Is Olympia a good choice for us? (Seattle, Tacoma: crime, home)

[Sm1garvin]

Hi there! We’re a family of four, both teachers with young kids. I teach middle school art and my husband teaches high school theater. We’re moving from Colorado because we both miss water (from MI and MA), green landscape, but love the mountains and outdoors in general. We love being involved with our community and would like to have that opportunity in Olympia. We love bookstores and coffee, art and parks. Ideally we’d live a craftsman home but those are hard to come by. We don’t want to live in a new neighborhood, that’s for sure. Does Olympia fit the bill in your opinion?

[Snort]

Sounds like it might. It's a small city with a lot of what you're describing. If you can deal with the lack of sunlight in winter and the occasional rain, you're good to go.

[CrazyDonkey]

If looking at Olympia, look at Bellingham too. While travel distance is greater (90 miles, DT-to-DT, compared to 60 for Olympia), travel time to Seattle is similar, due to less congestion on I-5 north of Everett. Bellingham is also only 55 miles from Vancouver, BC. There is also Amtrak service, twice a day, to Seattle and Vancouver.

On Bellingham Bay and the Salish Sea, so great access to water views and activities. The Community Boating Center provides access to sailing, kayaking, paddleboarding, etc. Also, for swimming and boating, look at Lake Whatcom.

The Bellingham Cruise Terminal serves the Alaska Marine Highway System, as well as charter/tour boats to the San Juans and for whale watching. The Alaska You're also not far from the Anacortes car ferries serving the San Juan Islands.

For mountains, you'll be close to Mt. Baker (after Mt. Rainier, the most heavily glaciated mountain in the Cascade Range) and not far from the North Cascades National Park. Tremendous hiking, camping, and skiing/snowboarding opportunities.

[Diana Holbrook]

I think Olympia sounds perfect for you... or maybe Tumwater But I'm a Tumwater alum... I'm biased that way.

When looking, I would consider Olympia, Tumwater, and Lacey among your options.... lots of smaller towns and smaller districts surrounding too, if you might be interested in that.

[Sm1garvin]

Thank for the info everyone! We went from Bellingham, to Gig Harbor, to Olympia because we feel we’d be able to afford a bit more in Olympia ☺️

[RotseCherut]

Downtown Olympia is a freak show and there is a lot of mentally ill and dangerous homeless people in the downtown area. I got attacked by a guy with a stick coming out of the Grocery Outlet not long ago in West Olympia. I've witnessed schizophrenic people screaming their brains out at the sky and looking visibly very, very angry at who knows what and who? This is a very common site. If you think the homeless problem in Portland is bad, Olympia is like 10 times worse! They literally give the homeless free room, board and free reign to do whatever the heck they want here. The progressive ultra-liberal politics even upsets some liberal people I met who are still more rationally minded. To be honest, I cannot wait to get the hell out of Olympia. However, if you avoid downtown and live in a suburb like Tumwater you can get some real nice property for cheap. As well, if you get sick of the chaos and filth in downtown Olympia you can always go up to North Tacoma and enjoy a fairly nice and laid-back semi-urban environment. I think of North Tacoma and University Place as a scaled down and lightweight version of West Seattle.

Gig Harbor, Proctor, University Place, Ruston, Bellingham are all nicer small areas/towns to live in the Puget Sound if you don't want chaotic Seattle city life and expenses. Bellingham is not cheap, but if you live in Lynden or another town nearby, the housing is affordable and scenery is just as nice and Bellingham is not far away. You could also get affordable waterfront property in Birch Bay or Blaine and be within commuting distance to Vancouver, BC, which is a much nicer city than Seattle.

Seriously, my opinion is avoid Olympia like the plague, unless you don't care about the town, but just want to get some nice property in the area at a discount. There are also some areas around Olympia, like Shelton that have a lot of property crime and serious drug issues. Be wary, as all that beautiful greenery and water may deceive you about the real atmosphere of the place.

[Diana Holbrook]

....And sometimes these things get wildly exaggerated by folk who really hate the area. As happens with exaggeration, there is a grain of truth, it just loses all perspective. Does Olympia have some homeless and crime and related issues? Yes. So does any city its size. IMHO, Olympia has the same kinds of issues you have anyplace where there are tens of thousands of people gathered together.

I live outside of town because I don't want to live that close to anyone, and Rotse is right the politics of Olympia is pretty far left, but there isn't a place - any public business or block - in downtown Olympia I would be afraid to go.

Tumwater is the best of the Tri-city area. I agree with Rotse on that... but I'm biased, as I said before. and Tumwater School District is a little less built up than the others and a little more rural. A lot of our state government infrastructure has moved to Tumwater. And Tumwater has the Costco. They adopted a fairly strongly enforced building style code a while back that gives a lot of the new development a nice brick and green roof look. They're trying to encourage pedestrian friendly construction without the look of big parking lots downtown and out by the airport. They also love roundabouts and are putting them in everywhere.... but every place has its faults. Olympia and Tumwater are considered affordable by Seattle or Gig Harbor standards, but home values are going up here and it's been getting a lot more competitive to buy here.

And I would NOT rule out Shelton as Rotse just did. Shelton is a small town that is really looking up. The mill is running again, there are lots of good businesses and restaurants in the towntown area again... and property values are going up, but it still has some great bargains compared to Olympia and Tumwater. Property crime - OK - you can no longer just leave everything unlocked. Take some precautions to repel thieves, as I think you have to do anywhere now. The issue isn't that there's more crime in Shelton, it's that people are surprised to find it now even in rural areas... thieves have cars, and poor people also live in the country. With even minor security steps, you can usually avoid problems with thieves... like anywhere.

I'd recommend you come out for a trip and take some time just driving the area and looking. There are also facebook groups for most of these areas that offer some insight into what happens, and what people are talking about. Join them and eavesdrop awhile.

[lifexponential]

I live in Gig Harbor. It's growing a lot here. But it's a very cute and desirable town.

[NWarty]

Originally Posted by Diana Holbrook

....And sometimes these things get wildly exaggerated by folk who really hate the area. As happens with exaggeration, there is a grain of truth, it just loses all perspective. Does Olympia have some homeless and crime and related issues? Yes. So does any city its size. IMHO, Olympia has the same kinds of issues you have anyplace where there are tens of thousands of people gathered together.

He's not exaggerating. As someone who worked in downtown for nearly a decade and have a home in the South Capitol, the issue is out of control.

The core downtown has taken a gigantic nosedive in the 20 years I've lived and worked here.

[Diana Holbrook]

And yet people continue to flock here, and the area consistently ranks highly on livability and quality of life lists.

Find me places that do NOT have any of these issues. They are, unfortunately, modern societal issues.

There are more expensive places... more fenced and gated places... more rural areas... even within the greater Olympia area, if one desires more security and separation from such issues.

Just like anywhere.