Moving to Olympia (Seattle, Tacoma, Lakewood: apartments, rental, condos)

[naturelover60]

I am looking to move to the Olympia area with my adult son and have some questions. We will be renting for a few years until we buy. We are looking for a 2 or 3 BR with 2 bathrooms. Preference would be condo/townhouse but are open. We have two cats. For work my son is an apprentice carpenter who will need to be able to get to work wherever there are jobs within a 90 minute drive. I am looking at working in the area or Tacoma. I am a child life specialist but these jobs are rare, so I am looking at other medical jobs, or work with children. I do not drive so an important factor is public transportation. From my research it looks like there is a bus to Tacoma that would take an hour.

My main questions are:

1. What are the best areas to rent? Would like to be able to walk to grocery stores if possible. Looking for a quiet area. We would like to be able to pay no more than $1500 a month.

2. What is the reality of public transportation; both to Tacoma and in Olympia.

We are already prepared for lots of rain. Thank you for your time.

[CrazyDonkey]

Why Olympia rather than Tacoma, if likely commuting to Tacoma anyway? Many more 2bd apartments available within your budget (102 vs 18). Easier to live without a car in Tacoma, which also gives you the option of commuting to Seattle (via express bus or commuter rail). More and a wider range of medical jobs in Tacoma. The Olympia > Tacoma commute is prone to congestion from JBLM.

https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_ren...17_rect/11_zm/

https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_ren...44_rect/12_zm/

[Diana Holbrook]

Crazy Donkey's point above is a good one.

There are medical jobs in both the Olympia area and Tacoma, and there are construction job opportunities both places.
I would choose one or the other and not plan on trying to commute between them, especially without a car. Life is challenging enough without that.

[MJ5150]

Is your son in the carpenters union? If yes, the majority of that work is in the Seattle area. Commuting from Olympia north is a mess. I did it for five years in the early 2000's and it was bad then.
You do have the option to ride the Sounder train from Lakewood, which can help if he's in Seattle proper. Getting to Lakewood and back from Olympia presents many traffic challenges of it's own though. Shouldn't be too bad early in the AM (catching the Sounder before 6:00AM), but the ride home gets dicey.
Residential construction is crazy right now, but those wages are lower than they should be.

-Mike

[naturelover60]

Thanks for the information. We are looking at Olympia because of the population. We both prefer smaller towns. My son is the union and will be transferring to the union in Washington. He is prepared to drive up to 90 minutes a day to work. Is that realistic from Olympia to Seattle area?

Stacy

[prosin]

I recommend taking a look at Bremerton/Kitsap County:

*Condos/townhomes in your price range.
*Population is lower than Seattle or Tacoma; slower pace of life.
*Son could catch the ferry to Seattle, if needed. Sixty minutes from Bremerton to downtown Seattle. It is an added expense, but might be worth it. A new fast ferry (no cars) also runs, which is around 30 minutes to downtown Seattle.
*Lots of opportunities in medical field--private, public, and government.

Do you happen to be a veteran? If so, even more opportunities open for you in the medical field, as a Naval Hospital is in the Jackson Park area of Bremerton. They hire civilians, too, but former and current military have preference in hiring.

Harrison Medical Center is the main hospital in Kitsap County, but they will close their Bremerton operations within the next couple of years to move to an expanded nearby Silverdale campus (check into bus/van pools).

[naturelover60]

Thank you for the information. Will look into Bremerton and all other information. I am not a veteran but my son is. We are coming up for a visit in the spring as this move is planned for summer.

[MJ5150]

Originally Posted by naturelover60

Thanks for the information. We are looking at Olympia because of the population. We both prefer smaller towns. My son is the union and will be transferring to the union in Washington. He is prepared to drive up to 90 minutes a day to work. Is that realistic from Olympia to Seattle area?

Stacy

90 minutes coming north should be fine most days.
Coming south, that's more challenging.

-Mike

[Diana Holbrook]

Originally Posted by naturelover60

Thanks for the information. We are looking at Olympia because of the population. We both prefer smaller towns. My son is the union and will be transferring to the union in Washington. He is prepared to drive up to 90 minutes a day to work. Is that realistic from Olympia to Seattle area?

Stacy

Maybe, but the full range of construction jobs are available closer. No real reason to PLAN on commuting from Olympia to Seattle for a construction job. Olympia isn't the sticks.

[Sandy Nelson]

Naturelover,

To get to your initial question about rental opportunities: $1,500 should be sufficient to rent a nice townhome or even a single family home. If walkability to amenities and access to public transportation is important, I would point to the area in Lacey where College St meets Yelm Hwy. Specifically from 45th Ave down and across Yelm Hyw a little bit down Rainier Ave. There are sidewalks, parks, 3 grocery stores, drug store, restaurants, pubs, gym etc. in a very close proximity. There is also the Chehalis Western trail for easy access for hiking and biking in nature.

Best of luck!

Sandy