commuting to ft. lewis (Seattle, Tacoma: apartments, renting, condos)

[armypianist]

I'm moving to Ft. Lewis soon. So I have been doing some reading on where to live and everyone seems to complain about traffic in the Seattle area. I suppose I won't really know until I get there and see for myself, but I was wondering if people could give me an idea of how long it really takes to get to Ft. Lewis?

I have friends and family who live in Seattle, so I'm hoping to find a place that's between Ft. Lewis and Seattle so that I will be closer them. I'm looking into the following areas:

- Puyallup
- North Tacoma
- South Tacoma
- Federal Way (is this out of the question?)

I would just look up the travel times on Mapquest but that doesn't take traffic into account, and with everyone saying that the traffic in the area being beyond comparison, I'd like to hear from people who actually live there.

Thanks in advance for your responses.

[mthomson]

Lacey and Yelm are on the other side of Ft Lewis from Seattle. They're both South of Ft Lewis, and Seattle is well north. I think Federal Way would be a longer commute to Ft Lewis than you'd like. Traffic wouldn't be terrible, though. Realistically, normal traffic, Ft Lewis to Seattle is 40-45 min. (to downtown Seattle). Puyallup would be a decent option, but I've found their traffic to be pretty bad, and pretty limiting as there's only one way from Puyallup to Seattle and only one way from Puyallup to Ft. Lewis.
N Tacoma or Central Tacoma would be my choices. Nice neighborhoods, easy freeway access, short drive to Seattle and to Ft. Lewis.
South Tacoma is closer to Ft Lewis, further from Seattle, and tougher to find the nice neighborhoods. There are some nice ones, but there are some rough ones as well.
I think you'd be happy with North or Central Tacoma.

[Sandy Nelson]

Armypianist,
From Ft. Lewis to Tacoma will take you between 20 and 30 minutes, depending on how far you venture into town and away from I-5. From Ft. Lewis to Federal Way will be around 40-45 minutes and from Ft. Lewis to Puyallup is anywhere from 20-45 minutes, depending on the time of day. You might ant to consider the town of Fife if you're looking to live halfway between Seattle and Ft. Lewis. There are plenty of apartments, condos and new single family construction and it's an easy hop unto I-5.
Good luck with your move.
Sandy

[Macanudo]

Definitely take a look at north Tacoma. You can hop on SH 16 and take that down to 5. We live in University Place and can take a back route to the west gate (along the Steilacoom/Dupont Rd.) and it takes me 20 minutes to get to the gate. Depending on where your work is located, you'd be another 5-10 minutes away once you get in the gate.

Federal Way is not a terrible commute. But downtown Tacoma is always a snarl (both ways) during the rush hours. If your goal is to be closer to work than Seattle, I'd live in Tacoma. The saved time on the daily commute more than justifies the extra 15-20 (non-rush hour) minutes you get living farther north.

No matter what, keep in mind that I-5 is a disaster most days both ways.

[cobolt]

Yea, the less I-5 you can do, the better....

[bellabella2]

My husband made the daily commute from North Tacoma/ West end neighborhood to Fort Lewis when we lived there. We still have the house there in North Tacoma that we are selling or renting. All I can tell you is that we fell in love with the area since we had Point Defiance so close. We would go for runs there often. It was great..

I hope you stick with the North End...

[jeannern]

We live in Puyallup. It takes about 30 minutes to get to the Madigan gate from where we live. That is using the back roads. You never know what traffic will be like on Hwy 512 or I-5, so we avoid those.
Good luck!

[weddingcomingup]

try dupont and lakewood areas

[ginanews]

I would surely stick with the southern direction. I'm not even sure Dupont has a "downtown" but it looks like something happening zooming by on I-5. Lacy is very nice and still has a small town feel, so far. South of Olympia is starting to develop so maybe Lacy won't get to crowded
Who wants to go through Tacoma and/or Seattle in rush hour? Everyday?

Gina

[Prple]

If you are going to do Puyallup, stay close to the freeway and away from South Hill as the traffic can get really bad. I reccomend Olympia/Lacey or possibly Du Pont. Good luck!