Oly Reads discussion

Since I noticed that our membership is pretty evenly split between the only two parts of town that really matter, I thought it might be fun to start a debate about the merits of each area. To tie it in to books (I guess we're supposed to do that), you can add a book that reminds you of the area you're promoting.

Have at it!

Well, I can't think of any books that relate right at this moment.....
I lived on the Eastside for about 7 years when I first moved here and I have been loving on the Westside now for about the same time.
I love my little house on the Westside, the wide streets are really nice.
I do think think that the Eastside has more parks nearby, and it is closer to biking trails...

I live on the Westside but I grew up in the Gull Harbor - Boston Harbor area. I'm going to cheat and offer Gordon Newell's entire bibliography to promote downtown and the east bay portions.

Eastside bonuses...
- close to downtown
- East Bay Drive
- San Francisco St Hill
- watershed park
- San Francisco St Bakery
- comfortingly ramshackle houses
- new sidewalks
- the awesome Christmas display at the church on Puget
- lots of black houses
- the dog park on Yew
- Bigelow Park
- cool Victorian houses
- the Bigelow house and the mustard companion house next door, which is my favorite house in all of Olympia
- closer to Boston Harbor than the Westside
- no mall sprawl
- on top of a hill, just in case
- great neighborhood association

Book reference: Workingman's Hill: A History of an Olympia Neighborhood by Rebecca Christie

Wow, AgathaFrye, good list! If I didn't already live on the Eastside, I'd be tempted to move.
More good Eastside stuff:
- Big Tom's
- Close to the Capital Theater
- Swantown Inn, the coolest private architecture in town
- the Armory, which is a fantastic example of Art Deco style
- Skateland!
- Blueberry farms in close proximity
- Western-Chehalis trail, great for long bike rides and picking blackberries in September
- the trees on Legion Ave

I can't think of a good book reference, but the Olympia Bike Trails Map is a great print resource for exploring the area.

Well, if you want to get technical, in the non-fiction "Murder at Hogans Corner" the killers stop off at Westside Dennys after the fact.

And in one of Anne Rule's books, about a murdered elementary school teacher from the 70s, she incorrectly lists Roosevelt Elementary as being in Tumwater.

We're actually thinking about moving, but for now I'll raise my fist in the air for the westside!

Westsiders got:

The Raccoon Collective http://www.raccooncollective.org/

funky food Co-op w/in in walking distance

Garfield nature trail

closer to McLane trail & Evergreen woods

nice dog people

great little neighborhoods

great teachers at Garfield and Marshall

Vics pizza

Grocery Outlet!

Seems there is a split, but I live smack dab in the middle (downtown) so I shall try to bridge the divide with a list of great things downtown:

-The view from my apartment of capitol lake & sylvester park
-The lights on the trees!!
-Walking distance to everything
-Farmer's Market
-Transit Center
-Fish Market
-Walking on the boardwalk and looking at boats
-Hanging out on the concrete the circles capitol lake and making art
-Sunbathing in sylvester park
-The leaves from the trees
-People watching

Kristi makes a good case for the Westside, I must say. Also, a convincing argument for downtown from Kelsie. King, if you live in the tall and narrow mustard colored house to the right of the Bigelow House Museum, I'm so very very jealous. You've probably seen me standing in your yard from time to time.

I love the rhody tour, and I don't even particularly like rhododendrons. Also, the blueberry patches. And Big Tom's! We live in a pretty cool town, I must say, even though I'm totally bored of it lately.

I just thought of something else that might just seal the deal on Eastside supremacy. The Christmas display at the Olympia Metro Church on Puget. It's one of the most over the top displays of churchy holiday spirit I've ever seen. It is truly a gorgeous spectacle at night. I particularly love the random looking sheep. Also, there's the whole associated baby Jesus legend- he gets stolen almost every year and even barbed wire around the fence can't seem to keep him in. There are probably at least 15 baby Jesus's from that display tucked away in Olympia homes.

Also, I was on the Westside earlier this week, and I have a question for you Westerly folks... when you don't want pizza or pasta, where the hell do you eat over there? We drove around for twenty minutes looking for some sustenance before we finally gave up and drove back downtown. Oh, and Rosie's was closed. We actually considered going to Applebee's or Red Robin...

El Sarape or the Taqueria (taco van on Harrison) for Mexican. Little Saigon for Vietnamese (next door to Vic's). Happy T's (next to Target) for teriyaki bowl. Tugboat Annie's for burgers & beer.

oh, and we used to love Thai Garden at Capitalist mall (like we need more Thai in Oly), but I think they're in the process of opening up shop somewhere else... can't beat their hot & sour soup -better than Mekong.

I actually live on the East side, however for pizza I LOVE Vic's. It's in the same complex as Grocery Outlet. It's around the corner. Also there is Apollos in the same complex, but I don't think they are nearly as good.

Another West side eating possibility is the yummy soups and sushis of Koibito.

Also from my West Oly home:

easy walking/running distance to Capitol Lake, farmers' market, Garfield nature trail, Traditions Cafe, the Co-Op, and yes...Grocery Outlet.

Great sunrises

easy bus access

ability to live here and yet never go to the mall!

Can get downtown via bike without pedaling!

I've lived on the East side as well, and love it there, though I'm happy to have better sidewalks here. Yeah, the East has those blueberry farms, but here on the West we've got deer in the streets, something I never saw across town.

Oh, and the West side has "The Highest Tide." (See how I cleverly inserted an actual book reference there?)

Happy holidays, all...

Question for you Westsiders: has anyone been to the Sunny Tree Restaurant on Decatur? What's the verdict? I'm always intrigued when a new vegetarian/semi-vegetarian/vegan restaurant pops up in Oly.

Ok, I live on Decatur and have never heard of The Sunny Tree restaurant. Is that the grocery/restaurant next to Koibito's (which is my current fav)?

In general defense of my beloved westside, we also usually get the snow first, and I love snow. Just sayin'.

I got no books to mention...sorry! I fail. :}>

You don't fail! You don't have to have a book reference. I have no idea where the Sunny Tree restaurant is- that's kind of why I asked. I know they have some sort of regular vegan potluck event, which had me possibly intrigued. Maybe we should check it out together one of these days.

Yeah, it is next to Koibito's. I'd love to check it out some time. When is the next event?

Looks like the potlucks are the second saturday of every month, while I'm at work, but it looks like there's a little restaurant in the front of there that you can go to any time. We drove by today out of curiosity, but it seems to be closed on Sundays. While we were out, I bought a filing cabinet. Exciting!

I just found this thread again, and I have a couple of new things to add to the Eastside list...
* Mission Creek Nature Park- awesome trail at the end of San Francisco Ave
* Wendell Berry Memorial Garden
* The house on Central that sells flowers in front on the honor system