south lake union

Whenever visiting a new city, we imagine living there. What would we do? Where would we eat? Where would we shop? And most importantly, where would we live?

Downtown Seattle condos are pricey but you can get a bargain just a few blocks out. The South Lake Union neighbourhood, just north of downtown, is a prime example.

At the forefront of recent development is Microsoft’s ‘other’ big player, multi-billionaire investor, Paul Allen, owner of the Seahawks, Sounders and (Portland) Trail Blazers.

Allen has reportedly invested over $200 million of his own money in the area (as at 2005). Whether motivated by philanthropy, capitalism or megalomania, who cares?

The area is certainly on the up. South Lake Union Discovery Center is the best place to check out what’s happening. If you’re in the area, I recommend paying a visit.

If only for the interactive replica of downtown Seattle (above) and other scale models. I love this kinda stuff. Hope the condos are designed with equal attention to detail.

Back to the neighbourhood. It’s clearly not quite finished yet but a dedicated Streetcar is running, there are further development plans and a lake-side park is well under way.

One of our stockists, Tottini, is also based there; the reason we took the short trip from downtown. We popped in to say hello and enjoyed a very warm welcome.

Oh, I must mention Velocity Art & Design, just a couple of doors up. They stock some of our non-baby stuff online and in store. A very cool shop, well worth a visit.

Back to the question, would we live in South Lake Union? Um, maybe. Though not quite there yet, it will happen and now seems a good time to buy. It’s a possible