Home › Forums › Open Discussion › MD and Social Worker relocated to Seattle
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April 7, 2013 at 1:17 pm #607075
thebigeMemberHello WSB…
My husband and I are relocating to Seattle from North Carolina. He will be completing his residency in Psychiatry at UW affiliated hospitals. I am a Clinical Social Worker. He will work between UW medical center, harborview, and the VA. How is West Seattle for that commute??
April 7, 2013 at 2:17 pm #787826
KenParticipantThe commute is probably not as bad as the one from the north and south burbs since both are in the city, but traffic at specific time windows is still complex and prone to delays that can be triggered by an open bridge or a fender bender.
There are several NC refugees here already since once you get an education it is harder to ignore the vicious anti intellectual bent to NC politics as well as the institutional racism and fundamentalist loons that infest every part of the state more than ten miles from an interstate highway.
http://www.wral.com/proposal-supports-state-religion-in-north-carolina/12296876/
(The station where Jesse Helms told me I was going to hell for believing Negros had souls.)
If you are a republican you may be somewhat lonely here since the local Dems can get as much as 88 % in high turnout elections.
I know several folks who work at the VA and at Harborview and they seem to find living in WS worth it for the commute.
April 7, 2013 at 3:16 pm #787827
thebigeMemberI hear you Sir! we are looking forward to a more progressive political state!! In my networking with Social Workers I am seeing a few that are NC/WA Transplants.
WS looks nice…the one thing we are having difficulty with is getting folks to talk to us about renting. They want us to be there. Hubs graduates May 10 so we will be headed out week of May 13. Any pointers on renting or is it best to get out there?
April 7, 2013 at 3:35 pm #787828
birdrescuerParticipantTo Harborview and VA, easy. To UW anywhere from 20-50 minutes. West Seattle is great. You may want to look at Beacon Hill, Columbia City also. Easier n/s travel.
April 7, 2013 at 3:40 pm #787829
thebigeMemberThanks Birdrescuer…looks like VA and Harborview are the first year for him…Me, it is a crap shoot right now…thanks for that.
April 7, 2013 at 3:43 pm #787830
hammerheadParticipantIf you read past post on renting it is tough and quite pricey. If you have pets it could be a bit more difficult.
Traffic personally I think it just sucks here. Again if you read past posts traffic just to get out of West Seattle can take 45 minutes. If there are any accidents boy look out. To get to beacon hill that will be easy, but to I would go the back roads not as bad either.
Please note coming home, I have seen the West Seattle bridge back up all the way to I-5.
Living here is great, though. Tons of places to eat and very family friendly.
Good luck
April 7, 2013 at 3:57 pm #787831
beaner66ParticipantHi! I work at UWMC and drive there Tu-Fri and the commute is not bad at all but I leave at 0615. Leaving at 615 gets me there by 645 barring any accidents. I find that if I leave late, even just at 645 it makes a HUGE difference in commute time, and if I leave at 7-830 it is really quite bad (an hour at least). In the am I take Highway 99 “the viaduct” to UW – take to north end of Aurora Bridge then turn right and go local streets to get to UWMC from the west. In afternoons I take montlake to 520 WESTbound then I-5 south to West Seattle bridge- leave UWMC 345-400ish and get home in 35-50 minutes, the later I leave the longer it takes. I don’t take 99 home because it quite often is a mess and takes an hour or so to get home.
UWMC and Harborview have shuttle service between… not sure if VA is in that loop. Parking is expensive but the bus service from WS to UWMC is not that great and paying $7 a day is well worth the time saved for me.
No good pointers on renting! Assume you already checked craigslist out (and the blog since you posted here!)
I hope you love West Seattle as much as we do… Welcome!
April 7, 2013 at 8:06 pm #787832
thebigeMemberThanks WS residents!! this has been helpful. we have been spoiled the last 4 years with a 2 mile drive for both of us – the med school is on the campus of the hospital and my office is across from the hospital.
Looks like we are going to wait until after he graduates to get out there and look to rent. WS looks great! as does a lot of areas of S proper.
We are both looking forward to our move out there!! I will keep a watch on this blog for updates regarding WS. Any other information you all find and pass on is welcome.
April 8, 2013 at 3:00 am #787833
geronimoMemberYou need to get acquainted with Navos – freestanding psych hospital and big outpatient community mental health agency located in West Seattle.
April 8, 2013 at 3:54 am #787834
kgdlgParticipantThe ride to the VA is pretty heavenly, sometimes only ten minutes across the bridge and up Beacon Hill. Children’s Hospital has a great social work team. My partner used to do per diem work there as a social worker and it is very close to the UW (ie you could car pool). This is a good town for social workers, lots of great nonprofit groups – I would check out Sound Mental Health for a great agency working with kids and families. Can’t get better than Children’s for hospital setting and there are scores of other groups like Wellspring and others. West Seattle also seems to have a lot of social worker folks living here, it is really great that way. Good luck!
April 8, 2013 at 4:45 am #787835
JKBParticipantFrom WS, the Metro bus can get you downtown. Then it’s a lovely morning stroll up to Harborview.
Disclaimer: check with your cardiologist before believing the ‘lovely stroll’ bit. It’s steep! At least there’s a hospital at the top if you need one.
April 8, 2013 at 3:04 pm #787836
miwsParticipantTo expand on JKB’s suggestion of riding the bus, if that is an option for your commute plans, Metro Route 60 is a one bus ride to the VA and to Harborview, if you end up moving to the immediate Westwood Village, very south Highland Park, or White Center neighborhoods.
It’s a “milk run” as it wends it’s way down though South Park, Georgetown, and Beacon Hill, but if you end up living close enough for an easy walk to/from it’s stops, there’s no transferring.
It’s about 35 minutes from WS/WC to the VA, and an hour to Harborview.
This wouldn’t work out well for late, or especially on weekends even early evening work hours, but there is currently frequent commuter hour/midday service on weekdays.
One caveat: Metro is talking about drastic cutbacks next year, which at this time I haven’t seen any mention of the 60 going away, as many other routes are threatened to do, but like the other surviving routes, it service frequency and hours of service could be cut back.
Welcome, and good luck!
Harborview, and it’s Staff, (including my own MSW who is moving on within Harborview :-( ) have been a great help to me for the last nearly year and a half.
Mike
April 8, 2013 at 6:36 pm #787837
DFWParticipantNC, eh? Bring your sweaters! : ) Seriously, welcome. We are from Ohio originally and we love it here.
April 9, 2013 at 10:43 pm #787838
thebigeMemberThanks everyone!! one thing I will say…You folks in Seattle are wonderful and welcoming!! I have had some much willingness from the residents.
Geronimo: I am not versed in the First People. I will look into the place you offered. Thank you for the offer!
All others! thanks for the commute feedback. I think our biggest obstacle is getting housing…we are working hard on that now. We may have to wait to move there and work with the commute after that.
miws: you all looking for a soon to be WA licensed social worker?? I am in process now, just sent in my fingerprints for background…
April 9, 2013 at 10:55 pm #787839
miwsParticipantApril 9, 2013 at 11:00 pm #787840
jissyParticipantI would suggest you try to find a short term rental (even a VRBO listing) to check out the different cites/neighborhoods and do the commute a few times from your top 3 places. Nothing sucks more than getting stuck in a lease and realizing 2 weeks into it that you are NOT in the most ideal place (commute-wise) — seriously eats at that Quality of Life we all so deserve.
If you’d like, I’d be happy to list some of the local property management companies here — you could also maybe put the feelers out for a “house-sitting” gig to get here and check everything out in person.
April 9, 2013 at 11:11 pm #787841
thebigeMemberjissy….That would be great! Thanks.
Mike…keep me posted…I am intensively trained in DBT, I work in community mental health and substance abuse…
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