Hi Guys,

Heading up to Olympia on June 1st after 13 years in Colorado. 

Fiancée just started a job with the state of Washington and we have an apartment in Olympia for another few months while we look for a house.

Looking for places to shoot, best places to live, plus any feedback for the concealed carry permit process with Thurston county would be really helpful.  Oh, and lets not forget any hangouts with good beers and few snowflakes that I need to check out!

Thanks everyone!

Thurston county isn't bad. Olympia is a Martian outpost. Permit is easy. Walk in, fill out the form, prove you live here, write a check, go home and watch your mailbox. Washington is a shall issue state.

Welcome, look forward to having you here.

I personally would look at avoiding anything north of Lacey for homes, etc. JBLM (large military installation) has home prices and rental rates up higher than they probably should be in the Pierce county area. There may be some homes/property in the Nisqually area (which is in the border zone between Pierce and Thurston counties) which wouldn't be too bad, but watch out for proximity to the flood plain (the river can/has flooded a few times in the last couple decades).

Also should warn you about Pierce county--Snowflakes who couldn't read voted an initiative in last year for King and Pierce counties to pay for a light rail system. Increased sales tax, property taxes, AND nearly tripled the car registration fees. Definitely something to keep in mind for now.

There is a shooting location on public land known as the "Triangle Pit" or sometimes nicknamed the "Suicide Pit." If I remember it "requires" a WA state Discovery Pass to be able to park there ($30 for one year, good with 2 vehicles). Not sure if I saw any passes on other vehicles when I was there last time. The Triangle pit is fairly close to the Lacey/Olympia/Tumwater area (Google actually has decent directions, images, and information). As with all public shooting areas, there are some definite downsides (no RSOs, no real lanes, communications, etc.) but for a close and free place to shoot, it is available.

Not a drinker, so can't help you there.

All in all, I do like Washington. My father retired from the base up here, and I keep coming back to this area. I have to block out a lot of the stupid from Olympia politicians and Seattle everything, but I really love this place for natural beauty and overall cool stuff. Good luck on the home search.

Welcome to Olympia and Thurston County.  Its a great place to live, unless you're trying to build a new home on land that a Pocket Gopher might like....

But that's neither here nor there.  If your wife is working for the State and you prefer a more rural feeling than a subdivision, I would look at homes in the East Olympia area.  Good rural feel, but not far from all the amenities and an easy commute to most of the State offices.  If you don't mind subdivision living, there are many great neighborhoods in Lacey, Olympia, and Tumwater to choose from.  Steilacoom Ridge in Lacey is a great new neighborhood, but a little longer of a commute than your wife might like.  The Preserve in Tumwater is nice as well, and close to state offices.  Feel free to message me if you want anymore insight.  I also know a great realtor that helped my wife and I find our place, and I'd be happy to pass along her info.  Enjoy Washington, I think you'll like it!

Check the June LCR thread,

Depending on where you end up working, will likely determine where to buy.  I would stay in Thurston, Lewis, Greys Harbor, or Mason counties, depending on how far you want to commute.

Welcome to WA.  I don't live in that area, so I can't help much with your questions.  BUT, feel good knowing that there are at least 87 million different craft breweries and other places in this state.  If you really like beer, start making your own too, there's a huge home brew community in this state.  Assuming you and your wife are over 21 years old, you can legally brew 200 gallons a year for personal consumption

You're lucky you are getting here after the rainy season has finally ended.  We finally hit 80 degrees today after nothing but 50s and 60s this spring.  But back to the 70s and 60s after this week

200 gallons of beer a year is just about a half gallon per day, every day.  Geezus, I would weigh 350 pounds...

Don't mean to derail the thread, that just kinda surprised me.

I'm life long resident of Olympia, my recommendation is to look in neighborhoods that feed into either Olympia or Tumwater High Schools. More specifically I'm partial to the area generally around Pioneer Elementary. Be careful though, some of the neighborhoods have been "gerrymandered", where you are within walking distance of one school but your house may fall into another school districts and your kids not go to any of the same schools as the other kids in the neighborhood.

Home prices are starting to clime at a pretty fast clip, there are several for sale in my area and the asking price shocked me.

Downtown is a shit hole with the homeless and drug addicts, looks like a mini-seattle. I generally don't go there at night.

SpotCrime is a handy tool for crime tracking trends.

SpotCrime

My buddy owns and operates this members only, indoor pistol range.

Glacier Gun Club

ETA: Maybe Dawgfish will post too, he lived in Oly for a good portion of his life and his mother is/was a very highly regarded Realtor.

Places to shoot - Evergreen Sportmans club is nearby, but only 100 yards. Im not familiar with ranges north of Oly.

Beer - Fishtale brew pub. Good sandwiches too.

Avoid Lacey. The mushroom farm has a stench that settles over the whole town. I go to the Lacey Costco and sometimes it smells like straight up shiiiiit in town

Traitor