http://www.columbiacityseattle.com/
My personal experiences with Columbia City are very different from this website's rosy description. About two months ago, my girlfriend and I drove down to get dinner at La Medusa (first time having ever been there). I'll never go back again.
Why? My car (which is a used Japanese wagon, completely nondescript in Seattle) with nothing of value visible, got ransacked in broad daylight one block off CC's main drag, Rainier Avenue.
The only really valuable thing the thieves stole was my portable GPS unit. They took a 6 year old North Face backpack I got for $20 at an REI sale and a stereo faceplate (didn't take the stereo!).
However, ALL this stuff was hidden. Which means that the thieves broke into my car just to see if anything was hidden in it.
And I wouldn't be writing this if Columbia City wasn't trying to market itself as the next Ballard. Columbia City is NOT Ballard, Fremont or Wallingford. It is a high crime neighborhood with a few pockets of gentrification.
Sure, artsy little homes and stylish townhouses are cheap there, but do I feel like being robbed at gunpoint? No. Moreover, I always complained about the lack of hipness of the Eastside until this episode. Now, I'm thankful for the efficiency of the Bellevue & Kirkland PDs in keeping both cities clean. You don't see drugged-out gangsters walking through downtown Bellevue or Kirkland.
"With an authenticity that's hard to match, Columbia City is the commercial center for the surrounding neighborhoods of Mount Baker, Lakewood-Seward Park, and the rest of the Rainier Valley."
WHAT authenticity? Authentically dangerous and full of people looking for their next fix on authentic drugs? Shameless.
Some more good hyperbole about CC here.
http://www.realestategals.com/commun...ood.php?hood=5