How safe is West Seattle?

[Bonnie]

So, WorldCitizen since I live several blocks south of Thistle but on the west side of 35th does that mean there is much much more violent crime and I should be worried for my safety? I guess if I moved 1/2 mile north I’d be safe by your standards?

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[Smitty]

OMG why does everyone get so defensive?

It is what it is. Statistics don’t lie. WS is a VERY safe place but – some places are safer than others. Sorry about linking to actual statistics.

Deal with it and don’t take it personally.

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[Bonnie]

I was just kidding Smitty but obviously it does not come through the internet. But seriously, the only time we’ve had any real crime or anything was in the Admiral area.

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[Talaki34]

I have lived many places and I can tell you that crime is everywhere. . If you look at the map Smitty provided and click on Total Major Crimes you will find it fairly level across the board. Yes, there are a couple of areas that are more active in certain types of crimes, but all in all not bad. Please remember when viewing any statistical data like this, many things come into play.

To everyone who is saying or thinking that WS is losing its small town appeal and dislikes the trends in crime.

Drop your privacy fences and cut your 6 ft. hedges. What creates privacy also insulates. If you want me to be neighborly and look out for you, I have to be able to see your yard and house. Wave and say Hi!!! No, not the obligatory nod, actually say Hi. Try greeting your new neighbors with a cooked meal or help them move some boxes. Find out who is sick and help them out around the house, maybe offer to cut their grass. Know your neighbors, help your neighbors. Got a house on your block that is looking a little shabby? Find out why and offer assistance. If it is an absentee landlord force him to get involved.

Shut off your TV and your computer. Do what small town Americana used to do, get out and walk. This is how to really get to know your neighbors and your neighborhood. Like someone’s garden? Knock on their door, introduce yourself and tell them. Create sitting spaces in the front of your home instead of spending all your time in the backyard. It would be much harder to case an area if everyone is out and about being an active friendly community. If you really want to feel small town once again, then you will have put forth some effort to get that feeling back.

From one transplant to hopefully another.

Each of the neighborhoods in WS has their own look and feel. Some of them are more residential and others combine their living space with a lively business section. Best part of all, no matter where you live it is just a few minutes away from something fun or very cool. WS has great places to eat and drink if that is your fancy. There are a lot of green spaces too. If you like to get involved in community activities just check the blog; there will always be something to get you moving.

WS is also a mixture of different income levels. Urban Professionals reside next to Blue Collar workers. There are million dollar view properties in the same area or within walking distance of more modest middle class homes. Maybe that is what makes WS so unique and a great place to live.

I would describe WS as eclectic, unconventional with a side of community spirit thrown in. Best part is, whether choose the older neighborhoods on the north end, the youngsters on the south end or the up and coming neighborhoods east of 35th, I think you will find this is a good place to call home.

34th Street, Arbor Heights

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[Swamp Thing]

Smitty, you keep referencing “statistics” to support your claim that north and west is safer. But when I take a close look at the web site you posted I see that is not necessarily the case.

Yes for one or two crime categories, for instance Motor Vehicle Theft, that may be the case. But under the “Property Crimes Total” category, which aggregates numbers for Burglary, Larceny-theft and Auto Theft, the area between Charlestown and Morgan west of Delridge actually has a higher number of incidents than south of Morgan through Arbor Heights and some areas east of 35th. And for “Total Major Crime” there is no difference for 4 of the 6 geographic areas.

You can indeed lie with statistics (or at least mislead) by referencing only those that support your claims. Just sayin.

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[JoB]

to all of you north of thistle and west of 35ths proponents…

hubby listened to you when we moved to West Seattle..

so we rented north of thistle on California

great view

not so friendly neighbors

lousy gardening yard

and… noisy

after our lease was up i found us a nice little house barely north of thistle.. does one house count? … and east of 35th.

no view..

great neighbors

great gardening yard

and.. quiet

unless you count the games and band practice…

on sleepless nights i do miss the view over the sound

but i have many fewer sleepless nights here that it doesn’t really matter

normanbell37

this forum really does reflect the nature of west seattle…

sometimes a little self absorbed

but caring

if that is what you want for your family

this is a great place to live

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[AHexpat]

Munchkin22, I guess I’m a bit of a purist myself. I prefer to keep my area South of Thistle clear of closed-minded folks such as yourself. Next time you think about coming down to White Center and “slumming it” for an “authentic experience” just stay home. There’s a lot of us Sealth grads down here, and you wouldn’t want to get caught up in another riot, would you? I’m a third-generation “impure” West Seattleite, and it’s people like you who give us all a bad name.

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[Spring Chicken]

My friendly advice is, don’t choose where you live based on dots on a crime map, spend some time around the area, looking for what type of neighborhood and location you prefer. Echo Talaki’s excellent post! There is wonderful diversity of communities here. Also check the public schools’ online map if that helps you decide.

Welcome, you already took your best first step when your registered on WSB :)

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[WorldCitizen]

Bonnie:

Yeah, that’s what it means. You should be fearing for your life.

Seriously, though, when someone asks my opinion about an area I give it to them like I see it with my personal world view attached. I’ve lived in places where the races *gasp* lived next door to each other, there was actual crime, and you had to be vigilant about your safety at all times. Compared to those places, all of West Seattle and White Center is practically Mayberry. I think you’re honestly safe (relatively speaking) just about anywhere you move to on the peninsula as long as you keep your eyes open and realize that even though the area has a suburban feel, it is a part of a larger urban area. Shit happens in the city. Period.

I just happen to think the areas I mentioned are tamer and probably a better long term investment. It will most likely be more walkable the closer to California you get (With White Center being a MAJOR exception).

I actually think that White center is much more fun and interesting a place to be. And you will actually see someone who looks different than you when you walk out the door. That’s a big plus in my book. Poorer people live there though, and that brings all the preconceived notions about crime and drugs and property value into too many people’s minds. Quite a shame, really.

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[munchkin22]

Wow, just wow AHexpat. My moment of recalling the past and then apologizing for what did sound like dissing means nothing, eh? Some of my lifelong friends are Sealth grads. Not a problem. BTW, I missed the Alki riot. I believe I was at my very first job working in a hospital kitchen on Madison downtown. I’ve been very open minded most of my life, but then, you wouldn’t know that because of the judgement you’ve made based on a blog entry that may have been, on my part, ill conceived.Once again, my apologies to all that have felt slighted by my words. I’ve met great people in all the neighborhoods that are listed in this thread, and we’ve had jerks in our own as well. I try hard not to be one of those jerks.

Play nice people.

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[Smitty]

I stand corrected. Disregard actual statistics and go with anecdotal evidence.

Gut feelings work well too…and scanner recollections.

As long as nobawdies feewings get hurt it is all good.

And JoB, arterials are typically not good choices no matter where they are located….Queen Anne avenue for example.

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[JanS]

lolol…if anyone else reads this thread, they might come to the decision that they don’t want to move here at all. Is this a concerted effort?

munchkin said it best…play nice, people :D

and go outside to get some sun and fresh air..Vit. D is good for us …

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[munchkin22]

Thanks Jan. People seem very on edge lately. My mistake is checking this darn blog when I come in from being in the sunshine. It’s like checking into the darkness….

Time for a beer and some more nice weather while it lasts.

Try to have a nice day folks.

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[DP]

Avoid the 20th and Thistle area. DBP lives around there somewhere.

Dude is a frikken one-man crime spree.

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[JanS]

munchkin…have a beer for me…mmmmm

and, yeah..that DBP…[shaking head]

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[munchkin22]

Just did, boy it was good, nice and cold, sittin’ in the shade, listenin’ to some melodies….maybe just one more.

Yes, that DBP, he’s sumpin’ else.

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[DBP]

Of course, there’s a lot more to be considered than just crime stats. Also, ignore wives tales like “west of 35th,” “north of Roxbury” and the like.

(What? You think they have magical signs along 35th that say, “Attention criminals: No crime west of here.” )

Personally, I think it’s more important look at the dynamics of the specific neighborhood you’re considering moving into. And not just the neighborhood either, but right down to the block.

If you’ve got your eye on a particular house, you should be looking at the neighbors all around to see whether the street is trending toward upscale or downscale.

Are lots of people doing remos and landscaping, for instance? Are young couples with kids moving in? You can usually feel good about moving into a place like that.

Or . . . are people letting their yards go and parking derelict cars out front? Because that’s a bad sign. Even if the crime rate is low there now, it’s almost certainly going to be higher in a few years.

Also, if it’s a residential (rather than multi-family zoned) neighborhood you’re considering, ask your realtor to give you an estimate of the percentage of rental houses in the area. Beyond a certain threshhold, the more rental houses you’ve got, the more likely you are to have problems of one kind or another.

Finally, you have to consider the immediate neighbors. You can move into the safest neighborhood in the city, but if you then discover that your next-door neighbor breeds Jack Russells — and they go yap-yap-yap all the livelong night — you might just find yourself wishing you’d stayed in Kirkland.

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[Spring Chicken]

P.S. there is the occasional egging…

https://westseattleblog.com/forum/topic/house-egged-in-highland-park

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[JanS]

spring chicken…are you saying you know where the eggs came from?

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[Spring Chicken]

BLAME THE COYOTES!! lol

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[Jiggers]

I used to work swing shift years ago in downtown. I used to catch the 136 which is currently the 120 all the way to White Center and strolled down 15th avenue to my apartment on 17th ave after midnight. I’ve never encountered a problem or had one. I actually new policeman Steve Cox who patrolled our street frequently because he saw me regularly coming home from work getting off the bus across from Bartells were he hung out at times and knew my routine. I waved and smiled to him once when he drove by me after midnight.He knew were I lived. He was killed two years later. RIP. Robberies happen everywhere even in the Junction were the Menashe’s store at one time were held up in broad daylight. The banks in the Junction have been hit countless times. One time at Shadowland they crashed thru the front glass and ripped their big screen TV’s off the wall. That’s just to name a few off the top of my head.

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[Harmonic]

love living here! in the junction. nervous about all the shootings that have occurred in Seattle proper however.

Side eye to those who who brush off the bad W.Bridge commute – not everyone is bicycle happy, so stop the elist feel that we can all ride bikes.

The bridge commute is a pain in the %^&.

I travel to several jobsites daily – after I take me kids to daycare. So just stop. I need my f’ing car, sorry that ruins your day.

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[JoB]

harmonic..

the commute ruins my day

or should i say.. my husband’s day

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[BLhappypets]

DBP said it well.

The commute is a b****, but if possible, don’t drive and it isn’t so bad.

Sunrise Heights is awesome, we have been here for more than a year and a half. I know most of my neighbors, and we have a block-watch going, neighborhood events. Yes, we are east of 35th, but it was affordable for us and just as quiet in our part of the neighborhood as other neighborhoods west of 35th we looked at.

I really like Pigeon Point, some parts of Highland Park, Arbor Heights, Fauntlee Hills, Gatewood and Seaview (the areas a bit more south)–that’s where we focused our home search. Property crime is probably the same everywhere else in the city (although it seems my friend in the Admiral have a lot more problems than we do with this, maybe nicer homes there?), just keep stuff out of your car. Violent crime is better than other parts of the city.

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[skeeter]

If you want to live in West Seattle and property (auto, home) crime is a concern, you may want to consider Highpoint. East of 35th <wink>. Seattle Housing Authority (“SHA”) pays for a patrol from like 5 or 6pm until 6 or 7am. 365 days per year. The development really isn’t that big, so the patrol car passes each block every 5 or 10 minutes. Plus I see police driving around the neighborhood all the time. Lived in Highpoint five years and I have heard of only one property crime in the whole time.

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[Author]

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