Ft. Lewis/ Olympia transfer

[Nalspeed]

On a re-con mission,

For the past 7 years I've had this wonderful opportunity of living in Germany, traveling throughout Europe on both two and four wheels. I've found myself surround by Wonderful friends that are like family.
But the ones sending $$$$ to my bank has other plans to make me unhappy and I'm trying to prevent that by finding the Best place to live in the US. Well the Best place from a short list of cities, Olympia (Ft. Lewis) Tacoma WA is topping the list currently, Colorado Springs (Ft. Carson) and then KY/TN Louisville being my home town.

Interests range from local music scene (jazz, blues, rock, modern, eclectic, lounge, chill out stuff) and sounds like Vintage Trouble. Good food of the NON CHAIN type, outdoor and social events, Cars & Coffee hangouts etc. My passion is motorcycles (NON Harley) but cars are a tight second (starting a backdate project 78SC) and have a Gorgeous 69 Alfa Romeo.

So who has the skinny on WA.

Thanks,
Mark

[Schrup]

You will be used to the weather, it's exactly the same as Germany. Great place to live, you would enjoy it. Lots of great riding both on & off road. Great variety of food, especially Asian. I don't go out much, but there's a good music scene, more so if you drive to Seattle. I would consider Ft Lewis a great assignment.

[Hard-Deck]

Second that. I will retire to WA state as well. I was the IG in Seattle. The whole region is great!

[Evans, Marv]

I was stationed at Ft. Lewis in the mid 60s. At that time, Olympia was a pretty small but nice place and Tacoma stank to high heaven from the pulp mills. I thoroughly enjoyed the Seattle area, people, and activities around the region. I actually applied for a job at Boing & was accepted. In the end, I decided to return to SoCal where the sun shines. People there said I would grow webbed feet, but that obviously didn't happen. I still remember Seattle because of the culture and people and that's where I would look to settle if I were moving to the area.

[Schrup]

The "Aroma of Tacoma" is all but gone, may still catch a whiff on really hot days, but not a factor. Tacoma is great if you like urban living, but there is much better places to the south if you like it in the country.

[LakeCleElum]

Great motorcycling up Hwy 101 along Hood Canal. Ride to Mt Rainier is nice, but try for summer mid-week....For sunshine and open roads, you can be east of the mtn's in 1.5 hr, I'll show you around........Enjoy

[RANDY P]

Here's what I'm gonna say-

So. Tacoma isn't it for any type of culture. Keep in mind they film lots of episodes of "Cops" there.

Avoid it like the plague.

rjp

[Schrup]

Originally Posted by RANDY P

Here's what I'm gonna say-

So. Tacoma isn't it for any type of culture. Keep in mind they film lots of episodes of "Cops" there.

Avoid it like the plague.

rjp

Do you live in Tacoma? The East side of Tacoma is much worse than S Tacoma. I live in the North end. Any large city has bad parts, I stay on my side of town.

[Nostril Cheese]

All the culture, music and car stuff you need will be up in Seattle. Traffic will suck.

The Pacific Northwest is beautiful, people are friendly, and there's lots of forest to get lost in. The only thing that really sucks is going out for a ride and it suddenly starts raining.

[Scooter]

Great Porsche and motorcycle scene up here in the PNW. Seattle is great for music. I agree with Randy P and Schrup...avoid S. and E. Tacoma. I really like the Stadium District if you want to live in Tacoma. If you are going to live south of Tacoma, I've heard Lacey is nice and I do like Olympia; just don't expect too much excitement as they are smaller towns.

[RANDY P]

Originally Posted by Schrup

Do you live in Tacoma? The East side of Tacoma is much worse than S Tacoma. I live in the North end. Any large city has bad parts, I stay on my side of town.

Hilltop? Awesome.

Lived in Renton for 40,000 years.

[techweenie]

I was stationed at Ft. Lewis... long long ago. The thing about that side of the state is that when the sun comes out, people take advantage of it as a special occasion. Hence the aforementioned motorcycle and Porsche activity. Lots of sailing, as well.

[Schrup]

Originally Posted by RANDY P

Hilltop? Awesome.

Lived in Renton for 40,000 years.

The Hilltop isn't what it used to be, they have driven most of the crime to the E. side of the city. Tacoma has improved greatly over the last 10 years, I don't understand your slight.

[Nalspeed]

Hey guys thanks for the input,

with my online research parts of Tacoma seems tight and limited on space vs. the cost of some places, man houses are not cheap.
I've focused mostly around the south Olympia (Turnwater), Yelm, Puyallup, South Hill and Auburn I think would be the furthest North I could commute. It seems the $$$ stretches out a little more. It's difficult to know what the those areas are like but, they offer a little more land, space, driveway & parking and garage space.

We all like to start our bikes, cars

[LWJ]

Single? Seattle would be very very fun. Just sayin.

[jhynesrockmtn]

I grew up in Olympia and lived/worked in Seattle and in the last few years Tacoma before moving to the east side of the state last summer. Olympia is a beautiful little town, growing music scene but still fairly quiet. The economy there is pretty exclusively state govt. so pretty stable. Parts of Tacoma are rough like any other City but it has improved greatly over the years. The economy there was hit pretty hard when Russell Investments moved to Seattle but I would expect as the overall economy improves, so will Tacoma.

I love Colorado and spent time in Denver and Co. Springs back 10+ years ago. I personally prefer the weather there.

One key consideration around Lewis/Mcchord is traffic, traffic, traffic. The I-5 corridor can be hell between south of seattle and north of Tacoma with base related traffic and commuters. I would recommend talking to folks you'll be working with to get there take. One of the big reasons I left Seattle is the non stop development and traffic which makes getting anywhere 7 days a week a mess. Living in Seattle would be a non starter if housing cost around Olympia/Tacoma are a concern.

[LakeCleElum]

Originally Posted by Nalspeed

I've focused mostly around the south Olympia (Turnwater), Yelm, Puyallup, South Hill and Auburn I think would be the furthest North I could commute.

It seems the $$$ stretches out a little more. It's difficult to know what the those areas are like but, they offer a little more land, space, driveway & parking and garage space.

Drawbacks of Auburn, Puyallup and South Hill: Traffic and housing prices. South Hill is malls and strip malls for miles and miles.

Better traffic and housing prices in the area of Oly, Yelm and anything south of the military bases.

[SilberUrS6]

Grew up north of SEA, went to school in Tacoma, lived in Tumwater, owned several Alfas during that time.

I am not sure there's anything more glorious than the Puget Sound on a late-summer's day. Maybe Mt.Rainier on the same day, LOL. I liked living in Tumwater because the housing prices were fine and the commute wasn't so bad (at that time), and I was commuting to Fife (north of Tacoma on I5). There are all kinds of Porsche roads that you can explore, and since the ocean is an hour or so away, on any given day you can go and hang out on the beach if it suits you, or drive some of the back roads on the Peninsula, or head east on the twisties into the Cascades...

I now live in a place that gets a lot of sun, and a lot of snow. But the one thing I miss is GREEN. I love the green of the West Side, and the only way you get green is with water. So, you put up with the rainy season, which is early Sep through late Jul. :P Seriously, the grey days can be a bit of a trial, but the sunny days make them worth it, IMO.

[J P Stein]

South of Olympia is an excellent choice...if ya gotta live up that way. I was born & raised in Seattle and it was good....but moved to just North of Portland in 75 and it was better.

[Tishabet]

I've been living here since late 2012, great part of the country. Come on down!