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NathanH.
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  Quote NathanH. Replybullet Topic: Living and Boating near Ft. Lewis
    Posted: 21 Jul 2014 at 4:09pm
Hey everyone,
I just migrated over here from Mountain Buzz after some ques filled me in that I would probably have better luck here with this topic than back there where it's mostly Colorado.




Got orders today that are sending me out to Ft. Lewis, WA for the next 5 years (at least). It's not Colorado Springs but I know it's got more than enough stuff to do outside. Here's the major things that I am looking at right now.

Where would be a good place to look at buying a house out there. I keep hearing that Tacoma is becoming a dangerous place. Maybe Olympia or somewhere like that. I am more partial to getting out of the city if that's an option and does the area have quality year round after work runs to get? I know there's plenty of good whitewater in a 2 hr radius, but anything actually in town or very near it?

Hope everyone's enjoying the season out west.
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James
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  Quote James Replybullet Posted: 22 Jul 2014 at 8:28am
welcome Nathan. Thanks for serving and have fun boating over hear.

If I were you I would either want to live in the Orting area or south. Olympia is nicer for sure but then you have to get through nasty traffic everytime you want to boat. The chunk of hwy from Lewis to Fife is nasty during and there is a little chunk south that backs up but nothing near that northern portion.

Orting is cool because you can get on base the back way and still have quick access to other runs without the traffic slog. Spanaway is common for off post housing but to be honest... its kinda ghetto. Dangerous is kinda BS, I wouldn't say any place is dangerous if you use your head. Sure Tacoma has bad zones and if you head out in the middle of the night alone wearing White Supremacy shirts asking dudes for crack you might find yourself in a sticky spot but I don't think it's bad all together.

If you wanna live in the straight up sticks, try Eatonville or Mineral.

No real runs in the city, here are close ones though.

Carbon 1 - Fairfax to 177th St. East
Little Nisqually Winston Creek to Alder Lake
Mashel 1. Upper - Busy Wild confluence to Eatonville
Nisqually 3 - McKenna to Yelm Hydro Plant
Nisqually 2 - Mashel River to Mckenna
Ohanepecosh Ohanepecosh Campground to La Wis Wis Campground
Puyallup 1 - Niesson Creek to Electron (Puyallup Gorge)
Puyallup 2 - Kapowsin Road Bridge to Highway 162



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not-very-clever
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  Quote not-very-clever Replybullet Posted: 22 Jul 2014 at 9:46am
Figuring out traffic can be tricky for green foreigners. i would recommend renting fro the first year

the green is going to be your bees knees when its running. it typically starts running in the fall with rain then through the winter and ends early spring.  its about an hour drive from the Tacoma area.

I lived in North tacoma for the last 2 years, and North Tacoma is a great city for families or for younger people, a few colleges in North Tacoma make feel like a hip town.  not much traffic unless you are commuting to Seattle then its terrible, but you can take the sounder train into seattle if needed to avoid that.

I lived near the university of puget sound, (charming area and not too expensive) and i worked in Frederickson, which is just east of the base.  I had about a 20-30 minute commute.  not bad, and i was always going the opposite of traffic. most people live outside the city and commute in. 

i agree with Jim, you do not want to live in Olympia due to the epic traffic on I-5 near the base.  Orting is not a bad idea, as well as Puyallup.  both are great for families.

Spanaway parkland, and south Tacoma can be a bit sketchy.  though university place is a nice area for families.


also the Tilton is a great winter run


Edited by not-very-clever - 22 Jul 2014 at 9:47am
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NathanH.
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  Quote NathanH. Replybullet Posted: 22 Jul 2014 at 4:31pm
Thanks for the replies everyone. I'll be getting out the in February so I think there should be plenty to do. We were hoping to buy since we've already washed so much money away renting. Puyallup has pretty reasonable prices but I'm hoping It wont take me forever to get on post with the traffic. I guess I should have explained more of what I'm looking to boat since I'm new to the forum. I am mostly a class IV boater, with V's thrown in here and there. I'm really hoping to race the green this year but as always I have some other obligations that may keep me from getting out there. I'm hoping there will be some runs within range for after work on those days that don't run much past noon. I've heard the quality is world class especially compared to some of the mank piles we have back in Colorado. Yet again, thanks for the input, I appreciate the resources.
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