I’m about to move to Seattle and my car is getting pretty old so I figured I’d sell it and just use public transportation there. I plan to live just north of pike place market in an area that I think is lower Queen Anne and will be working at amazon. Am I naive to think I don’t need a car?
You definitely don’t need a car in Lower Queen Anne. For weekends there’s zipcar, ReachNow, car2go for longer trips and Uber/Lyft/bus/train for everything else.
+1 Plus, depending on your company, you can have super discounted rates for car rentals (like $33/day), which is great for multi-day trips. Parking alone in Seattle could cost you $150/month, which is a lot of Uber rides.
You just won't be able to easily go for further trips, e.g. hiking. Other than that, you definitely don't need a car
I love hiking but I’m not sure that one activity justifies a car payment/insurance/parking space cost. I might just use zip car or go with a friend but that’s good to know. Thanks.
Even if you did have a car, you wouldn’t be parking at Amazon for at least 2 years.
Why is this?
Lots of employees, not a lot of parking spaces. Waitlist.
Is that a quip toward amazon or toward Seattle?
A car is nice to have for groceries, the weekend and late nights. Cars for commuting at pretty bad. You don't need one but it's nice to have. Just buy a used civic or something.
Uber works for that scenario
Most people I've met don't have one. I know someone who hikes a lot on the weekend and she just gets a zip car.
Just get a ZipCar membership. That's all that you need in Seattle
There is car sharing such as zipcar, reachnow and car2go. For weekend hiking, rent a suv for $40/day. It's cheaper than $200 a month parking in downtown.
I think amazon gives your free ORCA
Depends on your lifestyle... If you hang out a lot on weekends, you need a car
Well I do intend to have a life but is that cumbersome if I just use public transportation or bike around? I’ve read that Seattle is making big investments in the infrastructure to allow for a car free lifestyle but that’s probably just PR
You don't need a car, if you mostly hangout in main seattle area. If you want to regularly go to east side or on hikes etc, then you would need a car (i usually rent in that case). Seattle has great public transit and its improving constantly.