Public Transportation and Housing in Seattle

Public Transportation

Seattle has a great bus system, so you can realistically live further away from campus where rents might be cheaper. If you find an apartment you can use the Metro's Trip Planner to find out how long the commute to Denny Hall would take.

Ride the Wave: As of 3/19/2016, the light rail connects to the University of Washington: 

http://www.soundtransit.org/Schedules/Link-light-rail 

station interior with blue walls

Housing in Seattle

There are several different ways to find housing in Seattle. It is a pretty large city so you can usually find a place to live at any time of year. Most students show up at the end of August or the beginning of September; usually this gives them enough time to find a place to live and begin to get settled before orientation starts up. (Keep in mind, though, that lots of other students, graduate and undergraduate, will be looking for apartments at the same time.)

  • The Student Housing Affairs office at UW has plenty of listings of apartments and shared housing available. They also offer lots of housing resources for students, such as references for legal help.
  • MyApartmentMap.com plots all U.S. universities and colleges on an interactive map, so that students can easily find housing near their university. They show grocery stores, laundromats, and other amenities near the University of Washington. They have a video tutorial available. This is a great and free tool for students looking for off-campus housing. You can read more on their About MyApartmentMap page.
  • The student newspaper at UW, The Daily, also has some listings. In the spring many rentals come on the market, as students prepare to graduate and leave. (Thus spring is a good time to find a new apartment.)
  • The Seattle Times has rentals in their classifieds.
  • craigslist Seattle is a great place to find rentals.
  • On-campus housing makes your life simpler: one stop, one bill, one priority: You. Housing & Food Services (HFS) offers a wide range of options for graduate students, whether single or married, with or without children. Safety, convenience, and good value are earmarks of campus housing, and there are so many opportunities for social and professional linkages. Interested students are encouraged to contact Housing & Food Services for information: https://hfs.washington.edu

Where to live?

Seattle is divided up into districts, each with its own charm and attraction. (The map is from the university housing web page, which boasts more information on finding places housing.)

  • The University District is close to campus. A lot of students live there, however, so it can get noisy sometimes. It's very convenient (you can walk to campus, the bookstore, numerous restaurants), but you should expect to pay a bit more for the convenience. Apartments tend to be smaller as well.
  • The University Village area is also close to campus and to the University Village shopping mall. Rentals tend to be expensive here as well due to the proximity to campus and shopping, but the convenience is hard to beat, especially if you don't have a car.
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