I have a nibble on a job in Olympia, Washington. I think I remember some of the strippers being from the SeaTac area. I would like input on what the cost of living is around those parts and where the best places to live, etc. Any help would be appreciated.

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"Nothing expresses the brutal grandeur of rectal polyps and anal fistulae quite like the mother-tongue of Goethe."

Olympia is on the wet side. I have no idea what the cost of living would be, being from Seattle for only a short time now. I actually haven't made it to the capital but I hear it is lovely out there - or up the peninsula anyway.

Did you look into Olympia at all Lara7?

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"Jelly-belly gigglin, dancin and a-wigglin, honey that's the way I am!" Janice the Muppet

My wife spent a couple years at Evergreen State College, which is in Olympia. I don't know about the weather there, but she did say that magic mushrooms grew naturally on the soccer field despite numerous attempts by the college to wipe them out. The students would have regular mushroom tea parties with barrelfuls of the stuff.

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"And Wirthling isn't worth the paper he isn't printed on."

I'm in Tacoma, Spankling's in Sea. I've lived here all of a month, so I have no real info about OlyWa.

But what I can tell you:

Oly has the rep of being kinda a crunchy-Granola town, especially because of Evergreen College. Evergreen is similar to Reed in Portland, Bennigton in VT, or Oberlin/Antioch in OH if that means anything to you...one of those "we don't believe in grades or majors" places. Oly is a mecca for young people into indie rock (see K records. If I remember a cryptic sub-reference you made once correctly, it may mean something to you that Mark Hosler of Negativland also lives in Oly. Of course, the state government is also there, which may negate all the cool points of the above.

If you're me, it costs you $104.75 to register your out-of-state car. It apparently used to be a hell of a lot higher- this price is -after- a tax revolt repeal.

No state income tax. Depending where you're coming from, you may find your take home pay significantly higher than your same gross pay in your old state.

cost of living: try one of these things:
http://www.homefair.com/homefair/calc/salcalc.html
for the "If you make X here, you need X+n (or X times n in the case of California) to live here at the same standard of living" comparisons.

Tacoma is way cheaper for housing than Seattle. both have experienced high vacancies due to the generally crappy economy, so now's a good time to be looking for housing, since the landlord would presumably rather have you than an empty unit. Dunno how things are in Oly, since the state government is a major employer there and may not be experiencing as many layoffs as say, Boeing.

Unless you are a masochist or really fond of Books on Tape, you prolly don't want to live in Seattle if you work in Oly. The I-5 is pretty congested, even going against the regular commute, and parts of the road are really crappy.Have never driven Tacoma to Oly, so I can't tell you anything there. In fact, I haven't been to Oly yet.

This might be a good place to ask specific questions about OLY:
http://seattle.craigslist.org/

Try the "Open forum" area. questions like "where's good to live in Oly if you're under 30/under40/etc" or "what can I expect to pay for a 1 BR apt in oly" will prolly get you further than "what's Oly like"?.
Beware that the seattle craigslist can be really bitchy and flamey, especially now in the rainy season when everyone's being surly. But usually someone will answer your question if they have info to share.

I didn't see your email in yer profile, so here's mine if you have any questions that I may be able to answer or ask others about:

lara7@attbi.com

I think I know people who've lived in Oly recently- email me offlist and I'll get back to you after I ask around.

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When they invent BookFace, I'm -there-.

a Tacoman wrote me this:

>>Olympia is pretty liveable (especially if you AREN'T an indie kid or goverment employee). It is fairly small, but feels like it has some culture. If I hadn't grown up there and could find decent employment, I would probably live there...<<

hope that helps some..

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When they invent BookFace, I'm -there-.