Moving to the Olympia, Washington area.....

[Gopher]

I know we've got some Huddlers from Washington (some old, some new)... Who's got the inside scoop on the Olympia area? I just found out on Monday that I'm getting a pretty nice promotion that will require my family to move from MN to WA. The facility I'll be working at is technically in Dupont, WA.

 

On top of all of that, we have a 9-day-old baby girl (not to mention a 4YO daughter and 2YO son), so this is going to be quite the hectic summer, particularly for my wife, who will be holding down the fort (and preparing for the move). This is not the first time we've done this (it will be my 4th move in the last 8 years, and 10th FedEx station in nearly 20 years), but it will be the first with 3 kids under 5.

 

Looking for anything and everything, related to the greater Olympia/Dupont area. Ideally, I'd like to live no more than 30 minutes from work. I've done the worst of worst commutes, and have no desire to do that again. On the flipside, I'm pretty spoiled right now (I work a mile from home), so regardless, it will be a change that takes some getting used to.

 

Looking for information on where to live (or where not to live), as well as things like what areas have good schools/parks for the kids, golf courses, and what is a good gym for family memberships (that also provides some form of child care). Any/all info will be appreciated.

Edited July 2, 2015 by Gopher

[HowboutthemCowboys]

Nothing to add but congrats on the baby!

[Riffraff]

I'm local...

 

Dupont = 3 large sets of cohabitants, but a tiny town:

1. Military (it's literally across the I-5 freeway from Joint Base Lewis-McChord (Army and Air Force combined). You won't have to worry too much about it being a bad neighborhood with armed friendlies. Sorry, no gangs in this town.

 

2. Amazon and FedEx - larger distribution centers.

 

3. Intel corporation - research and development brain trust

 

There's old Dupont near Intel with not many houses available. There's new Dupont near the distribution centers. And there's Northwest Landing along the Puget Sound. NL has postage stamp sized properties and you may or may not own the land the house is on.

 

With the military, there is a fast turnaround of neighbors as they get sent elsewhere every few years. You can find a house easily 5 minutes away from your work.

 

Larger retirement communities since we have retired Army/Navy/Air Force, a major city in Tacoma, and large government job population military/state capitol.

..............

West = the Puget Sound. Can't live there. East = Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Can't live there.

 

Up I-5 to the north is Lakewood / Tacoma. Good and bad areas. This is major city life. You can also take a back road (not gravel or dirt, just backside) to Steilacoom. Expensive on the water. Nice town.

 

To the south on I-5 is Lacey/Olympia/Tumwater. The trifecta. Lacey is the closest to Dupont, across the Nisqually River (starts from a glacier up on Mount Rainier and makes it's way all the way to the Puget Sound. Olympia is the state capitol, but it's not huge. You drive south and it just looks like a bunch of trees, water and a capital building. Doesn't feel like a city at all. Not really any bad area.

 

From Dupont: Northbound commute along I-5 = gridlock. Southbound partial gridlock in rush hour, but not bad. Kinda funny, but it seems like everyone that lives in Olympia works up in Seattle and vice versa.

 

If you like outdoorsy stuff, Lacey has a small state park and a wild life refuge on the river basin. Lacey has the largest IMAX theater in the state. Malls are in Olympia and Tacoma. A major zoo/aquarium in Tacoma. Mount Rainier is a little bit away, but close for skiing and family outings. On your way to the mountain is another wildlife park called Northwest Trek. Seattle is up the freeway 35 miles. Plenty of casinos in all directions. Just north of Tacoma is the waterslide park. Puget Sound = not good for beaches since it's basically a large bay. Like to sail, jet ski, water ski, kayak, bicycle, fish, hunt, ski, etc? You got it here.

 

Golf courses are plenty. Lacey has Hawks Prairie, McChord Air Force Base has one, the Army has one off-post, others all around, and you may have noticed the 2015 US Open was at Chambers Bay (Tacoma) in June.

 

I couldn't tell you much about local gyms, though there are plenty. I have free access to the ones on the military base, so don't pay for others.

 

You will be situated between 2 major mountain ranges, the Cascades and the Olympics. If you've ever seen low lying clouds in the valley between mountains, this has that feel to it sometimes. Causes the overcast days since clouds have a hard time getting past really tall mountains.

 

Seattle has the major sports teams. Tacoma has the minor league teams. Lots of concerts in the stadium/dome/casinos, and also down south at the Gorge.

 

Let's just say that you'll have everything you need here.

 

I hope you like seeing these types of views every day that's not overcast:

http://seattletimes....SunriseLO-1.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/Wm7tg.jpg

https://landingaday....11/07/photo.gif

 

 

 

Win plenty of bar bets: bet that any city on the East Coast (Miami is an excellent choice since people visualize sunny beaches) gets more precipitation than Seattle. Seattle is known for "rain" but it's overcast, not rainy. Most Midwest cities also get more rain.

Edited July 2, 2015 by Riffraff

[Gopher]

I'm local...

 

Dupont = 3 large sets of cohabitants, but a tiny town:

1. Military (it's literally across the I-5 freeway from Joint Base Lewis-McChord (Army and Air Force combined). You won't have to worry too much about it being a bad neighborhood with armed friendlies. Sorry, no gangs in this town.

 

2. Amazon and FedEx - larger distribution centers.

 

3. Intel corporation - research and development brain trust

 

There's old Dupont near Intel with not many houses available. There's new Dupont near the distribution centers. And there's Northwest Landing along the Puget Sound. NL has postage stamp sized properties and you may or may not own the land the house is on.

 

With the military, there is a fast turnaround of neighbors as they get sent elsewhere every few years. You can find a house easily 5 minutes away from your work.

 

Larger retirement communities since we have retired Army/Navy/Air Force, a major city in Tacoma, and large government job population military/state capitol.

..............

West = the Puget Sound. Can't live there. East = Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Can't live there.

 

Up I-5 to the north is Lakewood / Tacoma. Good and bad areas. This is major city life. You can also take a back road (not gravel or dirt, just backside) to Steilacoom. Expensive on the water. Nice town.

 

To the south on I-5 is Lacey/Olympia/Tumwater. The trifecta. Lacey is the closest to Dupont, across the Nisqually River (starts from a glacier up on Mount Rainier and makes it's way all the way to the Puget Sound. Olympia is the state capitol, but it's not huge. You drive south and it just looks like a bunch of trees, water and a capital building. Doesn't feel like a city at all. Not really any bad area.

 

From Dupont: Northbound commute along I-5 = gridlock. Southbound partial gridlock in rush hour, but not bad. Kinda funny, but it seems like everyone that lives in Olympia works up in Seattle and vice versa.

 

If you like outdoorsy stuff, Lacey has a small state park and a wild life refuge on the river basin. Lacey has the largest IMAX theater in the state. Malls are in Olympia and Tacoma. A major zoo/aquarium in Tacoma. Mount Rainier is a little bit away, but close for skiing and family outings. On your way to the mountain is another wildlife park called Northwest Trek. Seattle is up the freeway 35 miles. Plenty of casinos in all directions. Just north of Tacoma is the waterslide park. Puget Sound = not good for beaches since it's basically a large bay. Like to sail, jet ski, water ski, kayak, bicycle, fish, hunt, ski, etc? You got it here.

 

Golf courses are plenty. Lacey has Hawks Prairie, McChord Air Force Base has one, the Army has one off-post, others all around, and you may have noticed the 2015 US Open was at Chambers Bay (Tacoma) in June.

 

I couldn't tell you much about local gyms, though there are plenty. I have free access to the ones on the military base, so don't pay for others.

 

You will be situated between 2 major mountain ranges, the Cascades and the Olympics. If you've ever seen low lying clouds in the valley between mountains, this has that feel to it sometimes. Causes the overcast days since clouds have a hard time getting past really tall mountains.

 

Seattle has the major sports teams. Tacoma has the minor league teams. Lots of concerts in the stadium/dome/casinos, and also down south at the Gorge.

 

Let's just say that you'll have everything you need here.

 

I hope you like seeing these types of views every day that's not overcast:

http://seattletimes....SunriseLO-1.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/Wm7tg.jpg

https://landingaday....11/07/photo.gif

 

 

 

Win plenty of bar bets: bet that any city on the East Coast (Miami is an excellent choice since people visualize sunny beaches) gets more precipitation than Seattle. Seattle is known for "rain" but it's overcast, not rainy. Most Midwest cities also get more rain.

 

Great info. Thanks.

[Savage Beatings]

That's Bigfoot territory... please be careful!!!

[Hughie's Tool]

I'm only a size 14 foot lol

 

Best course near Dupont is the Home Course

[irish]

I'm local...

 

Dupont = 3 large sets of cohabitants, but a tiny town:

1. Military (it's literally across the I-5 freeway from Joint Base Lewis-McChord (Army and Air Force combined). You won't have to worry too much about it being a bad neighborhood with armed friendlies. Sorry, no gangs in this town.

 

2. Amazon and FedEx - larger distribution centers.

 

3. Intel corporation - research and development brain trust

 

There's old Dupont near Intel with not many houses available. There's new Dupont near the distribution centers. And there's Northwest Landing along the Puget Sound. NL has postage stamp sized properties and you may or may not own the land the house is on.

 

With the military, there is a fast turnaround of neighbors as they get sent elsewhere every few years. You can find a house easily 5 minutes away from your work.

 

Larger retirement communities since we have retired Army/Navy/Air Force, a major city in Tacoma, and large government job population military/state capitol.

..............

West = the Puget Sound. Can't live there. East = Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Can't live there.

 

Up I-5 to the north is Lakewood / Tacoma. Good and bad areas. This is major city life. You can also take a back road (not gravel or dirt, just backside) to Steilacoom. Expensive on the water. Nice town.

 

To the south on I-5 is Lacey/Olympia/Tumwater. The trifecta. Lacey is the closest to Dupont, across the Nisqually River (starts from a glacier up on Mount Rainier and makes it's way all the way to the Puget Sound. Olympia is the state capitol, but it's not huge. You drive south and it just looks like a bunch of trees, water and a capital building. Doesn't feel like a city at all. Not really any bad area.

 

From Dupont: Northbound commute along I-5 = gridlock. Southbound partial gridlock in rush hour, but not bad. Kinda funny, but it seems like everyone that lives in Olympia works up in Seattle and vice versa.

 

If you like outdoorsy stuff, Lacey has a small state park and a wild life refuge on the river basin. Lacey has the largest IMAX theater in the state. Malls are in Olympia and Tacoma. A major zoo/aquarium in Tacoma. Mount Rainier is a little bit away, but close for skiing and family outings. On your way to the mountain is another wildlife park called Northwest Trek. Seattle is up the freeway 35 miles. Plenty of casinos in all directions. Just north of Tacoma is the waterslide park. Puget Sound = not good for beaches since it's basically a large bay. Like to sail, jet ski, water ski, kayak, bicycle, fish, hunt, ski, etc? You got it here.

 

Golf courses are plenty. Lacey has Hawks Prairie, McChord Air Force Base has one, the Army has one off-post, others all around, and you may have noticed the 2015 US Open was at Chambers Bay (Tacoma) in June.

 

I couldn't tell you much about local gyms, though there are plenty. I have free access to the ones on the military base, so don't pay for others.

 

You will be situated between 2 major mountain ranges, the Cascades and the Olympics. If you've ever seen low lying clouds in the valley between mountains, this has that feel to it sometimes. Causes the overcast days since clouds have a hard time getting past really tall mountains.

 

Seattle has the major sports teams. Tacoma has the minor league teams. Lots of concerts in the stadium/dome/casinos, and also down south at the Gorge.

 

Let's just say that you'll have everything you need here.

 

I hope you like seeing these types of views every day that's not overcast:

http://seattletimes....SunriseLO-1.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/Wm7tg.jpg

https://landingaday....11/07/photo.gif

 

 

 

Win plenty of bar bets: bet that any city on the East Coast (Miami is an excellent choice since people visualize sunny beaches) gets more precipitation than Seattle. Seattle is known for "rain" but it's overcast, not rainy. Most Midwest cities also get more rain.

 

 

Those pics are incredible!