One thing you may need to know is which streets are “main drags” or arterials. For instance, Greenwood is mostly quiet, but 3rd Ave, Greenwood Ave, and 85th St. are particularly busy in that area, and Aurora Ave is also known as SR-99; it’s actually a state highway that you’ll probably become quite familiar with once you get to Seattle. That said, any street with a number that does not end in a 0 or 5 is generally quiet.
@Zaku Green Lake, home to Beth’s Cafe and my favorite computer parts shop. A few bars too, and pretty decent so long as you’re more than a block away from Aurora.
@forestGeek Ballard…. meh. Don’t get me wrong, parts of Ballard are nice, but parts of it are rather industrial, which I think the OP may not like.
@susanc Capitol Hill is cool, but also rather densely populated, so I don’t know if there are many real yards there. Then again, there are lots of coffeehouses, bars, and plenty of live music there, so it may be worthwhile.