Olympia WA

A blog dedicated to Olympia, WA. Although this will mostly be a photo blog I am hoping to occasionally make news and opinion blogs.

[frommylimitedtravels]

4th Ave. bridge - Olympia

[capitolympia]

West Bay Park Master Plan Survey

The City of Olympia is seeking public input as they prepare to put together a master plan for the future of West Bay Park. Currently, four acres of the park have been developed, but there are still thirteen undeveloped acres. The project will include park space, habitat restoration, and contamination clean up. You have until November 30th to take the survey...

full post

[capitolympia]

Interim Isthmus

The idea of an isthmus park is about to come one step closer to reality (full post).

[foodbybazzas]

Brilliant Red, Olympia, Washington

[capitolympia]

Catching Up

I’ve been doing a bad job of posting things from the text-heavy version of this blog (capitolympia.weebly.com) to this blog so here is some older post.

Intercity Transit had an online survey. The deadline has apparently been extended to September 30th so if you’d like the chance to win a $250 VISA gift card and influence the future of public transportation in the Olympia area then go go go!!! To go directly to the survey click here.

There’s a new building proposed for an empty lot across the street from Percival Landing.

More Amtrak Cascade trips are coming this fall. The schedule changes mean day trips to Seattle by train are will be much more feasible. 

[sunn-i]

📚

[capitolympia]

Free Off Street Parking in Downtown

Ever wanted to know when you can use city owned parking lots in Downtown Olympia and where they are. This short article has the answers for you.

[capitolympia]

Views on Fifth (Part 1: Buildings)

A new proposal for the Capitol Center building (commonly referred to as the Mistake on the Lake) has come forward. The project is still in its early stages, but last night an informational meeting was held at city hall. The meeting drew a sizable crowd, although not the most diverse. City staffed open the event and frequently underscored that this proposal was still in the very early stages and there would be plenty of opportunities to provide public comment in the future. This will include a future public hearing, although the date for that is still to be determined. However, it was estimated that this hearing will happen around 120 days from now or longer.

Read full article here

[jakeefer]

Old Olympia Brew House - jan, 2014

[king-dinosaur-deactivated201802]

Foggy morning on the Sound. Olympia, WA.

Photo: jennlvs2smile

[capitolympia]

Gateway Survey

The City of Olympia is conducting a survey for their gateway project. These gateways are public art at locations deemed to be important transition points. One thing I’d encourage you to think about if you take the survey is the idea of gateways vs. landmarks. To what extent should these locations try to set a mental boundary line and to what extent should they function as an a neighborhood anchor? Different types of art will achieve different things. Below are two images demonstrating two ends of the spectrum. For instance the Lincoln Square arch really indicates that what’s on one side of the arch is different than what’s on the other. Whereas the Lenin Statue in Fremont is a welcome to Fremont in its own way. Rather than delineate a boundary, it more strengthens a community identity and reaffirms that you’re in Fremont. 

Below is a map showing the different gateway locations. I’d argue that how much the landmark should create a boundary differs with each location. It may seem trivial, but these types of details do have impacts on community identity and sometimes even perceived distance. So when you look at these points I’d encourage you to consider whether when you pass through these areas do you want to feel like you’re entering a different neighborhood? Do you want a “meet me at the ____” type location? However, I’ll leave it at that for now because I don’t want to influence your opinions too much.

[kelliejanis]

Good morning, Rainier

December 31, 2014

[frommylimitedtravels]

4th Ave. Bridge

[capitolympia]

[capitolympia]

Lake Fair fireworks this Sunday at 10 p.m.

[capitolympia]

West Bay Park

[capitolympia]

While I can’t call it complete, I finally have enough “usable” shots to compile a video. In the future I’ll make changes as I get more shots and hopefully will eventually come to a finished product, but in the meantime here is draft 1 of Capital Visions.