I had someone email me the other day with an interesting question, and I thought I would share my response… and then see if anyone in the community could improve upon it.
Question: I’m moving to Seattle and interested in finding a neighborhood where I can bike to my work at the University of Washington (UW). Where should I be looking?
My Answer: There are a bunch of great places to live in North Seattle that are within biking distance to the UW. I would stay away from the south part of Seattle because there are not a lot of good north-south bike route through the downtown… (too many hills and not enough dedicated bike lanes).
Seeing as how I live in North Seattle and I bike a lot, I end up referencing the bike map put out by the City of Seattle quite often. Here is a direct link to the bike map of North Seattle (*.pdf), but note that this is a large file (1.5 MB). If you download the map, you’ll notice that the Burke-Gilman trail (a solid red line) goes through the UW campus. The Burke-Gilman is a wonderful commuting trail and has been recently expanded to the north-west all the way to the Golden Gardens Park. If you can find a place to live within a short ride to the Burke-Gilman, then you will have an easy ride to work!
By the way, if you follow this link, you can order a free hard-copy of the bike map: http://www.ci.seattle.wa.us/transportation/bikemapform.htm
Do you have a better answer for this question? Are there any neighborhoods that are particularly attractive for bicyclists? Please share your knowledge in the comments section!
Along the Burke Gillman is the obvious choice. But from the U the trail goes northwest through Ravenna to the Lake and also goes west to Fremont and points beyond. For bike commuting it would be preferable to live along the stretch northwest of the U because you have two good groceries along the way home and convenient bike access to U-Village. Not so many options to pick up things going the other direction. There are a lot of very nice apartment complexes along Sand Point Way NE if you’re looking to rent and not buy.
Another good option would be the Montlake neighborhood right across the Montlake Bridge from the U. Car traffic is horrible through that intersection but you can zoom right through by bike. From the Montlake bridge you have nice biking along the south side of Portage Bay on Furman Ave E. with lots of apartments and houses in the neighborhood and no much car traffic. There’s also a bikepath shortcut you can take from the Montlake bridge down under 520 to Furman. From the Montlake neighborhood you could bike through the Arboretum to get to the Madison Valley and Madison Park neighborhoods, although biking through the arboretum is a little nerve racking because there is heavy car traffic and narrow shoulders.
Going across the University Bridge there is easy bike access to the whole Eastlake neighborhood with lots of apartments and restaurants.
Places I would not chose to live for a daily bike commute to the U include:
Capital Hill: Have to climb 23rd st which has heavy car traffic and metro buses that cut you off or else take the steep winding climb up Interlaken Drive,
Ballard: Farther away than you think by bike and you have to cross through some fairly heavy industrial truck traffic.
Queen Anne: Steep hill climbing and a longer ride than you’ll want.
Anyplace south of downtown or Capital Hill.
Along the Burke Gillman is the obvious choice. But from the U the trail goes northwest through Ravenna to the Lake and also goes west to Fremont and points beyond. For bike commuting it would be preferable to live along the stretch northwest of the U because you have two good groceries along the way home and convenient bike access to U-Village. Not so many options to pick up things going the other direction. There are a lot of very nice apartment complexes along Sand Point Way NE if you’re looking to rent and not buy.
Another good option would be the Montlake neighborhood right across the Montlake Bridge from the U. Car traffic is horrible through that intersection but you can zoom right through by bike. From the Montlake bridge you have nice biking along the south side of Portage Bay on Furman Ave E. with lots of apartments and houses in the neighborhood and no much car traffic. There’s also a bikepath shortcut you can take from the Montlake bridge down under 520 to Furman. From the Montlake neighborhood you could bike through the Arboretum to get to the Madison Valley and Madison Park neighborhoods, although biking through the arboretum is a little nerve racking because there is heavy car traffic and narrow shoulders.
Going across the University Bridge there is easy bike access to the whole Eastlake neighborhood with lots of apartments and restaurants.
Places I would not chose to live for a daily bike commute to the U include:
Capital Hill: Have to climb 23rd st which has heavy car traffic and metro buses that cut you off or else take the steep winding climb up Interlaken Drive,
Ballard: Farther away than you think by bike and you have to cross through some fairly heavy industrial truck traffic.
Queen Anne: Steep hill climbing and a longer ride than you’ll want.
Anyplace south of downtown or Capital Hill.
Thanks Kent!
That was a very thorough answer… and from the writing, it sounds like you’ve made that commute before!
I’d definitely agree with your comment about Ballard. There is not a good way to go east-west except the Burke-Gilman trail, and the Burke-Gilman goes past some industrial areas with lots of truck traffic. No fun.
Thanks Kent!
That was a very thorough answer… and from the writing, it sounds like you’ve made that commute before!
I’d definitely agree with your comment about Ballard. There is not a good way to go east-west except the Burke-Gilman trail, and the Burke-Gilman goes past some industrial areas with lots of truck traffic. No fun.
Yeah, I spent way too many years in grad school riding into the U by bike. From a half-dozen different rental houses in Ravenna/Briant and Montlake mostly.
Another thing to remember for someone coming to Seattle from out of town. Most of the winter the commute home will be in the dark and often in the rain due to Seattle’s lattitude. So a commute that might seem managable in a flat sunny southern place like Austin might not be so much fun in December in Seattle.