Jays place is nice in that it is private, has an actual bedroom (with useful hanging space) thats seperate from the main living space and it has a full kitchen. Other pros of the actual space include a nice bathroom with great water pressure in the shower & the water gets hot quickly, the tv (while outdated) offers lots of great channels to choose from, and there is a binder full of useful and current seattle travel books/brochures/info/events going on.

While there were cooking pans & supplies in the kitchen, I found myself longing for better & more varied items (for ex. more than one pan that sits flat on the stovetop, a non-stick saute pan, a sharp knife to cut meat easily, a less worn cutting board). We also noticed the dish washer was still full from the previous renter. There were some things that were almost empty when we arrived (olive oil, dish washing soap, hand soap) but we saw Jay outside one morning, let him know, and new items were left outside the door in a bag that same day. The quick response was appreciated, and we were able to make THE BEST salmon dinner with veggies from the Sunday Ballard farmers market (must go!) & fresh wild salmon from PCC market on the walk home from the light rail station. Side note: that market is a great option, loved it for nights when we got back late and needed to eat dinner still because most places close surprisingly early in the heart of the city (unless its a dive/bar type place). They use lots of organic ingredients, have great made daily packaged things to take for a picnic lunch and a tasty taqueria- many things were priced very fairly, surprising for Seattle- I'd take this place any day over my local whole foods.

From the light rail station to Jays place, according to my gps it is a 17 min, 0.8mile walk. To be honest, after 7 days of that walk I still never got completely comfortable with it-maybe due to the # of turns, or the hill(s) to climb and I'm in my 20s. I wouldnt say its a deal breaker but it definitely came close, on the days that we had already walked around the city alot. Other than the light rail, the bus is a great way to get around also-the main bus stop we'd use was a bit closer than the light rail and some places you just cant get to with the light rail. Google maps is a life saver for all kinds of transportation while here-even tells you up to the minute pick up times...genius. Bus is a steal for only $2.50 pp for the whole day.

This area-Columbia City, while not the nicest looking part of town, is still SIMPLY BEAUTIFUL in terms of the vegitation thats everywhere, and cute houses too.

Also..drink the delicious tap water here!

Visit Seattle, its simply magic- you wont regret it :)