Nice, inexpensive, right-leaning area (Seattle, Spokane: rent, neighborhoods, live)

[lovethewest]

Thanks for the info everyone...but I didn't mean to start an argument. What Seattle suburbs can you recommend and what can you tell me about the Olympia/Lacey area? Thanks!

[racechick73]

Yeah, there are definetely some differing opinions on here, sorry!
I lived in Lacey for 7 years, up until 3 years ago. It was nice. You're half an hour to Tacoma, but really everything a person could want is right in Olympia. It is a very liberal area (college town) but it is kept up and I think the crime rate still isn't too bad. I also don't think housing has gone up a huge lot, at least not as high as the counties in Seattle and north. Keep in mind Lacey, Tumwater, and Oly all run together to make one big city. I believe most of the schools are good there, and you have some great private schools to choose from, too. Lacey is a little more laidback than Oly- housing is slightly cheaper and it has more of the small-town mindset than Oly, even though it is right next door. It could be because there are a lot of military families; they're commuting north to Ft. Lewis and McChord AFB. I think that might be why Lacey is a little more grounded. PM me if you have any more questions I can help you with!

[StevenWells]

Originally Posted by racechick73

BTW Steven, check out B'ham, Olympia, or Seattle sometime. You most certainly can recognize the majority of the liberals in those cities- they seem to want to stand out by the way they dress. (Or just look for the self-proclaimed, proud-of-themselves vegetarians wearing leather shoes. Or the anti-logging activists living in nice houses built from timber. Or maybe even the woman spending thousands of dollars on infertility treatments because she was allowed to have abortions at her leisure. They're really not hard to spot- that's what I was getting at earlier.)

I suggested just ignoring people with whom you disagree so emphatically, and had in mind a situation I have with a neighbor; nice lady, good friend, but every time anything is wrong with anything, she blames it on the "damned immigrants." I've tried gently suggesting other ideas, but she doesn't want her beliefs challenged, so now I just smile, let it go and change the subject. I guess that wouldn't work for you, as you seem to be bothered simply by the way people look, and make all sorts of assumptions about them just on that basis. Unless you follow people in and out of restaurants and inspect their shoes, or go snooping about in private medical records, how can you possibly know these things about vegetarians or patients of fertility clinics? And why should it bother you how someone dresses, or "stands out" or is proud of him/herself? There isn't anyone anywhere (including you or me) who isn't seen by at least one person who thinks, "Ugh! I'd never wear THAT!" As for houses made of timber, that's mostly what's available, and most of us aren't millionaires who can build exactly what we want, so what are ya gonna do? (Incidentally, what you call "anti-logging activists" aren't against logging, just irresponsible logging.) You blame unemployment in "right-leaning" towns on "environmentalists" (yet, oddly, you say all the jobs are where the "liberals and Californians" live; hmmm...) and claim your statements are "factual," with which no one can disagree. Guess again. It's not liberals and environmentalists doing the corporate consolidation and downsizing, and out-sourcing thousands of jobs to other countries, then awarding themselves multi-million-dollar bonuses for their cleverness, in between whining that raising the minimum wage would cost jobs, which has consistently proven not to be the case.

It just seems like every other post you're injecting political debate and generally blaming liberals for, well...just existing! Believe me, there's plenty I think is wrong with the country and the world that's down to conservatives, and I generally try to restrict those sentiments to appropriate venues. But It's difficult to let so many unsupported, boilerplate indictments go unchallenged.

My apologies, Yac (and anyone else), if the topic is inappropriate to this forum, but this is where racechick73's making her provocative statements, so this is where I'm responding. So sue me (everyone knows how fond we liberals are of frivolous litigation).

[E Roy Slade]

just stay out of Baghdad jims district and youll be ok

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_McDermott

[Evlevo]

Originally Posted by E Roy Slade

just stay out of Baghdad jims district and youll be ok

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_McDermott

I live in that district (it is basically all of Seattle). This is a wonderful area (expensive to own, much cheaper to rent) and a "righty" would enjoy living here. If you want to always engage in political arguements it may not be fun, but I personally have better things to discuss with my neighbors, like lawn care.

Check it out, but I think you'd like it (except for Capital Hill, as I mentioned earlier.)

[E Roy Slade]

Originally Posted by lovethewest

Thanks for the info everyone...but I didn't mean to start an argument. What Seattle suburbs can you recommend and what can you tell me about the Olympia/Lacey area? Thanks!

id say bellevue has tons of republicans and issaquah and bothell and kirkland
or ballard,shoreline and many more

i hate the south side like kent or auburn i think

i somewhat like parts of west seattle

[E Roy Slade]

i know capital hell very well-its a crazy expensive nightmare but sort of interesting -well its not anymore -nothing in seattle is, except maybe lake union or pike place market or greenlake- ravenna,wallingford?

seattle isnt what it used to be

to be there is to always to feel like its weird and mt rainer may blow or so they say it could

they say the mud reached all the way to redmond about 500 years ago

i sort of feel uneasy there -maybe its just me though

[lovethewest]

Also, how to do Seattle and Portland OR compare in terms of housing, cost, politics, etc? Wow, I'm asking a lot of questions.

[racechick73]

That's what these message boards are for- bring 'em on!

[Evlevo]

Originally Posted by lovethewest

Also, how to do Seattle and Portland OR compare in terms of housing, cost, politics, etc? Wow, I'm asking a lot of questions.

The populations are very close. Seattle has bigger and more suburbs. About half of the state population is in the County (Multnomah County) that houses Portland.

Housing in Seattle is more expensive. The types of houses are similar.

Politics are similar for the two. The rest of Oregon is more conservative. Many times Multnomah County votes one way and the rest of the state votes the other (and Multnomah County wins!)