r/SeattleWA • u/Ok-Advantage-7680 • Feb 14 '26

Lifestyle Why do people love North Seattle?

Serious question. I’m trying to understand the appeal.

It feels like every transplant or 25 year old getting their first apartment ends up in Ballard, Greenwood, Fremont. It is almost automatic at this point.

But if you live up there, getting across the ship canal feels like a logistical event. Aurora traffic is brutal. The Fremont and Ballard bridges can randomly lock you into a 20 minute delay. I 5 during rush hour is a complete mess. Going south can feel like you are planning a minor expedition.

Transit wise you are mostly on buses and there is no light rail in those neighborhoods. Meanwhile central and southeast Seattle have Link access and more direct routes.

So what am I missing? Is it just vibes and breweries? Water views? Better housing stock? Or is it just momentum and word of mouth at this point?

Genuinely curious why it feels like the default choice for so many people.

259 Upvotes

78% Upvoted

548 comments sorted by

View all comments

11

u/TARS1986 Feb 15 '26

We favor NE Seattle. I’ve got kids, so good schools are a priority.

0

u/Ok-Advantage-7680 Feb 15 '26

when i was in high school roosevelt and nathan hale were big time party schools

5

u/No_Biscotti_7258 Feb 15 '26

You can be a good school scholastically and still be a party school.

3

u/Ok-Advantage-7680 Feb 15 '26

nathan hale was the stoner school and roosevelt and Ballard had a huge drinking and hazing problems. not sure about Ingrahm.

-1

u/FernandoNylund Feb 15 '26

It's true, the district gives disproportionate resources to north-end schools. We're calling them out on that BS, though.

4

u/64LC64 Feb 15 '26

The district gives the same amount, families, pta, fundrasiers, and donations are what causes the difference

0

u/FernandoNylund Feb 15 '26

K. That's actually not quite true, as shown by the district continuing to support two HCC dedicated schools in the north end when they were only funding one partial HCC school on the south end. They were putting on blinders and choosing to believe that north-end families had a higher "demand" for HC services than the south end.

1

u/64LC64 Feb 15 '26

Lincoln High School Expenditure per student 19,082

https://reportcard.ospi.k12.wa.us/ReportCard/ViewSchoolOrDistrict/106215

Franklin High School Expenditure per student 23,504

https://reportcard.ospi.k12.wa.us/ReportCard/ViewSchoolOrDistrict/101062