If one of you works at Amazon in Seattle and the other works at Microsoft in Redmond, start your housing search with parts of Capitol Hill, Wallingford and the University District, downtown Kirkland, and downtown Bellevue. Each showed useful overlap in our transit map, although the exact blocks matter quite a lot. Overlake is also worth checking if you’d rather keep the Microsoft commute short.
Which of those places makes sense for you, though, depends partly on who gets the car and what each of you can tolerate. To explore those choices, we made two interactive maps with Theretowhere, a tool that scores areas using your travel preferences. Both use Amazon’s Doppler address, 2021 7th Avenue, and Microsoft Building 92, 15010 NE 36th Street. Replace those with your assigned buildings before making housing decisions.
Compare the transit and one-car maps#
| Scenario | Amazon partner | Microsoft partner |
|---|---|---|
| Both use public transit | Up to 40 minutes | Up to 55 minutes |
| Microsoft partner drives | Up to 40 minutes by transit | Up to 35 minutes by car |
Both partners take transit#
This Theretowhere map shows the overlap for the first scenario. Hover over blocks to see their estimates, or open the full map to investigate routes.
Amazon by transit, Microsoft by car#
Our second Theretowhere map gives the Microsoft partner a shorter driving budget. Notice the broader, more continuous Seattle coverage compared with the transit map’s patches and corridors.
Have a look around! You can hover over a block to see the travel times to both offices, or open the full map to explore the routes.
A few places you might not have thought to check#
Kirkland gives both partners a fairly similar commute. One downtown block showed about 37 minutes to Amazon and 33 to Microsoft by transit. So, even without a light-rail station, Kirkland deserves a look if you’d like to live near the waterfront.
Living farther north in Seattle might help the Microsoft commute. Our sampled block near Wallingford and the U District had a shorter Microsoft trip than the Capitol Hill sample. The Amazon trip was longer, though, so this could be a useful tradeoff if you’re trying to spread the commuting time more evenly.
Bellevue could work for the Amazon partner, too. At a sampled downtown block, the map estimated about 35 minutes to Amazon and 25 to Microsoft. If you’d been focusing entirely on Seattle, that gives you a reason to look across the lake as well.
Capitol Hill: start here for a busy Seattle neighborhood#
Capitol Hill deserves a look if you want restaurants and evening plans close to home while keeping Amazon reasonably accessible. The transit map suggests a tradeoff here: a shorter Amazon journey, with the Microsoft partner spending more time on the way to work.
Because the apartment’s distance from useful stops and stations matters, inspect the walking route as well as the ride. The 2 Line now connects Seattle and the Eastside, so rail access belongs in your search, alongside buses and their connections. Open the route to see which services it uses and inspect the walks at both ends.
You’ll also want to compare quieter residential blocks with the busier streets. Being able to walk home from dinner is lovely; hearing everyone else walk home from dinner might suit you less.
For a rough housing reference, Apartments.com reported October 2026 averages of $1,975 for a Capitol Hill one-bedroom and $2,868 for a two-bedroom. These are neighborhood benchmarks, not quotes for a particular building or short lease.
Wallingford and the University District: useful pockets to inspect#
The first map also gives you a reason to look north of central Seattle. Around Wallingford and the University District, the covered pockets offer another way to balance the two journeys while keeping a Seattle address.
If you’re drawn to a more residential setting or want to compare listings beyond downtown, these pockets give you somewhere to begin. Because the overlap is patchy, though, zoom into the map before booking tours farther afield. A listing farther from the useful connection may produce a different result even when its neighborhood label sounds promising.
As you find real candidates, compare each apartment’s walk to the stop and its connections to both offices. A place a few streets away can give you a different set of routes to choose from.
Downtown Kirkland: an Eastside option without a rail station#
If spending evenings near the waterfront appeals to you, downtown Kirkland is worth a look. The relatively balanced transit times we found give you a practical reason to investigate it alongside Seattle neighborhoods.
Here, pay particular attention to buses. Kirkland doesn’t have a Link station, so a convenient downtown address needs to be convenient for your actual bus connection as well as dinner. Check the return journey after the time you’d normally leave work, especially if either partner sometimes stays late.
The driving map keeps Kirkland in the conversation, too. That may help a couple who already owns a car, although it doesn’t answer whether the cost of keeping it is worthwhile. Compare actual listings and parking charges before assuming this arrangement comes out ahead.
Downtown Bellevue and Overlake: compare who gets the shorter trip#
Downtown Bellevue’s transit overlap gives you another Eastside starting point. Begin with the covered blocks and investigate outward, paying attention to how each listing connects to the routes you’d use.
Bellevue is especially worth comparing if you’d like an Eastside home with a downtown setting. As you move farther east, our Microsoft housing guide gives more context on nearby areas such as Overlake and BelRed. Although that guide addresses interns, its neighborhood distinctions can help other newcomers, too.
Closer to Microsoft’s campus, the balance shifts. At a sampled Overlake-area block, the estimated Microsoft trip was much shorter than the Amazon trip. That can work if you agree on the tradeoff, but check how often each of you will actually travel. A longer trip three days a week can be a different compromise from making it every weekday.
Turn the map into an apartment shortlist#
Pick a few covered blocks in two or three areas, then compare listings you could realistically rent. Alongside rent, record parking, utilities, the work schedule, and the journey in each direction. If the route crosses SR 520, include bridge tolls in the driving budget. A lower advertised rent can lose some appeal once the rest of the month is included.
For each promising address, Theretowhere’s Distance Matrix lets you compare that apartment with both offices and other places you visit. Then check the actual departure and return times with a current trip planner, including the walk to your building and any parking search.
You can also make your own Theretowhere heatmaps with your real offices and commute limits. Add the friend you see every week, the gym you’ll actually use, or another destination that matters to both of you. Once you have a shortlist, try the journeys from a candidate block and spend an evening there before signing the lease.
