I'm a single, 25 year old female moving to Seattle and need recommendations on where to live.

Traffic/commute is one of my biggest concerns. I will be working at 3rd Ave and University downtown. I am not opposed to taking public transportation (in fact, the bus tunnel runs right under my building), but I may need to drive my car to work at least some days.

While I do want to be somewhat close to nightlife/fun/people my age, its more important to me that I live somewhere safe and quiet. For this reason, I have been strongly considering Mercer Island/Bellevue, but want more suggestions. I am not opposed to living in a suburb if the commute isn't bad.