I work with a lot of young first time home buyers or growing families and I’m always talking up the virtues of North Beacon Hill to them. It’s an often-overlooked neighborhood in Seattle that offers a ton of benefits but is fairly quiet and unassuming, and I thought I’d put together a post summarizing some of the reasons I tell my clients they will LOVE North Beacon Hill.
Here are 8 great reasons to love North Beacon Hill:
North Beacon Hill is becoming a hub for young families
Anecdotally, since I live on Beacon Hill :), I can tell you that Beacon Hill is packed full of young families and it has been so much fun getting to know our neighbors and their fun kiddos over here. According to StreetAdvisor, 30% of Beacon Hill homes have children. [source]
If you are getting ready to start a family or you have young kids, you’re probably looking for a bit more space and would love to have neighbors with kids to make friends with. Well, North Beacon Hill is a great place for that.
North Beacon Hill real estate is affordable (compared to the rest of Seattle)
It’s true that North Beacon Hill’s average price has increased rapidly over the past year, so that over the past 6 months the average selling price was about $500,000 according to NWMLS statistics. In comparison, many of my buyers are also interested in Ballard, which has averaged about $553,000 for a home in the last 6 months. That might not sound too different, but consider this: their dollar seems to be going a lot farther these days on Beacon Hill, where price per sq. ft. has been $348, compared to $472 per sq. ft. for our Ballard buyers.
If we include all of Beacon Hill though, prices have averaged about $477,000, so Beacon Hill overall is definitely a bargain compared to other hot neighborhoods. (Contact me for copies of the NWMLS reports, or more detail on condo vs. house and new construction vs. re-sale!)
North Beacon Hill has great proximity to I-5 and downtown Seattle
One thing I loved as soon as I moved to Beacon Hill years ago was its great proximity to I-5 and downtown Seattle. If you’re living on North Beacon Hill, that’s even more true. I-5 is just a few minutes away down Beacon Avenue, and downtown just another few minutes (without traffic, of course!!). On days when I-5 is crazy, you can get downtown without touching I-5 at all. Pretty convenient!
If you are commuting to work downtown, or if you just want to be able to access downtown easily without a ton of driving – but you still want some space and a residential feel to your neighborhood – North Beacon Hill is the perfect compromise option.
The Beacon Hill light rail station is located right on North Beacon Hill
The Beacon Hill light rail station is smack in the middle of North Beacon Hill, right across from the Red Apple grocery store. There really could not be a more convenient way to get downtown quickly and easily – the light rail takes only 7 minutes to get to the International District station downtown [source], and from there you can transfer to any number of buses to get elsewhere in the city. (Or, you know, go see a game or just enjoy some time downtown without paying an arm and a leg for parking!!)
It’s also now super easy to get to UW (20 mins – source) or Capitol Hill (17 mins – source) from North Beacon Hill using the light rail.
North Beacon Hill boasts some really good restaurants
For a long time, Beacon Hill was something of a desert when it came to good food, because there were almost no restaurants to choose from and the whole “hill” was mostly made up of single family homes with just a few small businesses.
But in the last 10 to 15 years, North Beacon Hill has seen a lot of growth and investment in various types of businesses, including some restaurants that are absolutely amazing and several great independent coffee shops/bakeries. Here are a few of my favorites: Cafe Bengodi, Travelers Thali House, The Oak, Bar Del Corso, El Quetzal, and Tippe & Drague.
Beacon Hill’s Jefferson Park has a golf course, community center, splash pad, and skate park
Jefferson Park was completely renovated several years ago and it now boasts a ton of lovely green space, walking paths, a skate park, and a very popular splash pad – best of all – some truly stunning sunset views looking out over downtown Seattle and Elliott Bay. Seriously, if you haven’t done this already, head over to Jefferson Park in the evening, walk on the trails out to one of the benches with great views, and have a picnic while the sun sets over Seattle. This is one of the biggest treats Beacon Hill has to offer!
There’s a great run/walk/bike trail down the middle of Beacon Ave
The annoying thing about running on Beacon Hill is that…well…it’s a hill. 
But there IS a relatively gentle trail that goes right down the middle part of Beacon Avenue and it’s not too taxing at all. This is one of my favorite places to walk in the neighborhood, and I frequently see other walkers, joggers, and bikers on the trail as well.
The Beacon Hill Library is also right in the middle of North Beacon Hill
The Beacon Hill Library is a relatively new facility and is super popular with families in the neighborhood. It’s located on Beacon Ave in the middle of North Beacon Hill, not too far from the Red Apple supermarket and the Beacon Hill light rail station.
What about you?
If you are looking for an affordable, close-knit community with a residential feel but right in the heart of Seattle, you MUST come take a look at North Beacon Hill. You just might fall in love like I did!
Do you live on North Beacon Hill? What do you love about your neighborhood? I’d love to hear from you!
