Monday, February 21, 2005 - 11:43 PM PST
Heather flew in Friday night, and we spent Saturday early afternoon on an apartment tour around many different locations in Seattle. One of the more unique locations we saw was Queen Anne High School, a 100 year old high school recently converted into an apartment complex. Quite cool, but unfortunately it was in a very residential area.
My goals in an apartment are:
- 1 bedroom
- Within short walking distance of an urban neighborhood of shops, restaurants, etc.
- Not too long / difficult to get to work
- In a well-built (preferably new), modern-styled, large-ish apartment complex
- Modern appliances in the unit (washer, dryer, dishwasher, etc)
- Relatively quiet and insulated
- A bar counter :)
I didn't put as much emphasis on square footage or a view as I did on a cool layout and the goals mentioned above.
After some searching, I managed to find almost everything I was looking for at the crazy-looking Epi Apartments, which Markus pointed out "is the first apartment building ever to have Godzilla defenses built in." (Click the link to see what I'm talking about.) It's also located in the neighborhood of Fremont, the Center of the Universe, a place previously recommended to me by people who know the neighborhood to be designed for people who are a tad eccentric. (What are they saying about me?)
There's even an organic grocery store, PCC, on the first floor of the building. (I had no idea that Whole Foods -- already in a niche market -- had competition out here!)
My only beef is that the location isn't very convenient to reach the 520 bridge to Redmond, but I think an extra 10-20 minutes of total travel time a day is worth it since I've otherwise found a great place.
Next step is to sign the lease. Let's hope being Canadian doesn't cause problems again.
Tomorrow: My car choice (it's not what you think...)