Where to live in Seattle?

Hi all,

Sport / trad climber moving to Seattle in a month and wondering where the best place to get a place is: 
- work in downtown seattle
- weekends climbing outside
- morning / after work training at the gym

What’s the best climbing gym for training (location, facilities, setting)?

I've lived in downtown Seattle since 2009. Here are my thoughts on areas-

Downtown: Definitely the most convenient with generally the nicest places available. You'll obviously pay the highest price to live here. Commuting in and out of Seattle can be a serious pain, so you'll certainly save time.  There are a lot of transplants living here, especially in the bigger apartment buildings.  Seattle tends to be a somewhat "fringed" place when it comes to making friends- a lot of folks are here to work and leave.  The big buildings with large communal areas makes it a lot easier to meet new people.  A lot of folks end up becoming friends with neighbors out here through building events, etc.  In the bigger buildings, watch for parking costs, they vary like crazy.

Downtown neighborhoods:  I pretty much mean Belltown, Capital Hill, SLU, and Pioneer Square. Belltown is a little more run down but the closest, I am not a huge fan of it. Capitol Hill is where the party is at, along with a lot of generally good stuff to do. SLU is a lot newer, but kinda lacks a night life. Pioneer Square has cool stuff, but there is a significant homelessness issue in the area.  All of these are still walkable and have a bit more "personality" than downtown. Rent will be a bit more affordable, and you could still pretty easily get to work.

Surrounding neighborhoods: With these I mean, Queen Anne, Ballard, Fremont, and many more.  These all have a much "homier feeling" to them, very communal in a sense.  The rent is a lot more affordable.  A lot of longer time residents find themselves moving to these areas. Some of them can be a royal pain in the ass to get in and out of downtown though.  Queen Anne is a little easier to get in and out of than the other ones depending on the area.  Most the climbing gyms are in these areas. Vertical World in Ballard is my favorite, but I'm not big into climbing gyms though so I'm not the best resource on that.

Far: There are a bunch of neighborhoods around Lightrails stations. This is actually a very practical way to commute in and out.

If you're looking for housing for October shoot me a message at (845) 392-6906! It's a group living situation on the I-district.

I haven't been in a while but always loved Wallingford for convenient access to the Ballard area, Green lakes, downtown and a bit of time savings when heading to Index/ Leavenworth area or  up north.......traffic in Seattle is as bad as it gets, and apparently even worse in the last number of years so if you can plan commutes for off times or have any flexibility with work, do it!  Enjoy the move I love that city 

Not saying it’s the best, but I live in Bellevue right across the street from the Stone Gardens gym.  I’ve gone to this gym for 5 years.  I love the staff and the setting.  The actual work out area is a bit small but more than sufficient.  Just hard to move around in the winter after work when there are 50+ people in there plus the Jr. team training. 

I made this move because living in downtown Seattle was expensive, loud, dirty, and getting out to climb just seemed more difficult.  Even to the gym.

Bellevue is a tad cheeper, the access to I90 and the mountains is much quicker.  Winters can feel long with the weather, so I had to be walking distance from the gym, giving me no excuse not to train.  

Commute has never been an issue.  I choose to go to work early to avoid most traffic or take public transportation.

I’m moving to Utah in a week because this place is so crowded and expensive.   Welcome.

Be safe and have fun. 

Thanks guys. I really like the idea of living walking distance to a gym. But it looks like Bellevue is 45 min - 1 hour away from downtown with the traffic! Geez.

I visited SLC a few times. Amazing and the climbing is so convenient.

@Aaron thanks - lucky I got a little bit of housing paid for by the company so I have time to find something. 

Fang L wrote: Thanks guys. I really like the idea of living walking distance to a gym. But it looks like Bellevue is 45 min - 1 hour away from downtown with the traffic! Geez.

I visited SLC a few times. Amazing and the climbing is so convenient.

@Aaron thanks - lucky I got a little bit of housing paid for by the company so I have time to find something. 

Other options close to the city for walking to the gym are  

Pioneer Square/SODO - Momentum (bouldering only)
90/I5 interchange (Boren Ave/Rainier ave) - Seattle Bouldering Project (bouldering only).  Beware the above two area are pretty run down and you will be neighbors with someOf the largest homeless camps in the city.  Seattle is relatively safe, but if there are bad areas, these two are it. 
Interbay - Vertical World 
Ballard - Stone Gardens Ballard
Just google map apartments near these gyms.  Interbay and Ballard (much more of a nightlife bar/restaurant scene) are cool little towns, but expect top dollar for rent. 

Thanks Dan! Any thoughts on which is the best gym for setting / training? I am leaning towards vertical world right now. Can also bike there. 

There's homeless camps everywhere,  if you want to save a little money. 

Brutal truth here; you're going to pay a lot of money to live in a kind of shitty city. Seattle is not in a good place and getting worse by the year. Just to set expectations.

Vertical World & Seattle Bouldering Project are the clear cut best gyms in Seattle. The training area at VW kind of (/really) sucks while the training area at SBP is fantastic. Also the vibe is much better at SBP. But, it's just bouldering. Be aware that as the two best gyms in a big, outdoorsy city they will be PACKED after work hours, aim for mornings.

Safest bet for areas to live would be more central to Seattle. So Fremont, Wallingford, Lower Queen Anne are generally "safe" choices. Whatever you do don't live Downtown, Belltown, I-District, U-District, IMO.

Thanks Jeffrey. Great beta.
Funny, I heard Seattle’s an improvement from ny and sf :) 

From purely a training perspective, Seattle Bouldering Project is the best gym in Seattle, though obviously not if you're psyched on climbing on ropes indoors.

One neighborhood I'd throw on your list is Beacon Hill. Just a few minute drive or bike to Seattle Bouldering Project, light rail/buses downtown for easy commute, and very close to both I90 and I5 for quick access to the mountains. It is also substantially cheaper (at least for now) than capitol hill/fremont/ballard/downtown etc..

Also to add an alternative perspective than those above, I think Seattle still has a lot going for it, and I'm psyched to live in Seattle and the PNW. Yes, cost of living is rising. Yes, there is a lack of housing and social resources for a significant homeless population. Yes, the accessible cragging is not close to, say, SLC or Denver. But many of these issues will be found to a greater or lesser extent in all cities of comparable size. I love quick access to a deep, stable snowpack in the winter and some of the wildest alpine terrain in the lower 48 for climbing. It's also pretty cool to live in proximity to both alpine terrain and the ocean. Coupled with the food/music/cultural access that being in a large city provides, its really not so bad :)

I lived in Downtown Tacoma and took the train in. That's an option.

F loyd wrote: I lived in Downtown Tacoma and took the train in. That's an option.

Ugh, that sounds miserable. Not nearly as bad as driving from Tacoma, but that is still a lot of your life to spend commuting (time which you could spend doing fun things). In general, commuting in this area is awful, and you'll enjoy life here much more if you position yourself close to work.

 Also, Tacoma is farther from most of the climbing.

To recap what others have said: Fremont, Wallingford, Queen Anne, and Beacon Hill are all nice neighborhoods with good access to downtown. As a result, all are expensive (Beacon Hill maybe slightly less expensive than the others). Which one is best for you may depend on where you work and which gym you wish to go to.  I live in Fremont and like it here.

Regarding gyms, I found that all of the gyms in Seattle are adequate, and all have their pros/cons. A motivated person can train succesfully at any of them. Momentum is my favorite; Tension board, good spray wall, a nice weights area, and generally less crowded than the other gyms. SBP is pretty great too, and the basement training facility is outstanding. VW is the only good option for ropes, and as a result gets extremely crowded. Training effectively there can be challenging due to crowdedness, but some very good climbers have come out of that gym, so it must be possible. Stone Gardens is an older gym with good bouldering, and a fairly meager set of roped climbing options. 

Yeah but Tacoma is the best. 

Fang L wrote: Thanks Jeffrey. Great beta.
Funny, I heard Seattle’s an improvement from ny and sf :) 

It really depends what you want to improve and what you're ok compromising on. Moved from North Jersey out to Seattle a little while ago and while some things are definitely better, others are a bit worse. Granted, I never lived in the city so can't make a direct comparison. I'm in Ballard and while I enjoy it I'm paying more than twice my rent in Montclair for 1/4 of the square footage (actually) and while I can ride my bike everywhere, after work trips to the Exits are basically impossible on all but the longest summer days. I've also seen more grown adults shitting on the sidewalk or middle of the street than I ever thought I would.

If training is your focus, SBP or Momentum might be your best bet (haven't been to the East side gyms). Huge gym area, spray walls, tension/moon/whatever - although SBP gets the nod on setting (granted I was at momentum when they just opened). Vertical world has a large gym area, spray wall and a little bit of bouldering but that's it. Vertical World is very reminiscent of the Cliffs, but half the size.

Heed the crowding advice. I have friends who go mornings and have to compromise their workouts because it can be crowded and after work is pretty rough unless you're really patient.

JCM wrote:

Ugh, that sounds miserable. Not nearly as bad as driving from Tacoma, but that is still a lot of your life to spend commuting (time which you could spend doing fun things). In general, commuting in this area is awful, and you'll enjoy life here much more if you position yourself close to work.

 Also, Tacoma is farther from most of the climbing.

I could nap for an hour before work and after on that thing. Can't beat that. 

if you work in dowtown seattle, living close to a light rail station is pretty helpful. otherwise the commute is inconsistent and generally painful. the columbia city / seward park area is pretty descent and fairly affordable. momentum is just off of a light rail spot on the way home.

Definitely have access to get directly on I-90 if you wanna climb afterwork. I have probably gotten close to 130 pitches this year after work at the exits but the key is being able to get on i-90 afterwork without too much hassle. 

Other advice, tangential to the OP question: working a full 9-5 day then climbing after work is theoretically possible mid summer due to lots of daylight, but makes for a very long day and the traffic getting out of the city at 5 pm sucks.  If you can flex your work hours so you can get out at 2pm once or twice a week, that really opens up the midweek climbing. The traffic leaving the city at 2 is way less, and you have enough time for s proper, non-rushed climbibg session.