Eatonville, Wa. (Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia: houses, theatre, living)

[Mary Kay Frank]

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Does anyone know about this town or the surrounding area? It's south of Tacoma and west of Olympia. I would like to move back to Washington State. I really miss its beauty, but want to avoid city congestion.

[seattlerain]

Although I've been through Eatonville many times I don't know much about it. The town has a website with contact information, Town of Eatonville
perhaps they might be able to help you.

Also, you may have better luck in the Washington forum as the Seattle forum generally covers topics related to the Seattle metro area.

[allforcats]

I love Eatonville! I don't live there, but one of my favorite rural photographers lives and has a shop in Eatonville. It's quiet, beautiful, peaceful, very rural, lots of forest, as is the surrounding area.
There's very little "town" there. Eatonville is on the road to Mt. Rainier, which is why a photographer can sell his photos there
Olympia is actually quite a ways west of Eatonville.
How "ideal" such a place might be would depend on how little one needs a job, entertainment, restaurants, and shopping.

[sabrinalee]

I live just 14 miles away from Eatonville and am very familiar with the area. There are basically just two main roads into and out of E.--Hwy 7 (aka Mountain Hwy) and Route 161 (Meridian). It's a little town right now, but is expanding like everywhere else. Developments are going in all around its city limits and within the town itself, but people are still nice and easygoing. It has one grocery store (I know the owners--it's been family owned for three generations), a few resturants (American, Mexican, and an ole family run diner--the Tall Timbers), a hardware store, a movie theatre with one screen, a few thrift shops, and other small misc. stores (furniture, sporting goods, etc.).

The nearest larger grocery chain is 14 miles north of E.--Safeway--and a Walmart is another 4 miles north beyond that, along with Fred Meyer, a Target to come in October, and then you're basically in Puyallup. I love living here, though the traffic is getting to be a pain, and you have many a speed demon on the routes in and out of Eatonville, but if you don't mind the commute, it's a nice place to live. Truly. You're only about 25 miles from Rainier Nat'l Park and that alone makes it a great place to live!

Any more questions? Let me know. I've lived in this area for over 7 years now.

[looking4sun]

I live north of Eatonville and have been through there many times since my parents live there. It's a very small, quiet, pretty town....but as with everywhere in this area....houses are expensive. If you're going to be commuting in to work each day, be prepared for a long drive which means lots of gas money. The drive out there is beautiful though....can't deny that! Good luck to you!