Finding housing in West Seattle

Before we moved to the West Coast, we picked out our neighborhood. Having a preconceived plan isn't the best strategy before you visit a place, but it gave us a goal. Our logic was the rent was relatively cheaper then the downtown area with more street side parking and we liked the commercial density of the main drag. We wanted to live in the city, but we didn't want the hassle of all the downtown hustle and bustle. This seemed the solution. Once I got a job in Tukwila (south of Seattle), we looked at apartments there as well as Renton, Federal, Tacoma, Kent, and Burien. We didn't go too much further north then downtown, because the commute to Tukwila would become too great. West Seattle always seemed the star favorite, even if we found a larger space for the same rent elsewhere. The walk-ability score apartments held was important too. With only one car, me being able to walk places and ride the bus to work was huge. We toured a couple apartments and looked at dozens online.


I kept coming back to the trend of the micro-apartment trend that was everywhere. Could we live in a small space and not kill each other? Could a space that small still be large enough for our basic needs? Could we afford these new style rentals? It still blows my mind some of the prices charged for a studio apartment in Seattle. $1600 a month for a 500sf studio seemed common. If you wanted the central locations, you paid a premium. Sure its easy to find an old apartment building with a bedroom or two for under a grand, but the online reviews of most properties were less then stellar, with complaints about the buildings upkeep or managements policies. We emailed and called so many spaces and either got impersonal responses or the disappointing news that the property was already snatched up. Many promotional websites touted “The future of urban living is now.” And editorials discussed the pros of why young professionals are choosing this lifestyle. I'd read many articles voicing concerns about how this condensed housing puts a strain on the neighborhoods street side parking and older residents have a strong fear of the new comers and how they will change the areas dynamics. There's also spreads from the resident's perspective of how sterile and unsustainable the living situation is long term.


I read it all. The arguments were all valid. We are a couple of two, who own two cars (and would park on the street). We are used to having separate bedrooms and space for hobbies and privacy. We want affordable housing. We want something temporary while we get our bearings. We own no furniture. We want a space that will accommodate our dog when we do bring him to the west coast with the second car. I wanted an apartment I could afford on my own if C got a job in another city. I wanted a full kitchen. I needed to see a home in the space. I needed to be excited at the future.

Another good to know detail was at my income level, we qualified for Seattle's MFTE program for affordable housing. You can read about it all here, I found this article very helpful!


The first place we visited was microhousing in the fullest. It was a square room with a pre-furnished bed. The kitchenette had no stove and only a micro-fridge. Each floor had a community kitchen where residents were expected to cook. No hot plates were allowed in the bedrooms. Because, that's in truth what it was: A dorm bedroom with a private bathroom. 316 sf was the large size and the corner unit they showed us did have sliding doors that opened the floor to ceiling doorway up to a screen to let fresh air in and looked out to California street. Water/gas/sewer were included, but if you had a second person on the lease they charged an additional $50 a month to the $1075 rent. That's the detail that made me feel like they were starting to nickle and dime us. When we asked if they would remove their bed because we wanted to get our own, they said no. If we didn't like the provided bed, we would need to rent a storage space to store it until we left. I found that really peculiar. I assume most people are pretty picky about mattress firmness and were looking into space efficient sleeping arrangements (converter beds or Japanese futons that fold up). So we left that place thinking, “Nope!” I need a kitchen! I need more warmth in a space! That being said the manager Elena was super nice and encouraging of the micro-apartment lifestyle. She showed us the back patio and common areas. I liked her, even if the property wasn't what we were looking for.

 The search continued for a low price studio that accepted pets and had a full kitchen – and it brought me to The Lofts at the Junction. This property was actually still under construction and looking to start taking residents in late December. The property manager Julianne was super helpful in answering our questions and had a real personal touch to her emails. It was hard to know exactly what we were getting ourselves into because they had so many different options for the same rate. Their building was a strange triangle shape, so all the studios had equally odd shapes, but the good greatly outweighed the bad to me. All the units had full kitchens and washer/dryer units. Some had closets and desks built in. They were going to have an herb garden on the roof and utilities were included. We looked at a few different units and I felt very excited. The newness of the building and the bright colors really appealed to me. Even if they were around 300 sf, the design of the space was efficient.

So after that tour, we walked around the neighborhood and wanted to see what else was around. We stepped into Elan41 and although cordial, the property manager laughed at our price range and told us it was impossible to find anything that low in West Seattle. We politely pointed out that we had toured multiple places in that range (around $1000) to her surprise. She referred us to the property next door, Mural, that might have low income housing. Mural was very nice and almost won our hearts. They have a floor plan that is called the Urban. Its a smartly designed studio that has sliding walls to close the living area from the bedroom area. Their kitchen is really nice and washer/dryer units included. The view from the roof could see all surrounding areas and they had a fire pit. Their rent was $1200 for 560sf but this did not include utilities. They did have a decent exercise room and community lounge space. We liked their grill area and they were right next to the grocery store. When we left, our heads were all mixed up on what details were more important. Larger floor plans? Included utilities? Cheaper rent? Attached exercise rooms? The best views? The best community lounge areas?


Lets just say, it took us a couple weeks of visiting a ton of other properties outside of West Seattle and discussions over priorities to come to an unsteady decision.


Spoiler, we choose West Seattle.