Eastlake / South Lake Union
By Jamie Friddle
If Seattle had a volcano, its dome would most certainly be South Lake Union, an up-and-coming urban wedge between Lake Union and downtown, bounded by Aurora Avenue and Highway 99 to the west and I-5 to the east. Its grand old igneous cousin, Eastlake, fingers unceremoniously north along the east side of the lake toward the venerated University District.
Without a snip of irony, many Seattleites call South Lake Union "Vulcanville" after Paul Allen's influential development company Vulcan, Inc., which by 2008 will have constructed no less than six dwellings intended to "Rethink Urban"-- the company's commercial imperative and catchy slogan. It has planned these, among other commercial spaces, to support an influx of biotechnology firms.
Meanwhile Eastlake, replete with its coveted houseboats along east Lake Union - the filming location of the Tom Hanks comedy "Sleepless in Seattle" -- rests idly by. It has been doing so since the early 1900s, watching the trendy hubbub southwest of its quietude.
"It's a little diamond in the rough in the city that people don't think about," says Windermere Real Estate's LeAnne Quinn of Eastlake. But diamonds, of course, will cost you. According to Quinn, a two-bedroom, two-bath house - mostly Craftsman -- in Eastlake ranges from the high $500,000s to the mid-$600,000s. She says many houses are being converted to duplex and four-plex condominiums, which, like their townhome kin, start in the low $400,000s and might even get into mid-$500,000s and higher for new construction. You might think a houseboat more your style: Quinn says the "end slips," homes farthest from shore, run into $1 million easily. "And that would be a tear-down and fixer-upper."
High prices have driven some families out of the area, Quinn says, even though a smattering of private schools (Spruce Street School, Morningside Academy and New Discovery School) and one K-8 school are nearby. South Lake Union, soon to be home to thousands of über-hipster-neobubble-heads, is all about apartment and condo living: Two-bedroom, two-baths are running $700,000 to $900,000, according to Quinn. Equivalent apartments rate $1,500 to $2,000 a month, on average. The good news is many of these dwellings come with built-in businesses, such as the Whole Foods Market tucked beneath Vulcan's ambitious 2200 Westlake Avenue, or Café Venus and Mars Bar (stop in for a brew after taming the rock-climbing wall at the nearby REI flagship store). Vulcan's South Lake Union Discovery Center (101 Westlake Ave. N., (206) 342-5900, www.discoverslu.com) has a full-time staff waiting to tell you more.
While perhaps quieter than its spastic Lake Union neighbor, Eastlake offers some old-fashioned staples to city living. Serafina and Pomodoro Ristorante are notable for continuously popular Italian fare, while Louisa's Café & Bakery honors your latté-and-muffin regimen without an ounce of caprice. (Louisa's is a favorite of writers looking for tasty distractions.) Le Fournil, farther up toward the University Bridge, serves authentic French pastries and bistro-style sandwiches.
But let's say you find yourself working 9-to-5 at one of many biotech or other research centers in South Lake Union, and you brought your own lunch. No problem: Take it to South Lake Union Park, soon to be remade by the city into the ultimate sweet spot of civic frivolity.
South Lake Union and Eastlake are almost frighteningly close to Interstate 5 and Aurora/Highway 99, both about 10 minutes away by car or bus. Downtown by car is roughly the same in time from either location, perhaps a little longer from Eastlake Avenue East near the University Bridge. Buses 70 through 73 serve Eastlake and South Lake Union with equanimity and will have you downtown in roughly 10 minutes. That being said, the city's planned streetcar from South Lake Union to downtown terminals will make many of those buses redundant.
