Need info about Fort Lewis Washington ASAP (Seattle, Tacoma: schools, university)

[shannonrae14]

My husband is considering choosing Fort Lewis, WA as our next duty station. I need to know what areas around there are safe and nice. We like very rural small towns and don't mind a commute of 30-45 minutes to do shopping or work. I have a college age daughter and a toddler son so colleges and schools are a priority. PLEASE I need info ASAP!

[Sandy Nelson]

Shannon,

Take a closer look at Olympia. It's located 12 miles south of Ft. Lewis. Olympia has been ranked the safest mid sized town in the US these past two years in a row. There are 3 colleges in the area: South Puget Sound Community College, Evergreen State College, and St. Martin's University.
You can see photos of Olympia here: www.OlympiaUncovered.com
We're a military family as well. The first time we were assigned to Ft. Lewis we lived in South Tacoma and were not thrilled with the locality. With our second assignment years later, we knew the area and chose to live in Olympia. We love it here so much, we decided to stay after my husband retired.
Let me know if you have more questions.

Sandy

[nwcountrygal]

I would try Olympia also or if you want rural look between Olympia and Yelm, closer to Evergreen college. Yelm is about short ways to back gate in Roy or East gate entrance to base. To post would be around 30 minutes. Hawks Prairie is also a nice area close to freeway entrance of base before Olympia. Basically a suburb of Lacey/Olympia.

[sean98125]

Olympia isn't very rural and Hawk's Prairie is starting to feel pretty suburban. You might think about looking more toward Graham, Eatonville, Elbe, Tenino, Grand Mound, outside Centralia or Chehalis, or out toward Shelton and McCleary. Your commute won't be too bad from any of those areas. The further you get from I-5, the more rural you'll be.

[shannonrae14]

Originally Posted by shannonrae14

My husband is considering choosing Fort Lewis, WA as our next duty station. I need to know what areas around there are safe and nice. We like very rural small towns and don't mind a commute of 30-45 minutes to do shopping or work. I have a college age daughter and a toddler son so colleges and schools are a priority. PLEASE I need info ASAP!

Thanks everyone! I think we are going to look around Chehalia because that's the kind of area that we like. I really appreciate all of your help!

[roadfamily6now]

If you dont mind snow, Fort Richardson is very nice

[nwmilitary]

Originally Posted by shannonrae14

My husband is considering choosing Fort Lewis, WA as our next duty station. I need to know what areas around there are safe and nice. We like very rural small towns and don't mind a commute of 30-45 minutes to do shopping or work. I have a college age daughter and a toddler son so colleges and schools are a priority. PLEASE I need info ASAP!

Fort Lewis is great. There is rural areas to the eat of the post - like Yelm and Graham, plus you are close to big cities like Tacoma, Olympia and Seattle. Commute depends on where you want to live. You could choose Dupont, a planned community outside the gate and have a 3 minute commute. mod cut: