No. 41

Seattle Magazine recently published their annual ranking of Seattle-area neighborhoods, based on affordability, return on investment, good schools, parks, crime rates and commute. Our new neighborhood, Wallingford, came in at #41 out of 60, between Fremont and West Seattle (Central). This seems a bit low to me, but of course I'm biased -- and to be fair, there are a lot of other great neighborhoods on the list (Queen Anne ranked #1, Leschi #60).

I imagine Wallingford loses out mostly on affordability and crime rates (thievery). However, Wallingford has one of the most desirable elementary schools in Seattle (John Stanford International School), is home to Gas Works Park plus a number of smaller neighborhood parks, and has easy bus access to downtown and other fun neighborhoods (e.g. Fremont, Ballard, Greenlake and the University District). Plus, there's tons to do in Wallingford itself -- shops, lots of different types of food, movies, coffee -- all in easy walking distance. You can't really say that about, say, Crown Hill, which ranked #32.

Here's what Seattle Magazine had to say about Wallingford: "This central granola-centric, family-oriented neighborhood with Craftsman homes has it all: movie theaters, shops, casual restaurants and fine dining along 45th."

The magazine also gave the following Wallingford stats:
-- Median Home Price: $492,000
-- % Change in Median, 2007-08: -6%
-- Number of Bedrooms/Baths: 3 Bed/2.0 Bath
-- Crimes Per 1000 Residents: 61
-- % of Fourth Graders Passing WASL: 68%
-- Park Acreage: 122
-- Commute to Downtown Seattle (Min.): 10
-- Commute to Redmond (Min.): 21
-- Population Estimates: 11,362

You can see the full rankings here.