Talk:Olympia, Washington

Update
I have moved the historical and unmarked convos on this page to the section now titled "historical content". Now I'm going to create History of Olympia, Washington. - Freechild 22:44, 16 March 2007 (UTC)
 * I also created the Template:Olympia to spur further development of articles about Olympia and to make it easier to find information about Olympia on WP. - Freechild 23:14, 16 March 2007 (UTC)

-hey, the info in the pop culture references is incorrect. the old olympia brewery didn't utilize the deschutes river water, they tapped into the artesian wells in the area. "it's the water" is their slogan. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.17.137.67 (talk) 01:10, 16 April 2009 (UTC)

Interested how others view the best way of making reference to things in the three cities of Olympia, Lacey, and Tumwater. Not to mention Thurston County. Each has a distinct civic entity and political dimension, while the borders meander and shared realities overlap.

An editor recently removed long-standing references to art activities- and maybe other things- happening in Lacey because they were "not in Olympia..." While this is technically correct in one sense, I think it is misleading in another. A request with explanation to restore the deleted references was declined.

For anyone unfamiliar with the Olympia area but interested in visiting for whatever reason, I think it makes sense to identify things in the tri-city (and nearby county) area (Isn't Evergreen State College in the County?) under the Olympia heading, because that is what prospective visitors would look for. If I wanted to learn what was around Olympia when planning a visit from Holland or New York City, I wouldn't be searching for Lacey or Thurston County, but would want to know what was there. 67.168.82.196 (talk) 06:06, 23 December 2010 (UTC)

i have removed Olympia's outdated year 2000 population information, and updated Olympia's demographic information to reflect current census data.

Fictional References issue
This section is very poorly written. It should either be cleaned up or removed.

Depression-era town with government buildings sketchily described. The yarn ends violently on the extreme tip of Olympic Peninsula, in prohibition time, a smugglers' nest, the fictional Westport.

Historical content
The current OSPI building is the old state capitol. Yes, it was once the county courthouse too, however that is less significant than being the state capitol building. Also, the old courthouse on Capitol Way is refered to as the old courthouse, so calling the old state capitol building or the OSPI building the old courthouse adds confusion. Sundodger (talk) 17:44, 30 April 2008 (UTC)Sundodger

"hi my name is..... i dont know!!! HAHAHAHA! :) Does anybody know about the term "OlyWA" ???  Is that like local shorthand for the name of the town (For example, I live in Bellingham, and we commonly refer to it as simply 'the ham,' and I understand that people from Vancouver Wash call it 'the couve'). I could have sworn I heard them say on KUOW today "94.9 FM in Seattle, AM 1340 in Olywa." If Olywa is the local nickname for Olympia, I think that's awesome. If anybody knows for sure, how about adding a section to the article about the local nickname being OLYWA if that's true. Cheers. -- A Hamster

Meaning no disrespect to the memory of Rachel Corrie in the slightest, is it really appropriate to give her a mention here? Countless important Americans have some connection to Olympia: need we list them all? Jwrosenzweig 18:43, 30 Jan 2004 (UTC)

Now that you mention in, why not make a list!

Sure, why not? There's a list for Portland, Ore. Added to it myself.

If the discussion page is not the place to express oppinions then were can you do it? The article on olympia is one sided. It pictures the citizens of olympia in a negitive light. I went to the evergreen state college, i knew and graduated from high school with rachel corrie and find her actions to be embarising to my city. Yet, someone can emply that olympia is full of jack booted faciest thugs and its not a problem for you. Thurston county had the highest level of support for christine gregiour of any county.(higher as a percentage than king county). I am not a faciest, i voted for kerry. I am liberal. i feel that corrie was misguided and that having her as one of only three items of information about my city is horribul. But hey, who wants to hear both sides of a story?
 * I don't see how that's implied at all. I went to Evergreen myself, and the depiction of the city here is pretty much as I remember it: equal parts capital city, blue-collar lumber town, and mecca for smelly hippies (heh). That conservative Olympians didn't like the college when it opened is hardly in dispute, is it?
 * If you feel Rachel Corrie gets too much emphasis because the section on Olympia's history is only three paragraphs long, the answer is to "dilute" her paragraph by adding to the section. Olympia has a long and interesting history that deserves a much more in-depth treatment than it's currently getting; feel free to add as much information as you can discover. But don't try to eradicate any mention of Corrie at all, even if you do feel her actions put Olympia in a "bad light." --Paul 21:43, 15 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * It seems to me that a Notable Olympians list would be a fine idea; not only is there one for Portland OR there's even one for Silverton OR, a place much smaller and less historic than Olympia. (I went to Evergreen, too.)  I don't have the historical knowledge to write it myself, but someone does.  Wyvern 21:39, 22 Dec 2004 (UTC)

"In 1971, The Evergreen State College was sited there, much to the dismay of some of the town's conservative residents."

Okay, that sentence just tickles me pink, but is it really necessary? I don't know anything about Olympia, but unless there were huge protests against the college or anything, that second clause seems unnecessarily provocative to the right.

Evergreen was founded by Dan Evans a Republican Govenor. It was not opposed by the conservitave town's folk at the time.

Where is the proof for this: "Many newer shops and businesses...in Olympia's downtown core were created by "greeners" (i.e., students of The Evergreen State College...)" Should that be "created for", because I find it hard to believe that a bunch of teenage undergrads run conventional businesses. Even then it a stretch to assume that "many" businesses downtown are focused on Evergreen students. It is typical, but incorrect, for Evergreen students to think that Olympia revolves around them.

"Greener" refers to ulumni as well as current students. I agree that many of the newer shops were created by greeners, but not enough to be a majority or important enough to mention.

I feel there should be some mention of the Arts Walk in the arts section. It mentions the procession of the species but not the Arts Walk. It seems to be one of the most important and popular events in Olympia and its suprising that is not mentioned. I would add it but Evergreen has been banned from editing on wikipedia, probably for good reason. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.211.25.9 (talk) 01:37, 26 February 2009 (UTC)

Placing the city's infobox
Could/should the Olympia infobox also be included on History of Olympia, Washington? Guidance is appreciated. - Freechild 04:58, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

External links modified (August 2015)
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Weather hyperbole
Deleted this passage: "According to one MSNBC study, Olympia had more rainy days per year on average over the past 30 years than any other city in the lower 48 states." 1. The reference can not be found: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18827213 2. "City" is not defined. More plausible is a comparison to state capital cities -- if source of statement could be located. 3. Smaller cities in coastal Oregon and Washington, including Forks WA, Aberdeen WA, Astoria, OR, and Tillamook OR are significantly wetter.

I also question the passage that states the first frost date is October 4. The source is Olympia Airport weather station, 7 miles south and inland of the city. The city itself is significantly moderated by the warming effect of Puget Sound, and in the urban frost date is usually about November 10. There should be some authoritative data for comparison, such as "SchoolNet weather stations" data.

GeeBee60 (talk) 13:37, 27 July 2018 (UTC)

Comments and questions
I have a series of comments and questions on this article.

1. The history section is poorly written, lacking information, including on the Capitol that deserves, at a minimum, some attention.

2. "Other parks include Priest Point Park, Burfoot Park, Woodruff Park, Sunrise Park, and Yauger Park, which is home to one of Olympia's public skate parks, also Friendly Grove, which is nestled in a small Eastside Community, and Trillium Park, which was created by the efforts of adjoining neighborhood associations with the easement of private property."

What does "easement of private property" mean?

3. Does the second word in "Bigelow Neighborhood" really need to be capitalized? This is English, not German.

4. "In downtown Olympia, efforts to preserve the use of artesian water at the one remaining public well has been the mission of H2Olympia: Artesian Well Advocates. In 2011, the city of Olympia committed $50,000 towards improvements of an artesian well, located in a parking lot that was purchased by the city the same year."

This is not very clear.

5. The information on the 2000 census is old and not really necessary. I would remove it.

6. "According to Olympia's 2012 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the county are".

Since the article is about the city of Olympia shouldn't the sentence say "city" instead of "county"? If the employers are truly for the county then this is not their place.

7. The specific departure time of the Amtrak trains listed in the Transportation section is totally irrelevant and unnecessary.

8. Jonathan Stewart (NFL) was born in Lacey which could be considered Olympia metropolitan area but still Lacey which is a different city from Olympia. He should not be listed under Olympia but under Lacey.

9. Should Rafah labeled as "Palestinian authority" or "Palestinian territory"?

ICE77 (talk) 17:59, 3 May 2020 (UTC)
 * , the best way to change an article is to follow WP:BRD. In other words, you BOLDly make the changes you propose (with proper sourcing where applicable). If someone disputes any or all of it, they will revert you, and then it's discussed. Everyone here (everyone) is an unpaid volunteer. If you think it broke, fix it!. Anything you post here is addressed to the community at large,  which you are part of. John from Idegon (talk) 19:07, 3 May 2020 (UTC)
 * I agree with most of what you're saying, it's just much simpler to discuss actual edits, rather than allusions to problems. Thanks. John from Idegon (talk) 19:18, 3 May 2020 (UTC)
 * The 2000 census data is standard across almost all U.S. city articles and should remain as a point of comparison to the 2010 census data. It will likely be removed when the 2020 census datasets are released in 2021/22 anyway, so there's no point in changing it now.  Sounder Bruce  22:39, 3 May 2020 (UTC)

"European settlers claimed the area"
What's the logic behind starting article about city with mentioning how it was "claimed" by European settlers, shouldn't that kind of information belong more in articles about colonization of North America? How many non-european city articles open with how it was 'claimed from someone else'. Why doesn't article about Istanbul start with how Turks claimed it from Europeans, or you know the million other cities and pieces of territory that have seen colonization and wars fought for them for thousands of years - this isn't NPOV, and the article should have NPOV dispute tag attached to it. I have read Wikipedia for years but have never seen such rampant anti-white propaganda as during last few years - and I am actually fine with dark sides of history being exposed provided it is balanced and doesn't target specific race of people, I know I will be bombarded with "how wikipedia isn't forum" but these things should be called out for, as they contradict the spirit of Encyclopedia that it was founded on and many rules that are set out. Please explain why this statement is necessary, and how is it neutral point of view when there isn't such practice for all cities around the world. 78.84.1.93 (talk) 20:44, 16 June 2020 (UTC)


 * This language seems inflammatory. It is accurate; "claimed" means they filed a claim with the land office, and that is perfectly neutral language, if you understand the context. But in fact Europeans had been in the area for over 50 years at that point, including living on lands now within the City. So it's not a good way to summarize the history. The page at https://olympiahistory.org/history-of-olympia/ provides a better approach. OlyScientist (talk) 14:13, 24 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Well, this I went ahead and edited and bolded. OlyScientist (talk) 14:37, 24 April 2023 (UTC)

24th largest city in Washington
Should we include that its place as the 24th largest city in the state is the highest such number for any state capital? Malcolmmwa (talk) 07:26, 25 November 2022 (UTC) My only citation for that information is looking through a list of most populous cities in each state. Malcolmmwa (talk) 07:26, 25 November 2022 (UTC)
 * Adding unsourced statements is like putting the cart before the horse.  Sounder Bruce  07:55, 25 November 2022 (UTC)

Artesian well downtown
Current page has a detailed (at this point, over-detailed) description of the efforts to create a downtown artesian well park from 1992 up to 2012, with no mention of subsequent events, which include creation of a new "protect the well" organization, Artesian Commons, as well as closure of the park and LOTS of controversy. An extensive edit is needed. I would include a bit of history on artesian wells (see the Artesian Commons ), summarize the 1992-2012 events in a couple of sentences, add post-2012 events, and align that description with the Artesian Commons article, adding in an Olympian reference or two to demonstrate ongoing controversy. Anyone want to discuss beforehand? OlyScientist (talk) 14:04, 24 April 2023 (UTC)
 * It needs to be pared down further, but I tossed a lot of junk from the section. Given the Commons has its own article, a short summary is all that is needed here; no need to overburden this article.  Sounder Bruce  20:02, 24 April 2023 (UTC)

A canal from Olympia to the coast
Hey everyone in my hometown!

Came across this article while researching for the Chehalis River page about a canal proposal that would link Olympia with the coast via Gray's Harbor and the river. The plan existed in different forms from the 1850s into Tricky Dick's tenure in the 1970s.

I was gonna just slot it into a {reideas} tag at the top of the page but thought it would be more helpful to explain it. Either way, I remember hearing about this when I was an elementary kid but if others find it notable, please write it up, because this type of topic is not conducive with my gray matter.

Enjoy!

Shortiefourten (talk) 19:27, 17 April 2024 (UTC)