Is Dupont an Olympia suburb or in the Tacoma orbit?

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Is Dupont an Olympia suburb or in the Tacoma orbit?

Submitted by emmettoconnell on Sun, 02/05/2006 - 12:19pm.

Last night we had dinner with friends that recently decided to live in Washington permantly. My wife mentioned that they should move to Dupont because of its plentiful newer homes, among other reasons. I thought almost immediatly is "Why would they want to move out of town?"

As I consider Lacey and Tumwater to be, in part, "in Olympia," I have always considered anything east of the Nisqually outside of town. But, now I wonder if it really is.

1. Dupont is closer to Olympia than it is to Tacoma, but just barely. Almost 17 miles (and 24 minutes) to Tacoma, but only 15 miles (and 21 minutes to) Olympia. Probably a wash, but you have to consider that most of the traffic will be in Pierce County, making it easier to get back and forth to Olympia. Via surface streets though, the Dupong Steilacoom Rd. is more accesable than Mounts Rd. (which you would have to get back onto the highway to use).

2. Dupont is in Pierce County, is not in the North Thurston District, but if your a Timberland Library System cardholder, you can borrow from their library, but it would not be as easy as getting a book in Lacey. This is the official kicker, that it is a different county of their on the other side of the Nisqually River.

3. Dupont is on our side of Ft. Lewis. Both mapmakers and me consider the Nisqually River the dividing point between Pierce and Thurston counties. But, the real element that keeps out two counties apart is the undevelopable land contained in Fort Lewis. Unlike Pierce and King counties that rub up against eachother at Federal Way and Fife and Sumner and the Auburn Valley, Pierce and Thurston counties will never join up.

4. The Dupont Police Chief is running for Thurston County Sheriff. Link.

emmettoconnell's blog
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I worked in Pierce County in

Submitted by Rick on Sun, 02/05/2006 - 9:30pm.

I worked in Pierce County in my previous job, and my perception is that Dupont is most definetly oriented toward Tacoma. I think it has to do with the large number of military personnel who live there. Also, while the homes are new, they vary so little that they end up looking like row houses of the middle class. I'm sure that I wouldn't be able to take it for very long.

Mike Pohl is a Thurston Count

Submitted by DrewHendricks on Sun, 02/05/2006 - 11:32pm.

Mike Pohl is a Thurston County resident, whose police department employs a former TCSO deputy who apparently fell out over the 2002 election fiasco. He's like any other cop, in that his domicile and his job are just close, not neccesarily in the same county. Many cops cannot afford to move every time they change jobs, and will commute long distances (Some in Southern Illinois commuted 1.5 hours PER WAY). How do I know this? I'm a copwatcher who tracks police identities and addresses, and serves process on bad cops when cases are filed against them. But for my two cents, DuPont is not really its own town and people who live there shop whereever they put their kids in school. If that's Lacey's Christian school, they probably shop at Mega Foods or Albertsons or Top Foods, in Lacey. If they take them to Lakewood, obviously they will shop up there. DuPont hardly has its own commercial center to speak of, or didn't the last I looked. That's what makes a town. And no, it is too far away to be an Oly suburb any more than Tenino or Ranier would be.

McCleary has the same sort of

Submitted by stevenl on Mon, 02/06/2006 - 6:05am.

McCleary has the same sort of problem. We are in Grays Harbor County, but sit in a weird zone where for years the Olympia and Aberdeen spheres of influence didn't quite touch. So we had to be independent and contrary. But in the last few years there is no question we have fallen into Olympia's orbit.

Oddly, both Dupont and McCleary started out as company towns. OlyBlog readers might enjoy Linda Carlson's excellent book, Company Towns of the Pacific Northwest (UW Press, 2003)

I resonate with this; I have

Submitted by DrewHendricks on Fri, 02/10/2006 - 10:14am.

I resonate with this; I have customers in McCleary's School District, and I know McClearians who work in Olympia. I wouldn't want to make assumptions, but I would guess that most commuters face the rising sun when they head out in the morning, as well. Another interesting note; one of the radio stations in Aberdeen wants to expand into Olympia by raising its power levels - so that move could be a sign that Aberdeen residents are also commuting into the rising sun, as well. Maybe Aberdeen will one day be a suburb of Greater Olympia? Then we can have a Marine Terminal worth the name!

Maybe Olympia will become a

Submitted by stevenl on Tue, 03/21/2006 - 4:28am.

Maybe Olympia will become a suburb of Tacoma, which in turn will become a suburb of Seattle, which in turn will transform into one big paved mega-ega-zopolis from Vancouver BC to Eugene. Oops. Too late. Already happened.

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