What is up with Rents in Seattle?

     I have lived in Seattle for almost 15 years and up until very recently, I rented.  I had my reasons.  It took me a long time to acclimate to Seattle's weather, I was working in jobs that had strong career possibilities outside the state and I pondered living closer to family.  I turned a corner a couple of years ago and realized that I loved my job and I loved my community and I wanted to stay here.  Shortly thereafter, I started looking in earnest for a place to own, and I recently found one. 
     One reason the decision to buy rather than rent was watching what was going on in the rental market.  When I moved to Seattle in 2000, I thought it was outrageous to rent a 3 bedroom house in West Seattle for $1100 a month.  I had grown up in Nevada and moved from there to staff housing on a Job Corps Center in Astoria Oregon, where my rent for a four bedroom mansion on the edge of the Columbia had been $650 a month.  We coughed up the $2200 to hold the place and, because me and my partner were both working, we found that the good wages in Seattle allowed us to rent a nice place and save money.  Over the years, that formula stayed true.  My income went up, and so did the rental prices, but it seemed to be at about the same pace. 
     In 2011, I moved into the apartment I am getting ready to move out of now.  The rent was reasonable.  The apartment was a little run down, but had nice amenities like a gas fireplace and washer/dryer, so it seemed worth it.  Shortly after I moved in, one of those behemoth property management companies took over, and everything changed.  Every year the rent went up, along with the fees that we paid for parking, storage, etc.  I would have been fine with that, but no money was coming back into the building.  The elevator was old and slow, carpets in the common areas and hallways were literally wearing out from the lack of care, and even items such as window latches were not being fixed when requested by tenants. From my perspective, the property management company was bleeding the property dry by getting as much as possible for rent while doing as little as possible to keep the building up.
    An article in the Seattle Times from August of 2013 titled "Soaring rents force lifestyle changes" cited how market forces are permanently altering the familiar face of many neighborhoods.  The article states: "Low housing inventory, a growing population of young tech company workers and changing attitudes about when to buy a home are still contributing to rent increases throughout the Seattle metro area." 
    What effect will this have on our fair city?  My concern is that rising rents will drive many musicians and artists out of the area.  Why would someone continue to live here if the cost of living is so much lower in Portland or Austin or Nashville?  Those who have to because of family or other obligations will stay, others will head to where they can make a living while still having time and energy to pursue their passion. 
     I was already feeling good about my condo purchase when it closed last week.  It felt even sweeter when I reached my apartment door and found a note about my rent going up another $155 a month on January 1, 2015.  When I added up the cost of rent, parking and storage in my building, the principal and interest on my condo (in Eastlake) is lower.  It's sort of a no-brainer for me, but not everyone has that option.  I hope Seattle pays attention and starts to address the rising rent issues before we start going the way of our sister city San Francisco.  It's not looking pretty over there.

Another reason I'm having a hard time "quitting" Seattle

People that know me well know that I struggle with the Seattle winters. I don't mind the rain, its the absence of sun. But something about the weather here also produces some amazingly creative people. This is a story of how I met one of them.

In January, it snowed pretty hard here. I was off work because my building was literally not open. I knew I had the day off, so I picked up my acoustic guitar and walked carefully down the hill to 15th Avenue in Capital Hill where a bar called the Hopvine has a Wednesday night open mic. I arrived early to a nearly packed bar. Lots of 20 and 30 somethings were using the weather as an excuse to party on a school night. I knew I was literally twice as old as some of the bar patrons, but I care less about that the older I get. I had some soup and signed up to play.

Since I was early, I led the night off. I opened with Neil Young's "Out on the Weekend," then played a cover of a friends song and one of my own. The crowd was attentive and receptive, and I was pleased. The next up was a lovely young woman with a great voice. Third up was a young man that introduced himself as Jonathon and said that he had been writing some new material and wanted to try it out. He played a mahogany Guild guitar and I noticed right off that he was not only an exceptional singer but that even though he was playing to a room where half the people weren't even listening he approached the songs like he was singing in a stadium. He was intense and focused, and the songs were amazing. The next thought I had was that he was very young, extremely good looking and that he was probably going to be famous some day.

Jonathon played three songs. The person running the open mic asked him if he wanted to play a fourth and he considered it, then said, "no that is all I have worked on." He took a seat next to me in front of the stage and we talked for a while. I asked him how he liked the Guild he was playing, complemented him on his songs, and he said he liked the original I had played. I finished my "Arnold Palmer" (yes I drink the same thing that 10 years old's order) and walked back to my apartment.

Last night I went to the Fremont Abbey Arts Center to see Jonathon Blue (from Motopony) Gregory Paul and Jonathon Russell (from the Head and the Heart). Jonathon Blue was amazing. I don't quite understand how he makes three guitar strings sound so good, but the effect is that every syllable of his thought provoking, clever and oftentimes hilarious lyrics can be heard. Gregory Paul was also incredible, much more laid back but with songs that soar and harmonies from his female back-up singer that were flawless. Finally, Jonathon Russell took the stage, and that is when I realized that it was the same person who I had met at the Hopvine that snowy night two months ago. He held the 250+ people mesmorized for over an hour as he played one gorgeous melody after another. He ended the night by bringing his band up on stage to sing one with him. Finally, he put a record on a phonograph sitting next to his guitar stand and said, "thanks for coming, now I'm just going to hang out." I would have enjoyed the show anyway, but remembering how unpretentious and kind he had been the night I met him a couple of months ago made it all the more memorable.