COMMENT BY
Amy from Lynden, WA
COMMENT ABOUT PLACE
Vancouver, WA
COMMENT
It's decent, not great
Housing and rental prices made a dramatic jump in the past two years. Average rent for a 2-bedroom in 2018 is about $1200. 2-3 bedroom houses are priced around $300-$350K and sell fast. If you're not paying cash, be prepared for a bidding war. Olympia/Lacey/Tumwater are small so it's easy to get used to the area and know where everything is. There's a Trader Joes, a couple of Fred Meyers and Targets, Westfield (Capital) Mall, and lots of coffee shops. SeaTac airport is about a 60-90 minute drive. If you're headed north, driving around lunch and rush-hour is a pain and going near the Army/Air Base really jams up traffic starting at 7 a.m. and again at 4 p.m., and pretty much all day Sunday when military are coming home from the weekend. Basically, don't go north on Sundays if possible. Road rage is an issue. Decent hiking trails are further north - at least an hour's drive. There are a few flat trails around Olympia but it can be a bit dangerous to go alone or even in pairs because that's where people go to shoot up (drugs). Pretty much all of Washington has a panhandling problem. Panhandlers are at nearly every store and freeway entrance, especially when the weather gets warm. If you're a transplant (not from Olympia), you may find it hard to meet people or make close friends. The "Seattle Freeze" extends to this area. There's a clique-esk mentality and two primary groups: Christian families that are super involved in church and sports, and party-going booze hounds that hang out at downtown bars on weekends. There's not much gray area or in-between. It's also very white here. The schools are average for Western Washington. The transit system is pretty epic, though. This is from the perspective of a nature-loving, introverted fan-girl who prefers quiet contemplation, video games and hanging with her awesome teens and who has lived in Olympia for five years. If you're like me, Bellevue is a better, but much more expensive, area. The northern Peninsula (Clallam county) is also a wonderful place for introverts who love the outdoors.