Commuting to Shelton/Living in the area (Seattle, Tacoma: apartment complexes, rentals)

[brinx]

Hello all,

I have a job opportunity to work in Shelton. From my research, Shelton isn't the most desirable area to live.

My wife and I have never lived in Washington. We have both visited once years ago, but we don't know the area.

I have a few questions... and any information anyone can provide would be great.

1) How is living in Port Orchard? Are there any suggested rentals/areas we should look into/stay away from? How is the commute on route 3 from Port Orchard to Shelton?

2) How is living in Olympia (besides the constant cloudy days)? Are their any suggested rentals/areas we should look into/stay away from (i've read other posts about this... just seeing if I get any different advise)? How is the commute on route 101 from Olympia to Shelton?

The reason why I have targeted in on Olympia and Port Orchard is because my wife would like to be able to go to graduate school for counseling. If we live in Olympia, Saint Martin's University in Lacey has a program and if we live in Port Orchard, University of Puget Sound in Tacoma has a program.

That being said, does anyone know how the commute from Port Orchard to Tacoma on route 16 is? Google says the route has a toll... is it a bridge toll?

This is a big decision for us. We haven't decided if I am going to accept the job yet. We would have to move from Colorado so it isn't a small move. We are trying to get all the information we can before deciding.

Also, rain doesn't bother us. Even though we live in Colorado we have only been here long. We are originally from Rochester, NY, one of the rainiest cities in America! I do know Rochester gets more days of sun though...

Thank you for all your input!

[Sandy Nelson]

When I hear Rochester NY I think snow. Brrrr!
Your commute to Shelton will be much easier and fast from Olympia, versus from Port Orchard. The Tacoma Narrows Bridge is a toll bridge charging you a one way fee for crossing: WSDOT - Tacoma Narrows Bridge Toll Rates
Depending on where you live in Olympia, the drive to Shelton will take you between 20-30 minutes.
The west side of Olympia may be your best bet. From there your commute to Shelton will only be 20 minutes and the drive to St. Martins will only be 10 minutes. West Olympia has a good number of apartment complexes. I personally like the area around Capital Medical Center, but you may also want to consider renting in the area near the Thurston County Court House.

Best of luck!

Sandy

[brinx]

Thanks Sandy! I realized Olympia is closer that Port Orchard but that doesn't bother me. Traffic bothers me more. I had to commute an hour highway driving in bad traffic here in Colorado and it was a drag. 50 minutes on a road that doesn't have bad traffic is fine with me.

I'll keep your advise in mind!

[rick8603]

Olympia is a nice town but everyone works for the state if they aren't in the army or working in a retail store. My brother works for the state in Olympia. Olympia is a little bit expensive but is reasonable compared to Seattle and Bellevue. You could try Tenino or Rochester but they are about 20 miles south of Olympia.

If you lived in Port Orchard it take you about 50 minutes to get to Shelton and 40 minutes to get to Tacoma from there.
Traffic from Gig Harbor to Tacoma across the Tacoma Narrow is bumper to bumper during rush hour. If you get on Highway 16 during rush hour at Pearl Street than you wouldn't have to be stuck in rush hour traffic for as long. Pearl Street is the 2nd on ramp before the Narrows Bridge going west to Gig Harbor and Port Orchard. People have to car pool in order to take the last on ramp (Jackson Street) to cross the Tacoma Narrows so they don't get a ticket.

The University of Washington Tacoma is in downtown and is cheaper than Saint Martin's University in Lacey.
I like the area around Shelton. It is a mill town but so what. I worked in a plywood mill one summer while going to college. There are a lot of druggies in cabins outside of Shelton. My cousin told me that she had problems with druggies breaking into her vacation cabin at a lake outside of Shelton. I don't know what the town is like since I haven't lived there but I have drove through many times. Actually I have over Washington State and parts of Oregon and Idaho but that is another story.

Rick

[WAMama]

I'd recommend the Steamboat area or west Olympia. It's an easy commute to Shelton, as well as St Martin's.

[rick8603]

I have been to the Steamboat Island area but not in about 20 years. I don't know how much it has changed. The west side of Olympia might be a little pricey. Lacey is somewhat reasonable. I live in Lacey for a couple of years but that in the early 1990s. Olympia is a nice town but the property taxes are higher than Lacey and Tumwater which are next door.
I would live in Shelton but that is me. Shelton may have an issue with drug fiends. I do know that there is a problem with them in the housing developments outside of Shelton on the lakes.
Shelton is a logging and mill town and always has been. There is a mill on Oakland Bay in Shelton. The loggers may get into bar fights but that happened in the early 1960s from what I heard from my dad. I been to Port Orchard and seemed like parts of it are nice. Parts of Tacoma are nice too and parts of it are not so nice. Most cities have parts of it that are nice and parts of that are bad. The Proctor District of Tacoma and the area around the University of Puget Sound are pretty nice. Those areas are as nice as any part of Seattle and they aren't as expensive too.

I have cousins all over the Western Washington and into Oregon also. I also some in east of the Cascades also.

If you are curious about Shelton than you might want to do a search on the internet. The Daily Olympian might have back issues on line if you want to see what crime is like. The Olympian is the newspaper for Olympia and Thurston County and neighboring areas.