Which is better Tacoma or Olympia (Seattle, Anacortes: best neighborhood, crime, neighborhood)

[RNinformatics]

Greetings All,
My significant other is career Navy and we relocated here from IL. 2 years ago and currently Live in Anacortes. I love it here in Washington state and in Anacortes. It doesnt rain all the time, rain is better than snow and its always green - a really beautiful place. Anyway, he will retire in 1 more year YEA!!!
The recent loss of his father has caused us both to think that we will need to live closer (Chehalis) to his mom after he retires instead of staying in Anacortes. I travel for work and it would be nice not to live 70 plus miles from SEA TAC. I am a city (Chicago) girl of African-American and Cuban decent and he is a blond haired, green-eyed Washingtonian who was raised next to a dairy farm. I'd love to live near enough to the airport and cosmopolitan happenings while still NOT living in the city proper, avoiding crime and congestion along with living close enough (but not too close) to his mom. I love the coolness of Anacortes so which is cooler in the summer Tacoma or Olympia? Can you suggest any suburbs of Tacoma (north and south) that would be better than the city proper? If you had to choose between Olympia and Tacoma which would you pick and why? We dont have children so thats not an issue but we do want to buy in the best neighborhood we can afford. I've had enough of snow growing up in Chicago so which gets less snow Tacoma or Olympia? Any and all assistance is appreciated.

[Sandy Nelson]

Both cities have a lot to offer. I suppose it depends on your taste. I prefer Olympia because it's smaller and feels safer. I like that it has a walkable and quaint downtown and lots of special events and celebrations. You should really come down for the weekend and visit both cities to get a feel for them. If you come to Olympia, don't miss a visit to the Farmer's Market and the Capitol Campus.
Best of luck!

[Sobefobik]

This seems like an easy choice for you--Olympia. You'll be a bit closer to your mom, and the weather and geography in Olympia is more similar to Anacortes than in Tacoma. Olympia probably gets more snow, but it's a very slight difference, not one you'll notice. Were your ethnicities supposed to have something to do with your post? I didn't see any correlation there.

[CarawayDJ]

Originally Posted by Sobefobik

This seems like an easy choice for you--Olympia. You'll be a bit closer to your mom, and the weather and geography in Olympia is more similar to Anacortes than in Tacoma. Olympia probably gets more snow, but it's a very slight difference, not one you'll notice. Were your ethnicities supposed to have something to do with your post? I didn't see any correlation there.

Hmmm.... I don't live there, so perhaps I'm all wrong here. I kinda thought Anacortes was further into the rain shadow than even Seattle, and that Olympia set some sort of record for the most rainy days?

If Olympia truly is more like Anacortes, I'll add it to my list of places to scout out myself.

[Sobefobik]

Originally Posted by CarawayDJ

Hmmm.... I don't live there, so perhaps I'm all wrong here. I kinda thought Anacortes was further into the rain shadow than even Seattle, and that Olympia set some sort of record for the most rainy days?

If Olympia truly is more like Anacortes, I'll add it to my list of places to scout out myself.

Yes, Olympia gets a lot of rain, but so do Seattle and Tacoma. In my opinion, Olympia seems to have more of a marine feel to it like Anacortes. If you like Anacortes, you'll like Olympia. To me they are very similar making it an easy choice.

What people don't realize about the Puget Sound area is that rain isn't the biggest problem; it's cloud cover. Anacortes as well as the other areas on the rain shadow may get less rain, but they get just as much cloud cover throughout the year. Washington actually gets less rain than New York does.