I would say we associate more with Seattle than Portland.

Even with the raised speed limit, Portland is still a good two-hour drive south. Seattle, once the speed limit was raised, can be done in under an hour now (depending on traffic, of course).

I suppose one could think of Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater as a "Tri-City." I never have, though.

I've never thought of Olympia, Lacey, and Tumwater as a Tri-City either.

I lived in Portland for a lot of my childhood and I think Olympia is more similar to Portland than Seattle, but I think people associate us more with Seattle.

This space inserted merely to annoy and distract.

Seattle. We have Puget Sound in common. Also, those of us who grew up in the Olympia area watched J.P. Patches, not Rusty Nails.

Lacey was not incorporated until 1966 and those of us who remember when it was basically a drive-in movie screen surrounded by scotch broom are still waiting for the real downtown Lacey to emerge. When it does, then maybe I'll think about it. Tumwater used to have a central business district, now it sits under I-5.

Seattle. Seattle Mariners, Seahawks, Sonics (booooooooo Jailblazers), the Huskies and Sounders. Larger tv market than Portland, and yes, Puget Sound. I don't remember the reference to the tri-cities in that book, but I remember him treating our place like a template for any old place, so he might have easily confused us with those eastsiders.

Seattle because it is closer, we have Puget Sound and J.P. Patches in common, and because of Seattle sports and TV. Makes sense to me.

What about Portland for music? I do see a lot of Oly-Portland mix for some facets of the music scene (don't ask me specifics, I don't know), especially in the young 20s crowd.