Clearwood/Yelm/ - Lacey commute times

[58djoker]

Sweetflowerer, no problem. There was no deposit for us to hook up with Fairpoint. I think they run a credit check so depending on if you have any issues there. I can't help you on the job market question. I do see some help wanted signs but don't really pay much attention. As far as the weather goes I wouldn't sweet it too much. The summers are really awesome! I'd say 6 months per year is really good. The winter months can be dreary but they aren't always rainy either. I'd say that most of the bad stuff is out of the way for about the next ten years. LOL Since we've been here all the stuff that happens once every 10 years has happened. We had the most windy times, the longest rain streak, the hottest summer, and now the worst for snow in 10 years. That being said, none of those were too bad. The hot summer only lasted like a week. We don't have A/C in our house and I'm still not considering installing it. We use fans when it warms up above 85, if needed. If you keep the blinds closed the house rarely even heats up, mostly in Clearwood where there are tons of trees. My summer electric bill is about $40-50 and the winter bill is $230 if it's been really cold. That is based on a 1500 Sqft house that is all electric and no A/C. I don't know of any regulations against planting a garden and we have several friends that have done it. The community dues are the same as the HOA fees. That includes a LOT here in Clearwood. You can check out the regulations at www.clearwood-yelm.com I haven't had any issues with citations. I don't know of anyone who has personally. I've turned a few in for stuff like passing in a no passing zone and driving wreckless. I have kids who play and don't want that business going on. The mosquitos aren't that bad but they are up here. The community has 1300 lots but I think there are approximately 1000 homes right now. The area is huge so the houses aren't right on top of each other. For medical help you have the fire department 2 miles from the entrance to the community. They have first responders and fire fighters. We just go to post. I don't know of anyone who has had an issue with this. Ther is actually a lot to rent out here as a matter of fact we just listed our house for lease / option to buy with Chatelain at www.chatelainpm.com for $1150 but I think we may be cheaper than most. We have had two people try renting it in the past three days so it's not going to last at that price. You can find more rentals thru Windermere in Yelm or Remax in Yelm. Pets aren't too hard to get approved unless you have a large animal or a violent dog such as a pit bull or similar. The rent will be between 1000 and 1400 for something nice.

[gadgetlady]

Hi Sweetflowerar

Did you have a chance to sign up for Fairpoint ? If so I would appreciate help. Do you know the number to call Fairpoint and what kind of cable TV service they are offering ? Is there any other provider ? Would appreciate your advice and help.

[Jamiehudgens001]

Hey congrats on almost retiring. I live in Clearwood and my husband works in a building beside Grey field on Fort Lewis. From our door to his office is 45 minutes. There are two back gate entrances that are not on most maps which enters the post in the small town of Roy and one between Roy and Spanaway on 507. If you follow highway 507 from Yelm you will pass through Roy before getting to Spanaway. To the actual post is only about 30 minutes but driving to the airfield, which is in the middle of the post that has a speed limit of 30 miles/hour eats up 15 minutes of your commute.

Yelm is a small town that has a new super wal-mart, clean Safeway, several hardware stores, 5 or 6 screen movie theater, and a small library but good interlibrary loan system. For other kinds of shopping as in a mall you would drive an hour south to Olympia or 45min NE to Puyllap.

Clearwood community is 13 miles from Highway 507 which is the main street that runs through Yelm. The community has a lot of houses to suit your needs. The yards are bigger than you described in Hawaii but there are not a lot of homes with huge yards. There is Clear Lake the main lake for swimming, boating and fishing, this is a state lake so anyone can access it from the boat dock but Clearwood community surrounds about 80% of the shoreline and that cannot be accessed without a gate key into the community. There are walking trails, picnic areas, children's parks, baseball fields, basketball and tennis courts and a heated pool for the residents. There is also a stocked fishing pond for residents only, aside from Clearlake.

As for the Yelm public schools; I'm not a fan. There is little country school that is K-6th grade just outside the clearwood community that comprises almost all clearwood residents that I hear great things about. However, in my opinion the public schools in town are substandard. Our daughter attended the middle school in town briefly and we had a lot of issues with the office staff.

I would think that if you wanted large lots then you might look at Lawerance Lake. They have very large lots and much newer, larger houses. It is relatively newly developed so it won't have the walking trails and tennis courts etc that are found in Clearwood but the homes are very pretty.

Hopes this helps!

[jenniferkatie]

Wow, we used to live in Arkansas!! The little rock area! I hope you love it out here as much as we have! We are lucky to live right near the front gate so don't have the "winding drive" through the community, and i work out of tacoma so its one hour from our driveway to the parking lot of St. Joseph Medical center in tacoma. There is a great medical team of doctors in yelm who are planning opening a "emergency clinic" in the next year or so otherwise, the clearest hospital is olympia and tacoma, but we have an AWESOME volenter firedepartment who are very FAST (as we have had to use their service before) and are at your house in under 5 minutes! Everyone looks out after everyone else and its very friendly to families! My kids ride up and down the roads on their bikes, walk to their friends houses with out fear. We had our children in the school (Lackamas) and its a great school using a "Old School House" building that houses 3 classrooms (2 kinders and 1 first grade with all the wonderful original hard wood floors/walls and real blackboards and lots of windows! It really makes "kindergarden" extra special!) and the office/work area for the teachers as its center then surrounded by portable buildings for the other classrooms! We really loved the teachers/staff and the school itself was very nice. We did decide to homeschool our kids using a program offered through the school district (of Stilacolm offered to all students in Washington) called "WAVA" or Washington Virtual Academy as we have a child with Asperger's who's kindergarden teacher stated he pretty much self taught himself to read and could read at the 2nd grade level but they didn't have any "honors" classes for kids that young so we chose WAVA for this school year and absolutly LOVE it! Both our 1st grader (working on 3rd grade math this year and finishing his 2nd grade english and we have a 5th grader as well! We wouldn't go back to a "brick and mortar" school again the experience has been such a great one! Deffinatly check it out! We love the pool, the lakes, trails! They really aren't as 'stringent" on the permits as you would think. You can do gardens/plantings in your front yard without a problem. I think it only is an issue if your wanting to put up a fence in the front yard or a storage house in the front or something big like that. You can store your RV or boat on your lot but just have to have a "blind" in front of it during "off season" time. I personally haven't seen anyone get a "ticket" for speeding or what not, i don't think too many people actually get any, probably only those with severe issues with noise control or blatent uncareing/distruction of property, ect. I love our little community as it has everything you need for your daily needs. If you want target/cosco/malls, you do have to go to Lacey/Olympia about 45min. away, other then that, Yelm has it all!! Banks, doctors/dentists, specialty shops, groceries/walmart/hardware/auto shops/ ect! Oh, and BTW, it isn't cloudy ALL THE TIME! Thats a little known secret! People THINK it rains her all the time, but not really...it may sprinkle a little here and there, maybe throw in a day of heavy rain a few days a month but really it isn't bad and the summers, oh my, totally make up for any "gray days" we do have!! Believe me, i lived in AR. nealy my whole life and i tell you i don't miss that scorching heat one bit!!! Our "highs" in the heat of summer are the lower 90's, and only for a few days during the summer! Most summer is lower 80's, upper 70's, warm enough to swim and run around in shorts and tshirts and have a nice couple of window fans/overhead fans and your good to go!!! Some people who can't bear the couple of days in the 90's w/o air will get a portable air conditioner or window unit for a couple of days of use a year, i don't find it worth it! Just go hang out at the lake or pool! I hope your move is safe and you come to love our "little secret" as much as we have!

[krisjenny]

Hi, I recently read your post and thought you may be interested in my house. The house was built in 1995. 3 bedroom 2.5 bath 1600 square feet. It has a nice fenced landscaped backyard with a two car garage and RV parking. You can watch your children play from the entire first level of the house. A brand new wood playground set is included. The house has been extremely well maintained. The lot hear in Clearwood is a LEVEL lot. You can't say that about the majority of properties here. It also has a large matched storage shed, nice wood stove, and is a 30 second walk to the bus stop for Lackamas school. As for the commute time's I've read in other posts, I make it to McChord in 41 minutes every day. I went to Madigan this morning in 33 minutes and passed by Grey on my way. If you are interested I'll be glad to send some pictures but I'll be listing it on militarybyowner in the next few days with pictures also. The only reason I'm considering selling is because we are eligible for orders and I'd like to stay ahead of the game. 220K and price is negotiable. Call me at 3608940648 if you might be interested or email at krisjenny@ywave.com. Thanks.

[jsm1123]

Hi All-we are also relocating from Ft Benning to Ft Lewis. As of now we plan to live in Lacey, but my question is, would it be unrealistic of me to consider working in Seattle if we live in Lacey? I am the spouse and looking to go back to work. Is there a park and ride? Any input would be appreciated!!