Christine Buck, Urban Specialist

The Green Lake, Phinney Ridge area is very high on the scale for fun, convenient, most livable neighborhoods. Green Lake itself is a sweet pond beautifully landscaped and maintained with a circumference of approximately three miles, which makes for a perfect walk/run. A community center in the park provides a public indoor pool and basketball court. Lovely older homes, new construction, up-scale condominiums, scores of restaurants, espresso stops, pubs, a gym, a "runners" store, bike and rollerblade center are located all around the lake just across the street from it. The west side of Green Lake moves up a hill to become Phinney Ridge.
All the amenities mentioned around Green lake can be found all along the Ridge plus: the Phinney Neighborhood Association, housed in a huge turn-of-the- century school (offering classes, groups and events for all ages with emphasis on family), a fabulous zoo, two great markets, an art gallery, many antique stores and quite a selection of eclectic retail shops. Lots of good food on the Ridge! It should be mentioned here that the commute from Green Lake or Phinney Ridge to downtown Seattle is about 15 minutes.
Traveling north you'll find yourself in Greenwood. Not quite as gentrified therefore not as pricey. But Greenwood has much to offer and is catching up in a hurry.
Moving south on Phinney Ridge you'll find yourself in funky Fremont. Well, back in the 60's it was funky. There certainly are plenty of upscale clubs, restaurants, and a spectacular health food market today. But Fremont is still famous for its Sunday Flea Market and a decidedly liberal flair. It's about a 10 minute drive to downtown.
Back to the middle of Phinney Ridge...if you head west down the gentle slope of the hill, you will be traveling into Ballard; a fairly large community with all the bells and whistles mentioned in the other urban neighborhoods. Many older homes, Craftsman bungalows, Tudors and Cape Cods may be easily found. Noteworthy is the heart of "old" Ballard which boasts ancient brick streets lined with handsome old buildings housing everything from clothing stores, the ubiquitous great restaurant choices, a fabulous wine bar, and specialty retail shops. Ballard has many beautiful townhouses and condos within walking distance to all the places mentioned. I've seen most of them and they provide beautiful, comfortable living spaces about a ten minute commute to downtown Seattle. The Burke-Gilman Trail, an ultimate in-city bike trail, runs from/through Ballard and winds its way to the St. Michelle winery in Woodinville. (30-40 miles) Ballard is also where the majority of our fishing boats are docked in Fisherman's Wharf.
Busing is pretty easy from any of these neighborhoods too. But whether you drive, bus, or bike you'll be travelling over a bridge! From Green Lake to downtown is the Aurora Bridge, from Ballard is the
Ballard Bridge, which may decide to stop all traffic and "go up" to accomodate boats passing, and from Fremont is, yes, the Fremont bridge, which also has the propensity to slow down the commute due to boats passing. If you live on Phinney Ridge you get to pick which route and which bridge to cross.
If you go onto my website athttp:// www.christinebuck.com, you can click on any of these different neighborhoods and read some of their fascinating history.
So there is my highly biased opinion and diatribe on the best locations in Seattle for a young couple relocating to Seattle to live. All my best to you in your search. - Fri Mar 28 2008, 00:53