[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.