Does Anyone Know About Shelton, WA? (Tacoma, Olympia: property taxes, agriculture, work)

[KidBlue]

I've read the information on City-Data about Shelton, but was wondering if anyone has more information about the city. I was wondering how Shelton would compare to Elma/Montesano.

[walterhunt]

Shelton, WA is a small city, with a Wal-Mart, a McDonalds and a Fred Meyer grocery store. The Simpson lumber and timber industry used to be the biggest employer, but now wal-Mart is the biggest. The schools are okay, not the best, but a little better than what you'd expect.
It's pretty much a hick town. It's a nice place to race a family, if you are a white, middle-class family.
I'd say Elma is a nicer place to live, but Shelton is good if you want to work in Olympia, but can't afford to live there.

[Pippa]

No go on Shelton. Dumpy hick small. Live in Olympia if you can.

[chris]

Compared to Elma/Montesano, I prefer the Shelton area hands down (I live north of Shelton). Looked at Elma/Montesano but I have alergy issues and I'm more of a mountains kind of guy than a flatlander (more agriculture in those areas). Also proximity to Bremerton, Olympia, and Tacoma are a factor. There is also the hood canal which offers unique options that I could go into for a while.

And not to be picky but the government is the biggest employer here (mostly education/social services/park services). I think there are ~ 2700 government employees in the county which would make it 5x the employement size of Walmart, Safeway, or the Correction Center, which all make up the next 3 largest employers.

You'll find most of the county data here (which is basically Shelton + anything around it)
http://www.ci.shelton.wa.us/


I know people think Olympia is nice, but I wouldn't raise my kids there. I like having it close by for shopping though.

[ronraley]

I worked in shelton for a while, I found the town a real drag and full of hicks.

And I thought I was a redneck!

[patnormcar]

We moved to Shelton in 2004 from out of state. It is rather a hick town. What dismays me is the poor infrastructure. Horrendous roads and virtually no sidewalks. Some neighborhoods still have gravel roads in town! I sometimes think we pay our property taxes merely to give those 2700 city and county employees their bi-weekly payroll. ;-) We're retired and would love Olympia, but cannot afford to buy there now. Considering a move to Eastern Washington in a year or two. I'd like to be able to have more convenient shopping and selections and walk in my neighborhood on a sidewalk. We live and learn I suppose.

[jwb123]

Lots of puppy mills there!

[chris]

patnormcar, which part of town do you feel is lacking sidewalks..? I'm surprised to hear that only because of the number of kids that walk to school... I do agree roads in the downtown area could use some patching up though.

As for the redneck factor, it does exist - for all I know, I may be one. I don't feel like I'm a redneck but for all realistic appearences, I might fit that shoe. I drive a 4x4 PU, have a red neck during the summer months, listen to country music, prefer domestic beer, jeans only/wild hair/hathead/plaid shirt wearin, conservative outlookin, gun possessin, DIY kind of guy. I've even smashed a beer bottle a few times and yelled out YEEEHAW or HELL YEAH at outdoor events.

For anyone reading this thread, Mason county would best be described as a country atmosphere, with heavy emphasis on family and kids. The county is a huge tourist destination during the warm months and my guess is that possibily 50% or more of the homes here are for summer use only. If you don't have kids and expect city convenience, you won't probably won't find what you're looking for here unless you like spending all your free time outdoors hunting/fishing/camping/hiking/quading/boating. There are less than 10k people in Shelton, so it doesn't really have the population that would accomodate the level of cultural activies some might desire.

[walterhunt]

Shelton is absolutely terrible for raising kids. There's nothing for them to do except drink beer, do drugs, and get pregnant. There used to be a video arcade, but not anymore, in fact, when I was a kid in Shelton, for fun I went to Olympia and played around at Music 6000 until I got kicked out for never buying anything, or I went to downtown Olympia. Now that I think about it, down town Olympia sucks too, because all of the horrible Shelton kids I went to high school with moved there.
I ould recommend that nobody move to Shelton, WA if possible. It's just a horrible place to live. Even Belfair would better than Shelton, or Gorst, or even Grapeview, and Grapeview isn't even a real town.
If you have to live in Shelton, the Lake Limerick area is nice, but expensive.

[patnormcar]

The entire Hillcrest area lacks meaningful anything. A very run down area. Plenty of the Mountain View area is without sidewalks. Street signs in residential areas are hit and miss. Bad for newcomers. The city seems to have stopped in time. The county has over 55,000 souls and to do meaningful shopping go to Kitsap or Thurston counties. That's a shame. Not even a Home Depot or Lowes. The folks are great that live here (mostly), but the town is rather depressing. Thus, as retirees, we'll move along.