Olympia's Business is Forbes Magazine's Business
What kind of year has 2006 been for Olympia?
If the Olympian were our only source of information, we might think that our city was hostile to business, ridden with crime, and wrought with poverty. Yes, things are looking meager for Oly according to our local news source, with their whiny editorials and interviews with the bitter Seattle condo developer who didn't get his way with the council.
The council, on the other hand, is optimistic about their new ordinance banning crimes such as sitting or standing without buying in downtown Olympia. They think the ordinance will do much to create what they call quality of life and address what they call downtown safety issues in 2007.
But what else was said about Olympia this year?
It seems while the Olympian has been checked out, the rest of the country has been checking us out.
Happy New Year, Olympia. I hope our resolution this year is to honor the greatness of our town,find new avenues of greatness, and create even more of what we love.
If the Olympian were our only source of information, we might think that our city was hostile to business, ridden with crime, and wrought with poverty. Yes, things are looking meager for Oly according to our local news source, with their whiny editorials and interviews with the bitter Seattle condo developer who didn't get his way with the council.
The council, on the other hand, is optimistic about their new ordinance banning crimes such as sitting or standing without buying in downtown Olympia. They think the ordinance will do much to create what they call quality of life and address what they call downtown safety issues in 2007.
But what else was said about Olympia this year?
- Sperling's Best Places named Olympia the 16th Best Place in the country. For families, Olympia makes Sperling's top three!
- Forbes magazine ranks Olympia among the Best Small Places for Business in America.
- Inc.com's list of Boomtowns 2006 placed Olympia in both the Overall and Hottest Small Cities categories.
- Yahoo Real Estate said Olympia is one of the six Best Places in the U.S. to Buy a Home What are some of the factors that make real estate great? A strong economy, and high opportunity due to a lack of strip malls and corporate chain stores are some of the reasons noted. (Take that, Lacey.)
- Healthcare Traveler profiled Olympia, saying we are "one of the Nation's most popular small town destinations.". They are particularly impressed with our downtown's locally-based economy. (Oddly, they made no mention of the intimidating, uncivil behaviors of downtowners, vacant storefronts, or feces on the sidewalks. Don't they read the Olympian?...)
- Yet again, Farmer's Insurance ranked Olympia among the most secure mid-sized cities in the United States.
- We ranked in Relocate-America's Top One Hundred Places to Live
- Also, just for fun, check out Wikipedia's article on the Olympia music scene
It seems while the Olympian has been checked out, the rest of the country has been checking us out.
Happy New Year, Olympia. I hope our resolution this year is to honor the greatness of our town,find new avenues of greatness, and create even more of what we love.
posted by Jade at 10:54 PM
1 Comments:
It could very well be our virtues that are our problem. I don't think anyone with a set of properly functioning eyes in their head would not see Olympia for the terrific place that it is. Time and time again we see this disconnect between the reality that is Olympia and how Olympia is portrayed by the Olympian and a good deal of the public (most likely Lacey residents). Even our city officials have gotten on the bandwagon in running down our town. Normally a city council will be grinning from ear to ear if they were aware of the publicity that you have mentioned. I feel that this specific exclusion of this good press is just a signal that something is in the works. If all is good, or even spectacular, as the articles indicate, then really all that has to go on is what is already going on with some support being given to what few problems we actually do have.
I get this feeling that our city officials are the ones that are giving the cues to the Olympian, or maybe the developers. Actually we have a great city, I'm just afraid that the plans for it do not include the people that make it great.
Kennedy conspiracy theorists will often debate the lone gunman theory. I will now try to advance the lone bum man theory. The lone bum man must be the one guy that apparently everyone sees in Olympia. He is this composite of everything wrong with Olympia, he sleeps on the sidewalks, he aggressively panhandles, he defecates with impunity. Unlike Waldo, everyone finds him. He is this mythical character everyone sees and uses in their complaints. He's in the library vomiting and urinating on the furniture. He's the one spray painting on historical buildings. The lone bum man. He's everywhere, I just haven't seen him, but I haven't found Waldo either.
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