relocating to seattle (we think)

[center_middy]

greetings from the east coast, specifically new york (don't worry we are not natives). i will spare you the details but we are trying to maneuver a move out west and as of this moment it's looking like seattle is topping the list.

we were hoping for a little 411 on where the best places to live and train around seattle for long distances tris. my better half is a top fishie so she wants a really good masters program. i just want fresh air and open roads. we will most likely be working in the greater downtown.

any advice would be welcome and appreciated.

thanks, bryan

[jj_jacobi]

Well -- in my opinion there are lots of great places to live in seattle AND have opportunities to train. I don't know about all of them -- but here are a few

* magnolia / discover park (great for running, outdoor pool during summer months)
* greenlake (running, biking access to burke gilman, two indoor year-round pools, and crew/kayaking, soccer)
* seward park area (running, biking along lake washington, open water swim)
* issaquah (not in seattle -- commute required) trail running, mountain biking, nearer to xc skiing.

I'm in the greenlake area and I do love the fact that I have super easy access to bike/run/swims all year round. I'm near lots of urban creature comforts and transit to downtown, yet it isn't a place where you can live without a car. Additionally I find myself traveling quite a bit to the issaquah area to get in some good mountain biking, hiking and trail running especially in the non-winter months -- and that is a bit of a commute. (disclaimer: I'm a commute WIMP -- I find driving BORING and annoying. Anything beyond 15 minutes drive time kinda bugs me....and exit 32 off of I-90 is definately more than 15 minutes from greenlake.)

--jj

[jj_jacobi]

I'm posting this for Allen:

I started swimming at the King County Aquatic Center in October. It is the best place I have ever swam. It is a 50 meter pool and is the sight for many many swim meets. I heard it is rated the second best pool in the country. I also like the swim coach. She, Wendy, has giving me great instruction and I am getting faster. This swimming pool is about 25 miles south of downtown Seattle. The club has nearly 150 memeber and host four practices per day M-F and one practice on Saturday.

There are our course many places to swim in Seattle, but I would put this on the top of my list.

Welcome to Seattle
Allen Igawa

[harmony]

I agree with jj that the Greenlake neighborhood is a good place to live/train. Beacon Hill is also nice which is the neighborhood where I have lived my entire life. It has fairly affordable housing, it is close to at least 2 public swimming pools, and very close to Lake Washington/Seward Park. Lake Washington is where many Seattle triathlons take place as well as the yearly Seafair Hydroplane races and triathlon. Beacon Hill is also great in terms of commuting. Easy access to the I-5 freeway. It takes me about 10-15 min to drive into downtown during rush hour. It takes about 15-20 min to get to Seatac airport.

Another great neighborhood which is closer to the downtown area is Eastlake. This is a really friendly neighborhood on the east side of Lake Union. It is a quick bike ride, bus ride, or drive into downtown, the University District, Capital Hill, Fremont, and Queen Anne. Easy access to the freeway. There are fairly close public pools both with masters teams that I know of here are some links:
http://www.qasports.org/swimming/
http://www.swimseattle.org/masters.php
Also the University of Washington has a masters team.
http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/huskymasters/
If you are looking to buy a house, however, Eastlake my not be the best choice.

Ok, last place. Mercer Island is a nice place to live just outside of Seattle across Lake Washington. There is one public pool that has a master team as well as about 4 private pools. Many people like to ride their bikes around the island as well. There are many beachfront parks for open water training. I especially like Luther Burbank Park because they "groom" the seaweed every summer. Mercer Island hosts the annual Escape from the Rock Triathon. It is not a bad commute into the city. Probably about 10 min or less to drive into downtown. It is easy to ride the bus or ride a bike in as well. It is kind of an expensive place to live however.

Other great neighborhoods which I will not go into detail about are Alki/West Seattle, Queen Anne, Ballard, and Montlake.

Alright, that's it I think. Good luck! :)

[center_middy]

Thanks everyone, we really appreciate the insight.

Any thoughts on gyms in the downtown area? I know the Pro Sports club in Bellevue is really nice but probably not ideally situated for us. I haven't been to the WAC since I was 15.

[harmony]

There is a Pro Sports Club in Seattle now too.

http://www.proclub.com/?area=8

Here is also a link to a site where you can search for other gyms in the Seattle area.

http://seattle.citysearch.com/search?type=dgrid&context=spa_beauty&gcats=200&dlink=1&pseudo_constrain=sec&started=1&cslink=cs_spa_beauty_finder&cats=374&ulink=section__browsespabeauty_8___search__1

[johndief]

I relocated from Manhattan two years ago. We moved to the Bridle Trails area in Bellevue, WA. It's 16 minutes door to door from my house to downtown Seattle (via motorcycle on the HOV lanes) and close to the Pro Club in Bellevue and the Burke Gilman Trail. The Pro Club is (aside from the Reebock Club in NYC) the best club I've ever been to, catering to the professional and semi-pro and seriously interested athlete. The Burke Gilman Trail nearby is, I think, a 40+ mile paved trail that takes you away, mostly, from all traffic. It's only drawback is that it's flat, so you have to do your hills elsewhere.

So, I have to recommend Bellevue/Kirkland for it's proximity to downtown and the athletic amenities therein.

Now, that being said, if you still like to hit any sort of night life scene, Bellevue/Kirkland are primarily residential and devoid of any kind of social scene. In that case, live in Seattle. All depends on priorities...

john

[erikn]

There is a 1/4 mile running track at Greenlake also, just south around a soccer field. Its a dirt surface that is fairly well maintained by the city.

Biking within/near Seattle -- here are the main routes I know about:

1. Burke-Gilman trail. This is controversial, because the speed limit is 15mph officially, and it gets crowded in nice weather (warm, sunny) during non-work hours. I still use it a lot, but when its not crowded. There are parallel street alternatives. This also leads to routes on the "east side" either on the continuation of the trail to Redmond, or around Lake Washington.

2. Along Lake Washington Blvd from Seward Park north to Leschi. Nice views of the lake & mountains. Traffic is fairly bike friendly -- bikes officially have right of way on that stretch of road, and cars don't go super fast there.

3. Around Magnolia neighborhood, near Discovery park. Various city streets, mostly very low traffic.

4. Over I-90 bridge to Mercer Island for the loop of the Island. There is no bike lane, but its a fairly low-traffic 2 lane road and the drivers are used to seeing lots of bikes. There is less traffic as you get further south away from I-90.

A lot of the longer group rides seem to happen out on the east side on some of the more rural roads.

[center_middy]

again, thanks everyone. hopefully we will see you in a few months.

bryan

[center_middy]

all your fine recommendations are going to good use. we will be moving to seattle in march.

thanks again.