commuting from olympia to seattle, unrealistic?

[cobolt]

Originally Posted by I ♥ the PNW

how early would you have to leave in the am to avoid "rush hour" traffic on I-5?

If you watch the traffic reports on the tele in the morning, you can already see a steady stream of headlights by 6am on I-5, some places are worse
(405), some areas of I-5 better. I just wouldn't do that Oly to Seattle commute. It is going to get REAL OLD real SOON. Like I said, I did the Seattle to Ft Lewis commute and that was bad enough. I have a friend who used to take the commuter train from Tacoma to Seattle and she got burned out on that business and moved closer to her job. You've got bottleneck areas northbound to Seattle near the Tacoma Dome (even with the recent highway improvement) and in Fife and as you get into the city. Plus, as another poster mentioned, you're going with the flow of traffic, not against it, so it will just be longer. For me to drive from the Seatac airport to where I live (about 20 miles north of Olympia) takes 45 minutes without traffic. It is what it is. You'll either have to settle for renting in the King County area or pick a different employment location that is closer to where you'll be living and where you can afford to buy a house.

[kena]

If you haven't already, you can use this website to both see traffic congestion (represented by different colors on the map) and web cams showing live shots of various roads in the region. It doesn't go all the way to Olympia but shows from south Tacoma to north of Seattle. You can check it over the course of a few days to get a feel for how traffic flows in the area and which directions face the heavier commutes.

WSDOT Seattle Area Traffic - I-5: Yesler Way

[bigtrees]

Originally Posted by kena

If you haven't already, you can use this website to both see traffic congestion (represented by different colors on the map) and web cams showing live shots of various roads in the region. It doesn't go all the way to Olympia but shows from south Tacoma to north of Seattle. You can check it over the course of a few days to get a feel for how traffic flows in the area and which directions face the heavier commutes.

WSDOT Seattle Area Traffic - I-5: Yesler Way

One caution, though, a little tiny bit of black will take a really long time to go through. I used it as well and thought "oh, no big deal, its 90% clear" and then I realized the 10% of black doubles the commute.

[jinj]

I'm another one who thinks commuting from Olympia to Seattle is crazy.
Atleast stay in the same county.

I know people who commute from Tacoma to Kent, takes them an hour.

[kanhawk]

As someone who lives in the Olympia area I can tell you a commute to Ft. Lewis wouldn't be bad at all. There is actually an area of open countryside through that area with not much population so the traffic isn't too bad at all most of the time.(realitively speaking)
I rarely drive Olympia to Seattle on a business day but honestly I don't even like driving up it on Sundays. The traffic up I-5 is heavy everyday, except maybe in the late evenings.

[cobolt]

Yep....I avoid I-5 at all costs. Honestly only have to drive it to get to Seatac unless I take 99. Thankfully I don't need I-5 to get to work. There really are very few times it doesn't have traffic.

[Sobefobik]

Originally Posted by lgmagone

Oh yeah, since your from Minnesota, I should mention that Auburn has the least expensive housing in King County (i.e., low rent district) and the town mayor has referred to it as a "poor community." I have lots of reasons to like it but like I said there are lots of reasons never to step foot in South King County as well. Visit the place first before making any decisions.

I would not move to Auburn. It is a dump. You can find nice property, but the town is an absolute dump. You would also hit traffic on highway 18. That highway is a nightmare, as I have lived in Enumclaw.

I agree with everyone: DO NOT commute from Olympia to Seattle. You will regret this decision. I have commuted from Gig Harbor to Seattle, and that is a living hell. Olympia is even further away than Gig Harbor is.

Some people have said on here that they don't like Olympia. I have lived there, and it's one of my favorite towns. It has kind of a hippie feel to it, but it's really nice. May I ask what kind of work you are seeking? Is it possible that you could get a job closer to the area you want to live in?

[I ♥ the PNW]

Originally Posted by Sobefobik

I would not move to Auburn. It is a dump. You can find nice property, but the town is an absolute dump. You would also hit traffic on highway 18. That highway is a nightmare, as I have lived in Enumclaw.

I agree with everyone: DO NOT commute from Olympia to Seattle. You will regret this decision. I have commuted from Gig Harbor to Seattle, and that is a living hell. Olympia is even further away than Gig Harbor is.

Some people have said on here that they don't like Olympia. I have lived there, and it's one of my favorite towns. It has kind of a hippie feel to it, but it's really nice. May I ask what kind of work you are seeking? Is it possible that you could get a job closer to the area you want to live in?

Basically we wanted to inquire about the Olympia-Seattle commute as a worst case scenario, just in case his first job offer does happen to come from the VA Hospital in Seattle. We now understand from the many opinions that this commute is torture, BUT if we had to make it work short term to make our dream of relocating come true, we could. I have chatted with a few people that have done this commute, and they certainly don't recommend it! Also, he would definitely try to vanpool, there are several vanpools that run from Olympia to Seattle, so there are definitely people out there making this commute. It would be a starting point for us(not long-term), it is obviously much easier to find a job when you live within the area vs. 1,800 miles away, so we are preparing to take the first job offer that comes our way, even if it is in Seattle and we decide to live in Olympia. Can you rent an apartment for under $1000/month with pets, near the Seattle VA Hospital? That is also an option we have not dismissed.

Fort Lewis is our top choice for employment, which would make it easy to commute from Olympia. Second in line is the VA in Lakewood, which would be a doable commute from Olympia, although there doesn't seem to be many opps there. My husband is retiring this year with 21 years in the Army, some active duty, mostly National Guard and 2 deployments-1 overseas for 1 year & 18 months state-side, which he is currently serving. In his civilian job he is an elevator salesman(people elevators, not grain elevators). So basically sales experience can lead you in many directions, but we have decided it would be best for him to seek government jobs.

Hopefully this commute won't be the reality for us, but we just wanted to be prepared if so... thanks for your opinions.




mod comment: Good explanation about the reason for your inquiry, I ♥ the PNW. Let's end this thread here. If anybody else has further suggestions, please use a Direct Message. Thanks.