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My boyfriend and I are considering moving to Olympia and I was hoping to find out more about living there :)
I'm not all that interested in the weather and landscape.
The things I'm most interested in are-
The People (are they friendly or dangerous in general/how you're treating by the public/community etc):
The Job Market:
Events and Nightlife:
Walk-ability (how close together are things, is it practical to not have a car and rely on buses and bikes?):
Transit Between Olympia and Seattle:
Outdoor Attractions(I've heard good things about forests and rivers etc. that are fun to visit for the day):
Entertainment (Museums, Shopping, arcades etc):
Any information, positive or negative, would be really appreciated. Feel free to mention things I didn't ask about if you think it's relevant to someone considering the move. I know about the weather, I tend to like rain and gloomy days actually.
Thank you!
My boyfriend and I are considering moving to Olympia and I was hoping to find out more about living there
I'm not all that interested in the weather and landscape.
The things I'm most interested in are-
The People (are they friendly or dangerous in general/how you're treating by the public/community etc):
The Job Market:
Events and Nightlife:
Walk-ability (how close together are things, is it practical to not have a car and rely on buses and bikes?):
Transit Between Olympia and Seattle:
Outdoor Attractions(I've heard good things about forests and rivers etc. that are fun to visit for the day):
Entertainment (Museums, Shopping, arcades etc):
Any information, positive or negative, would be really appreciated. Feel free to mention things I didn't ask about if you think it's relevant to someone considering the move. I know about the weather, I tend to like rain and gloomy days actually.
Thank you!
Skunku,
I've lived in Olympia for the past 15 years, but I'm originally from the east coast, so I'll give you my thoughts on some of your questions.
The People (are they friendly or dangerous in general/how you're treating by the public/community etc):
Folks for the most part are very cordial, but not friendly like you'd see in the deep South. Customer service can be hit or miss in the locality. Most are very good, but many restaraunts/coffee shops are awful. You get a wide range of people who live in Olympia, from Government and State workers, to Every-Day folks, Military and Military Retirees, Students (Evergreen State College) etc. Downtown on weekends can bring out the worst in panhandlers, bums (LOTS of bums) and drunken idiots. But for the most part relatively safe during the weekday and daytime. People won't generally bring their kids down 4th Avenue after dark on a weekend. I won't lie and say that crime hasn't been an issue downtown because it has. For a town of this size, we seem to have a dispropportionate amount of seedy individuals causing a lot of problems and the city council continues to put their head in the sand in addressing crime. We can buy hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of solar-powered parking meters with built in networking, but apparently too broke to provide for walking or bike patrols to keep downtown cleaned up.
I'm also Military and have been treated incredibly well. Everyonce in a while, I've had a bad encounter, but the good has most definitely out-weighed the bad. Olympia is also very liberal, which is a good thing for the most part. Once in a while you'll have issues with a very small percentage of folks who don't like to follow rules (i.e. protestors or the local causeheads) but they are becoming fewer and far between.
The Job Market: Most of Olympia is State Government, so you have a HUGE population of workers that commute in. The job market is difficult, just like everywhere else in the country.
Events and Nightlife: Lots of events happen during the year, Arts Walk, Sand in the City, Lake Fair, Music in the Park and lots of other little festivals here and there and they run the spectrum. Night life is mostly bars along 4th avenue, but there are severals wine bars around and higher-end restaraunts. Several theaters exist in downtown along with the Washington Center (performing arts), that host plays, music, etc. Lots of neat little stuff to find.
Keep in mind, when the sun comes out, there isn't a soul inside, so everyone gets out and about when the sun is shining.
Walk-ability (how close together are things, is it practical to not have a car and rely on buses and bikes?):
Public transportation is excellent in the City and TONS of people use it. Lots of buslines and the waits are minimal. Many people bike who live in the city. Rain or shine.
Transit Between Olympia and Seattle:
60 minutes with no traffic. (think Sunday morning). When I worked in Seattle (near the Space Needle), my commute time was roughly 90 minutes. Coming home is a different story depending on when you leave and what day it is. Plan on 100-120 minutes. Seattle Traffic is ROUGH.
Outdoor Attractions(I've heard good things about forests and rivers etc. that are fun to visit for the day):
My God, TONS of stuff. You're basically two hours away from the Coast/Beaches or two hours from the Mountains. Hiking, Skiing, Kayaking, Climbing, Camping, the list goes on and on. Lots of shops to get gear from, both local and REI. Olympia also has a wonderful little Farmer's Market that opens in April and runs through the beginning of Fall.
Entertainment (Museums, Shopping, arcades etc):
Hands-on Children's Museum, State History Museum are the local ones. Further north in Tacoma you have The Glass Museum (very cool), LeMay Auto Museum. Near Seattle, Boeing Museum of FLight, Seattle Art Museum, EMP and Sci-Fi and tons of other things.
Shopping consists of small local shops downtown and smattered throughout the city. West Olympia has Westfield (or Capitol Mall) which has all the big box retailers plus REI.
Arcades? I thought that was an 80's thing
I grew up in Atlanta for 20 years and have lived here in Oly for 15. Even though the town can be frustrating at times, I do love it here. At 45,000 people, it still retains much small-town charm while being so close to Tacoma, Seattle and everything the PNW has to offer. Go for it
I've lived here for 13 years, but I'm from the surrounding area and have been familiar with Olympia for longer, as I was born and raised in a small SW Washington town. I've traveled a bit inside and outside the US, so my perspective isn't limited to this area, however. The above post by NWarty was pretty thorough but I think I can add to it in a couple of spots.
The People (are they friendly or dangerous in general/how you're treating by the public/community etc): Generally nice but I hesitate to say "friendly" - they can at times be "secretly" judgmental, or even up front judgmental sometimes. The economy has produced a serious epidemic of homeless in recent years, so just be prepared for that. Downtown, you might meet really nice people, variably friendly/unfriendly/desperate homeless people, or judgmental hipsters posing as homeless people, or just completely wasted people who barely know you're there...you never really know what will happen. Not seriously dangerous though, if you're in a public area. People here tend to avoid confrontation like some kind of a plague. Keep in mind this is pretty much a college town, and a fairly liberal one at that, so things are generally pretty calm, just maybe sometimes weird when the small town crazies drop in...
The Job Market: In the last 10 years, I've seen need for specialized training go up and the economy has seriously reduced what the downtown area used to be in terms of small, local businesses. Lots of shops open up and then disappear after a year. Plenty of restaurants and bars though. If you have some professional credentials or are a great food service person, you should be able to land a decent job in that area fairly quickly. If not...I can say from experience, it is kind of rough finding a "livable wage" job at all, without knowing somebody first or just lucking out.
Events and Nightlife: Plenty of events, during warmer months, as stated above. Nightlife is pretty much non-existent (for non-20-something non-singles, from my viewpoint, haha), as buses stop running at around 11 PM the very latest (except to Evergreen SC during some months). The bars have more variety to them in recent years, but for the most part they are still average sports-bar type places. There is also at least one taco place and a cafe in or near downtown that both stay open late, if I recall correctly.
Walk-ability (how close together are things, is it practical to not have a car and rely on buses and bikes?): I don't drive so this is an important subject for me too...It all depends on how close to downtown you can (or want) to live. I live a block away from 2 different bus stops, on the outskirts of downtown Olympia. I can catch a 5 minute ride from here (or a 10-15 minute walk) to the transit center (which is nearly the center of downtown), and take a bus to nearly anywhere in the area, or even catch a bus that will connect to others going to Tacoma, Sea-Tac, or Seattle if I need to. In town, the buses are equipped with bike racks. Buses go to both the community college and Evergreen.
The only complaint about the buses, again, is they tend to stop running a little early for my taste, especially on weekends.
Transit Between Olympia and Seattle: As stated in NWarty's comment above if you're driving. Also, I know for sure there are people who regularly commute on the early bus to either Tacoma or Seattle. It seems like the prices always change, but it totals about 4 or 5 dollars one-way to Seattle.
Outdoor Attractions(I've heard good things about forests and rivers etc. that are fun to visit for the day): As stated - lots of outdoor activities possible, only limited by how equipped you are. On the relaxing side - plenty of beautiful waterfront parks, forest trails, etc. One of the nicer things about living here. Just not always easy to reach by public transport, for some reason...many are within city limits, though. We also have a Japanese garden in town which I recommend in Spring/summer.
Entertainment (Museums, Shopping, arcades etc): As stated above. We have a couple small museums in town, the rest are mainly North. Shopping: There is the mall and downtown shops, and if you want more big name retail stores, a short drive or bus ride will go the the adjacent "city" of Lacey where they have sprawling retail store areas, even more restaurants, etc.....
Entertainment-wise, on top of all the events, there is the Performing Arts Center, and the Olympia film society's cinema which is always showing interesting, mostly independent or foreign films (with an occasional "big name" or classic movie in the mix sometimes).
Hope that adds to what NWarty already said...overall Oly is a nice if somewhat lazy (and sometimes boring, to be honest) place to live...but I've seen and lived in much worse places...
Last edited by Aggrobot23; 05-09-2013 at 01:38 PM..
I am an Olympia and Thurston County advocate and fan. I find it much more inviting there than living in the metro Seattle area so everything is "pro" for me as I'm not fond of the congestion in larger metropolitan areas and I find everything I need in the Olympia area.
Pertaining to public "transit" to Seattle, as Aggrobot23 has mentioned, there is bus service but it will take almost two hours one way as you will have to transfer in Tacoma. Since Thurston County is not in the Sound Transit jurisdiction, there is no through service. Intercity Transit (Thurston County's public transit agency) does provide express service to Tacoma and from there, you'd have to transfer to Sound Transit express service. I believe the one-way fare is around $6.50 but you'd have to check further on that. No Orca cards accepted on Intercity Transit.
There are also four Greyhound trips daily. They would be the fastest at 1:35 but not at necessarily convenient times as I believe they all depart Olympia in the afternoon and evening. --approximately $17.55 web fare.
The People (are they friendly or dangerous in general/how you're treating by the public/community etc):
The Job Market:
Events and Nightlife:
Outdoor Attractions(I've heard good things about forests and rivers etc. that are fun to visit for the day):
Entertainment (Museums, Shopping, arcades etc):
The above are all pros. Good people, decent job market (though not lucrative like up north), solid nightlife for a community of this size, excellent outdoor attractions.
Quote:
Walk-ability (how close together are things, is it practical to not have a car and rely on buses and bikes?):
Transit Between Olympia and Seattle:
These are the cons. You need a car for Olympia, and commuting by car to places north is by far the most fastest and easiest. Olympia/Lacey/Tumwater is sprawled out.
Lived in Olympia for 22 years. Although Washington folks can be a little "cool", I believe you will find them motly non-threatening and somewhat friendly. Customer service, as stated above, can be a bit lacking at times. I rarely locked my car doors and have even fallen asleep with my front door wide open and have lived to tell the tale (my personal belongings made it as well). The bus system is pretty decent. As a previous poster mentioned, the best route is around Evergreen State College and I think it runs until around midnight (I lived close by and would hear it drive by at night). Depending on where you live/work, it is a pretty bikeable area. I worked with many people who would bike to work - albeit the weather can make it rather unpleasant many months out of the year. As far as nightlife...there are a number of bars downtown and generally a couple of dance clubs operating. I had many fun nights at Jakes on 4th Ave and can even recall back to the old Thekla days. There have been many clubs downtown that have gone bust, but it seems when one closes, another picks up the peices.
As far as the job market....the state government is the largest employer with probably Providence St. Peter Hospital coming in 2nd. I think finding a job has become harder everywhere, but I am hearing it is improving.
Olympia blows!
Too many homeless, petty crime is skyrocketing and more violent crime is increaseing. the pervasive attitude of the service industry folk is apathy with a side of passive aggressive. Its like there is a race to be the most disinterested, lazy, apathetic, dirty, entitled person in town. Things close early on Sunday. Even the highest rated on Yelp would be a 3 star at best in any real city. The police are too busy to do anything about downtown despite a recent stabbing death yet will hang out on Capitol Ave to make sure you don't go over 25mph! Sure, there is plenty of great stuff nearby but by and large it is a cold, wet swamp. Screw Olympia!
For the OP or anybody else that may be interested, Intercity Transit is arranging for Sound Transit bus service to serve Olympia on selected peak hour trips if approved starting in the fall.
There will be six trips in each direction. Although trips will be on the same bus with no need to transfer, the trip time itself will be in the 2-hour range (+ or - 5-10 minutes).
Ok I really need your help...
I'm considering a big move and change of scenery for me and my daughters. I need honest opinions on life for African American in the Olympia, Wa area. Take in count im moving from deep south Houston, Tx. My girlss are 16&7 and I don't want them to feel uncomfortable at schools possibly being only one of color. I know about the social life and shopping due to I've visited a few times. My 7 year old have always went to school with mostly whites. But the 16 old only has 2 years left and yes her school was vast white but still had a population of african American. Im moving soon so please leave your comments. Thanks
Ok I really need your help...
I'm considering a big move and change of scenery for me and my daughters. I need honest opinions on life for African American in the Olympia, Wa area. Take in count im moving from deep south Houston, Tx. My girlss are 16&7 and I don't want them to feel uncomfortable at schools possibly being only one of color. I know about the social life and shopping due to I've visited a few times. My 7 year old have always went to school with mostly whites. But the 16 old only has 2 years left and yes her school was vast white but still had a population of african American. Im moving soon so please leave your comments. Thanks
You may want to consider moving to University Place or Tacoma if diversity is a major factor.
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