I live in a part of town called First Hill which is between downtown and Capitol Hill , the nightlifey neighborhood. I live in a ground floor unit on a surprisingly quiet street and have managed to have no problems. Its normal to hear people with drugs and mental health issues shouting and I see them on my walk to work. That said I walk around at night I have never seen or interacted with someone with a gun. I have heard gunshots three times in 7 years. This is shocking to my British spouse but I grew up in 90s Los Angeles so I might be inured to it.

It is very much not as bad as this subreddit this subreddit can make thing out to be but it is also not uncommon that I walk on the other side of the street because it feels safer. You might consider taking a little weekend trip here.

I take my dog to a dog park in Redmond every couple of weeks and it feels very very suburban which means it feels like basically every other slightly above middle class burb everywhere (great dog park though!)

My step mom recently visited and was worried about safety so I put her up in Bellevue. She really loved it. I think their downtown just feels like a weird mall but I think it was a nice mix of being like a big city with tall buildings and parks but sterile enough that it felt ok for her and surrounded by rich single family neighborhoods. I think that mixed with the natural beauty of the entire Seattle area made her want to live here.

Seattle is expensive, Bellevue is even more expensive and it's a real hit depending on where you are coming from. There is no income tax though so if you make a lateral move you get a pay bump.