Olympia, WA

[zed]

Hello, I'm curious if anyone has any comments or pictures about the Olympia area. I'm considering a relocation to Washington state and I've yet to find anyone who has been there. I appreciate any help you can offer!

[Spartan]

I have some of Seattle if that would help any, but unfortunately none of Olympia.

[dfdems]

Olympia....

I would go on and on about hove much I loved living in Olympia but this thread was dated Nov 2004. Either way, Olympia is a great place to live..

[Sundodger]

If anyone has any Olympia questions, I can answer them. I currently live there. Here are a few pictures of Olympia:

[ZachariahDaMan]

Great pictures!! Thanks for posting them. Olympia looks like a beautiful place.

[NCB]

Great pictures!

Olympia looks beautiful.

[ironchapman]

I have been interested in seeing what the city looked like beyond the capitol building for quite a while now. Thanks for th epics.

Here's a question. Is Olympia part of Seattle-Tacoma's metro? How do Olympians feel about Seattle and Tacoma?

[Sundodger]

Here's a question. Is Olympia part of Seattle-Tacoma's metro? How do Olympians feel about Seattle and Tacoma?

Yes, Olympia is part of the Seattle-Tacoma metro. Olympia gets the Seattle T.V. stations, radio stations, & newspapers though Olympia has a newspaper & radio stations of her own. The only thing that seperates Olympia from connecting directly to Seattle-Tacoma development wise is Ft. Lewis & the Nisqually Delta. Other than that, there is complete development from Tumwater just south of Olympia to the Arlington area north of Everett. Because of high home prices, many people commute from Olympia/Lacey to the Tacoma area and beyond. The fastest growing areas of Thurston County are the areas closest to central metro area; Hawks Prairie area of Lacey & Yelm.

Olympia is indeed its own center but it is its own center like Tacoma, Bremerton/Silverdale, & Everett are in the Seattle metro. Because of location, Olympia is more connected with Tacoma but Seattle is only 60 miles away. Tacoma's newspaper, the News Tribune considers Olympia part of their regular range. Neat thing about Olympia is Portland is 110 miles away & traffic isn't bad because it is mostly rural or smaller cities in between Olympia & Vancouver, WA. No sales tax in Oregon which is why many in Olympia shop in Portland over Seattle. Still, Olympia is clearly in Seattle's sphere of influence, not Portland's. You have to go another 20 miles south to start picking up the Portland radio stations.

Here is a pic of the fast growing Hawks Prairie area looking W towards downtown Olympia. The Hawks Prairie is the first developable area along I-5 in Thurston County S. of Tacoma. Because of its location near the Port of Tacoma, distribution centers have made this area home:

This picture is looking east from downtown Olympia. Downtown Tacoma is the whiteish area in the top left of pic.

West Olympia, Olympia's major retail center. Downtown is on the right:

Tumwater Hill area looking N. up Puget Sound:

[ironchapman]

The Puget Sound area and all its outlying bodies of water (like those near Olympia) have got to have some of the best looking geography in the nation.

Thanks for the info and pics!

[catdr]

Does Olympia have any condominium areas in downtown? I am interested in older buildings developed into condominiums.

[Sundodger]

Does Olympia have any condominium areas in downtown? I am interested in older buildings developed into condominiums.

There are some, mainly along the waterfront & up on the courthouse hill over looking the city. A condo boom is about to hit the area. Some projects are begining to commence & the city is trying to encourage more downtown condos with tax incentives. Most of the older buildings have been converted into apartments, not condos but we are finally getting some apartment-condo conversions in this area as housing prices have increased 15% a year the last 2 years.

[Sundodger]

Here are a few more Olympia pics from August:

The Olympia Farmer's Market (2nd largest in WA behind Seattle's Pike Place):

Percival Landing, Olympia's waterfront Boardwalk:

Palm trees:

Downtown

Looking N. up Washington St. The Washington Center for the Performing Arts is on the right. The Farmer's Market & Port of Olympia are located about 7 blocks north in the distance:

Looking S. down Washington St. from 4th Ave. Many of those taller buildings have apartments in the upper floors:

Looking S. down Washington a block further south. The Hotel Olympian is now apartments. Sylvester Park, a city block size town square park is the next block up & the old state capitol is across Washington St. from the park:

Looking W. down 5th Ave from Franklin St. The Capitol Theatre is where Nirvana & many other bands played many of their early gigs. The building directly on the right is bank turned nightclub appropriately named "The Vault." The Washington Center is the big building on the left:

Looking W. down 4th Ave from Franklin St. The State Theatre is home to Capital Playhouse, a theatre association. Olympia's night life district is the few blocks the other direction on 4th Ave:

Further down 4th Ave, looking W.:

Sylvester Park:

The Old State Capitol Building across the street from the park:

State Capitol Campus (about 8 blocks from the center of downtown, 5 blocks from Sylvester Park):

Looking E. Mt Rainier in distance:

D.N.R. building with D.O.T. in the background:

Gov. mansion (located on the SW side of the Capitol):

View from Capitol Campus of Downtown. Looking N. up Budd Inlet, the most southerly arm of Puget Sound. The Olympic Mts. are in the distance & Priest Point Park, Olympia "showcase" park is that big chunk of green just north of downtown on the east side of the water:

The tidal flats at Priest Point Park looking S. towards Olympia:

Looking W. over downtown Olympia from the Eastside Hill. Black Hills in distance:

Looking across Capitol Lake towards downtown. There is a park surrounding the circular lower basin of the lake with a popular jogging path that goes around the lake, connects to the State Capitol Campus, Downtown, & the Tumwater Falls area of Tumwater:

Downtown from the top of the 4th Ave Bridge & base of the Westside Hill looking E:

View from Seven Oars Park, a block north. Mt. Rainier in distance:

Capital Mall, on Olympia's Westside (about a mile up the hill from downtown). The Black Hills, part of the coastal ranges in the background:

The Evergreen State College, located in a forested campus above Eld Inlet on Olympia's Westside. Its most famous alumni are Matt Groening, creator of the Simpsons & Michael Richards (Kramer from Seinfeld):

Mt. Rainier from Tumwater Hill:

The view from Tumwater Hill, looking NE:

[catdr]

A condo boom is about to hit the area.

This seems to be the case in many areas. In 3 - 5 years there should be many more condos everywhere.

Also, thanks for the pictures. they are very nice. They would look nice at city-data.com.