Best Places to Live 2010

Photo: Will Austin

GREEN LAKE

The sales pitch If you’re one of the thousands of walkers, joggers, bikers, dog lovers, or stroller pushers (did we leave anyone out?) who all but live at Green Lake when the weather is nice, back in 2007 you may have spied a brown-haired woman sitting at a table just off the northwest bank behind a sign that read, simply, Poet. That was A. K. Allin, the Poetess of Green Lake, who read her work to passersby—and whose presence among the funky-quirky populace convinced Amy Duncan she’d moved to the right place. “All stripes of people visit the lake to walk the loop,” says Duncan, who settled in the area in 2004 and cofounded the My Green Lake blog last year. “It’s a great place to see all of Seattle.” And judging by its name recognition and popularity among young and established families, it’s a great place for all of Seattle to see. “It embodies a lifestyle that a lot of people like to think they lead: being active, outdoorsy,” says Windermere real estate agent Ian MacMillan. “In a lot of ways, it’s the heart of the city.”

By the numbers For all but two months in 2009, months of housing inventory were well below six—the benchmark for a balanced market—and plummeted to as low as 2.1 in October … Homes don’t sit for long: Average days on market rarely topped 60 last year.

What you’ll find Green Lake’s housing stock is as diverse as its people, with prices from the low $400,000s for century-old Craftsman homes to over a mil for new construction. Even the failed mixed-use project that was once Vitamilk Dairy, on the east side of the lake, hasn’t hurt the neighborhood’s rep among young families in search of an urban setting that doesn’t sacrifice community bonds for hipster-baiting appeal.

Illustration: Lia Cerizo

MADISON PARK

The sales pitch The sign outside of the storefront at the corner of Madison Street and 42nd Avenue East says “Madison Park Hardware,” but everyone calls it Lola’s, after original owner Lola McKee. It’s a name so synonymous with this secluded little burg of high-priced homes tucked between the Arboretum and Lake Washington that when a group of locals banded together to replace Madison Street’s concrete dead end with benches and vegetation to encourage quiet contemplation, they called the project LOLA—Love Our Lake Access. “It’s a destination,” 16-year resident Ken Myrabo says of Madison Park. “A lot of the neighborhoods, you can just drive through. Here, you can’t. And we’ve got everything we need.” That includes what Myrabo calls the “active” park (as compared to the planned contemplative area) along the water, which recently underwent an extreme makeover, thanks to funds raised by the Friends of Madison Park. It’s almost enough to make you wonder if Madison Parkers ever leave. “Oh, I leave,” Myrabo says with a sigh. “But if I want something at the spur of the moment, I can get it.”

By the numbers There were never more than 33 homes for sale in Madison Park in 2009, no doubt because the average asking price ranged from $1 million in November to $2.4 million last January … Average sales price in January ’10 ($1.9 million) was up almost 9 percent over the same month last year.

What you’ll find Originally a collection of second homes—primarily beach bungalows owned by Seattleites who spent their winters elsewhere in the city—Madison Park has steadily grown into a community of manses and estates that routinely sell for more than $1 million. “You’ll still see some of the beach bungalow houses,” says Windermere agent Margie Zech. “But a lot of them, over the years, have either been completely remodeled and expanded or torn down entirely.” And what used to be a slightly older neighborhood has skewed younger as of late, thanks to—of course—that park.

VIEW RIDGE

The sales pitch On a good day, you can peep Mount Baker from the hill on 50th Avenue Northeast, View Ridge’s literal and figurative high point. And on a less-than-good day? You’ll have to settle for Lake Washington, Mount Rainier, and the Cascades. You don’t need to be a topographer to figure out how this picturesque northeast Seattle nabe got its name, but the stunning vistas are just part of the reason that move-up buyers desperately want in: The lots are big, unlike in the city’s more cramped locales; Seattle Children’s Hospital is nearby; its schools consistently score high marks (View Ridge Elementary is one of a few public institutions in Washington to receive a 10 out of 10 rating from greatschools.org); and commute times to commercial centers are (relatively) short.

By the numbers The price per square foot of homes sold in View Ridge remained steady, around $250, between January 2008 and January 2010, the toughest two years of the postbubble market … Average sales price was less than 95 percent of average asking price for only three months during that two-year span; it was 98 percent or better for 10 of those months.

What you’ll find Among the Tudor, Cape Cod, and Craftsman homes that comprise the bulk of View Ridge’s housing stock, a healthy dose of midcentury modern structures dot the neighborhood, thanks to mid-mod founding father—and prolific builder—Albert Balch. And a good portion of those homes have undergone major overhauls at the hands of younger families that have moved in over the last decade, driving prices between 60 and 80 percent in that period, according to John L. Scott associate broker Paul Harvey McLaughlin: “A lot of the young money has come into the neighborhood and updated these older homes and increased the value.”

Pages:1234567

Published: May 2010