to find him an apartment share in downtown Seattle but he tells me the prices are crazy high.</i>

They are. There are several commercial house-sharing or roommate-assistance sites, and Craigslist in Seattle has relatively fewer of the trolling or bait-and-switch sorts of ads that you see in other places. There's also a very active roommate/housing industry around the University of Washington, with many thousands of units in walking distance of the UW.

Where is his work? Location can make a huge difference in housing cost and access time.

Our DD lives in Seattle and has moved within the city several times. She uses Craigslist to find apartments, and it has always worked well for her. It is also a good way to find roommates (she has done that twice, with good results), or to find just a room to rent. Rents in the city are crazy, but deals can be found. Still, $600 for a room in a suburb is very cheap!

Gardyloo--DD takes the bus to work and says that yes, the homeless do use the buses to sleep on. She still takes the buses everywhere, as do we when we are in the city vs at our place on the east side.

Yes, they sleep on the buses. The homeless also use the buses to get places. Shocking, I know. Something tells me the OP is not from a major city because I've seen the same thing on every major system in the US.

As mentioned, $600 is really good, and your cousin will actually spend less time interacting with the homeless if he lives in the suburbs, because downtown is where many panhandlers hang out. Just to look at it that way may help...

janise Of course he could look himself and has. He is a bit introverted, so I'd thought I would ask around.

Gardyloo Thank you for the idea of looking into the University housing. He works at Amazon. Doesn't everybody? Not sure where that is in relation to UW but I'll tell him to check it out. If you come up with the commercial house sharing sites, please let me know. thanks.

mms
thanks for your advise on craigslist

marvelousmouse
You've got me wrong. Love the sarcasm. Enough said. :) (reluctant to share to much online.) Thanks for the suburb advise though. Maybe he should touched up and just stay where he is.

The Seattle board on City Data - http://www.city-data.com/forum/seattle-area/ - is chockablock with "where to live" threads, many of them focused on Amazon employees.

And here's a blog that purports to address these questions; might be good for a look-see: http://www.amazonianblog.com/relocat...formation.html

I'll defer to those who say they see homeless people sleeping on buses. It personally wouldn't bother me very much; Seattle is a big American city with big city issues. But people have different sensitivity settings, it's all good.

stoweflake--Where is he now, what suburb? Yes, Craigslist works really well, IMO. Like I said, DD has found 4 apartments the way and two roommates, and DS just moved to Seattle a few weeks ago and also found his apt via craigslist. All have been positive experiences for the kids, and passed the parent test with us;) LOL, they are not Amazon people, but biotech, which is also huge there.

wow, The information provided here is really helpful. Thank you all so very much.
I agree about the homeless not bothering me, but I am from a big city. I wish there was some way to help them. thanks again.

Apartment rents are crazy high.

What price range are you looking for? What area? What kind of situation?

Depends the bus route. There are no homeless people sleeping on the #10 that I would use between Pioneer Square (job) and Capitol Hill (home).

Doesn't Amazon have a housing office? You'd think they would help as they are bringing so many newbies to the city.