Moving East to West, from Charlotte to Olympia (Seattle, Tacoma: apartment, crime)

[SantosLHalper]

Yeah, so hindsight right? I knew Olympia was more of a small-mid city, but thought that, just like out east, there are still a lot of conveniences when you live within an hour of a major metro area. Maybe it's more a radius issue, that we needed to be closer to Seattle to reap some of the benefits of Seattle. However, we don't want to reap the ridiculous housing prices. I guess maybe we thought the radius would be larger. The lack of shopping, health food stores, that's minor kind of stuff. My major concern is still the healthcare. If I got truly sick, I don't think I'd live here. I don't feel like I have confidence in the care here. I was even told by a doctor this past week, if I wanted modern, I should move to Seattle. What I meant by modern was him having a computer in the room so he could look up my records. If that is considered modern, in 2014, I'm a little concerned. Beware of West Olympia docs hooked into Capital Medical, someone warned me about that before we moved here.

I'm not sure what it is, if the expectations here are just lower than I'm used to with care, with convenience of care. My primary care doctor is nice, I'm not sure how thorough, but nice. Getting calls back isn't easy, Rite Aid is a drag to deal with. The AETNA dental network here isn't fantastic, even in PPO. So, there are just a lot of healthcare hassles that I wasn't used to or expecting. If you are moving from Charlotte, you are absolutely spoiled by healthcare, your doctor's are networked, share information easily, you have a lot of choice. Just make sure you understand the differences if you feel like Lacey is your next destination.

We still love the scenery and being so close to water, many picnics spent just looking at the Sound. It's a balance and we'll see what's to come. There are a few other things for folks moving to this area that I thought would be helpful to share as we look back on the last 6 months:

-Mail, in most neighborhoods it's delivered via locked boxes put in a spot near the front of the neighborhood. This was an adjustment, but we like it. Mail is more safe and they have larger spots for packages.
-Trucks, one really weird thing we hadn't seen before was trucks hauling trucks. These are HUGE trucks that are towing trucks of the same size behind them. Not sure this was allowed where we came from. Scary as heck the first few times you see it.
-Traffic Circles, everywhere, get used to driving in them and never assume the person is going to maintain their lane. Have had many people cut in front of us so many times, we don't even pull out until the whole circle is clear. Might make people behind me crazy, but have also almost been crushed a few too many times.
-Dark, I may have mentioned this earlier, but it gets dark dark dark here at night. It may be that they didn't build as much near the highways so you don't have that light coming in like out east, but just really felt it once it started getting darker in September or so. Just be careful your first few times driving at night, you have to get used to it.
-Funny coffee shops, not sure anyone has broached this subject before but there are "racy" coffee huts around town. My mom thought this was hilarious when I told her about it. You may do a double-take.
-Hawks Fans, you may think your fan base is dedicated, you've never seen anything like Hawks fans. They call themselves 12's, or 12th fans. It's really honestly so cool as they are loyal to the bone, no leaving early if the team is down.

Okay, now I'll really shut up now. Happy Holidays to all and wishes for a happy, healthy 2015!

[CrazyDonkey]

Part of what makes people here more reserved and guarded is the heterogeneity of backgrounds here - friendships tend to develop based on shared interests. Really, one reason people aren't anxious to invite you into their living room is they don't know whether you're a looney or not (religious, political, etc.). Easier to ignore you now than avoid you later. Believe it or not, vegetarianism can also put people off - "What do we serve them?", "What will they serve us?"

The traffic/parking issues also play a role in de-incentivizing socializing. Much easier to just go home after work and watch Netflix.

[mev]

I am one of those guarded and reserved Washingtonians, born and raised here in the Puget Sound. What you do is none of my business and vice versa. When the stakes are down, however, that support from neighbors and friends comes through and goes both ways!

[NCDavid]

OP, since you belabored your point, I'll belabor the obvious response. You moved from Charlotte, which is the same size city as Seattle. You moved to Olympia which is a 30 to 40 minute drive south of Seattle and are discouraged because a smaller city does't have the amenities of Seattle.
That is naive at the least. If you drive 30 to 40 minutes outside of Charlotte, you are in the boondocks and won't find the amenities of the big city. Why would you expect it to be different here?

[Inkpoe]

Originally Posted by NCDavid

OP, since you belabored your point, I'll belabor the obvious response. You moved from Charlotte, which is the same size city as Seattle. You moved to Olympia which is a 30 to 40 minute drive south of Seattle and are discouraged because a smaller city does't have the amenities of Seattle.
That is naive at the least. If you drive 30 to 40 minutes outside of Charlotte, you are in the boondocks and won't find the amenities of the big city. Why would you expect it to be different here?

Tacoma is 30-40 mins south of Seattle, and it does have the amenities. Olympia is about an hour south of Seattle... but your point still stands.

[NCDavid]

Originally Posted by Inkpoe

Tacoma is 30-40 mins south of Seattle, and it does have the amenities. Olympia is about an hour south of Seattle... but your point still stands.

Thanks for the correction, Inkpoe.

[west seattle gal]

Comments about the original post...I am from N.C., and yes, you have accurately described the PNW social freeze that also exists in Seattle. People are very cold here compared to the SE. Also, I abhor the phrase "no worries" used so often here, for it's said in a way that implies mild irritation on their part and should probably be interpreted as "no worries -- this time!". I can't stand the uptight culture here, but love other things about the people and area.

[west seattle gal]

Originally Posted by mev

I am one of those guarded and reserved Washingtonians, born and raised here in the Puget Sound. What you do is none of my business and vice versa. When the stakes are down, however, that support from neighbors and friends comes through and goes both ways!

I'm unsure about this. I work in healthcare, oncology specifically, and several patients have described a lack of support from friends or their community. People just don"t want to get involved, it's easier to be polite but distant including when others are facing true crisis and need others more than ever. There is a lot of isolation here.

[CrazyDonkey]

Originally Posted by SantosLHalper

Yeah, so hindsight right? I knew Olympia was more of a small-mid city, but thought that, just like out east, there are still a lot of conveniences when you live within an hour of a major metro area. Maybe it's more a radius issue, that we needed to be closer to Seattle to reap some of the benefits of Seattle. However, we don't want to reap the ridiculous housing prices. I guess maybe we thought the radius would be larger. The lack of shopping, health food stores, that's minor kind of stuff. My major concern is still the healthcare.

And it is more an issue of time (and bother) than distance, due to traffic messes. The disincentives start to overwhelm the incentives.

If you do decide to relocate within the area, to get closer to all the things you value, but without breaking the bank for housing, I'd suggest you look at the Tacoma area.

[Olympian2]

Originally Posted by SantosLHalper

My major concern is still the healthcare. If I got truly sick, I don't think I'd live here. I don't feel like I have confidence in the care here. I was even told by a doctor this past week, if I wanted modern, I should move to Seattle. What I meant by modern was him having a computer in the room so he could look up my records. If that is considered modern, in 2014, I'm a little concerned. Beware of West Olympia docs hooked into Capital Medical, someone warned me about that before we moved here.

I was the one who warned you (and everyone) about what passes for healthcare outside of Seattle - Tacoma in Western Washington. I also reported faster and actual genuine sickcare by flying to Texas to see competent actual doctors (i.e., not Nurse Quacktitioners, not Quacktitioner's Assistants, not vet school dropouts, not doctors reprimanded out of other states into Washington, not midwifes, and not whatever else washes up on the medical beaches of Washington.) And I assert with documentation that you'll move back another 50 years in medical history if you've fallen and can't get up west of West Olympia.

In specific regard to Capital Medical Center, no one will provide details, but they were apparently bought with ACA focused capitalist interests in 2012. All of the competent doctors practicing there left the state then. "Why would you move from Texas to Washington? They don't have anything here. I'm going to Texas." said the Doctor. "It's hot there." I replied. "You can make an appointment, but I'll probably be in Harlingen." And he flew like Norwegian Wood.

Capital's online portal doesn't really work, but once they've gotten your email address, they'll spam you. "Need to pee? Come on in, and we'll palpitate you!" "Coughing? We sell flu shots here!" As for sending a message to my doctor, I could ask him out on a date complete with dancing, but I'd just get an automated reply that my message has been received. So while you can make a timely PCP appointment at Capital, you don't want to.

Providence is OK, but as you have learned, it takes 2-3 months to see a PCP there.

As for trying the Seattle solution for obtaining medical care in Western Washington, well, this is turning out to be very expensive and very noisy. But they do have functioning E-lek-tronic medical records, and hey, I've got mail. Warning, these e-records were transcribed with speech recognition software: "Olympian2 traveled here from the lipid Peninsula." Oh so highly amusing since no one still has bothered with a lipid panel assessment on me since 2008.

As for organic fruit / vegetable markets, surely as SantosLHalper you have visited The Evergreen State College? They were selling Hippy Certified produce on campus the last time that I visited there (Sept. 2014). You can get anything that you want at Evergreen's Restaurant.