Thurston County growing at fast pace

Price, availability of land make area desirable

By Nicholas K. Geranios | The Associated Press • Published March 27, 2008

SPOKANE – Many of Washington's metropolitan areas have grown substantially since 2000, with Thurston County, Tri- Cities and Bellingham showing the highest percentage growth, the Census Bureau reported Wednesday.

The state's smaller communities, called "micropolitan" areas, also showed solid growth, the agency said.

More than 5.6 million of the state's 6.4 million residents live in metro or micropolitan areas.

The Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metropolitan area contained about half of the state's population, estimated at 3.3 million in July 2007, the Census Bureau estimated. That was an 8.7 percent jump from the April 1, 2000, population of 3 million.

The data show that the Olympia area, which the study defines as Thurston County, grew in population from 207,355 to 238,555 in the study period.

Thurston County's cheaper and more available land compared with Pierce and King counties has sparked much of the growth, said Mike Edwards, former president of the Economic Development Council of Thurston County's board of directors. "Clearly, it's the price and availability of land," said Edwards, who remains an EDC director. "We have populations willing to come down here. It's been convenient to do that."

Also helping Thurston County grow is its stable economy, helped by the presence of state government and new job opportunities coming from businesses to serve the growing population, Edwards said.

Rising gasoline prices could stem the growth for employees willing to commute farther while saving on home prices, Edwards said.

"We could easily see a drop-off if gas stays at $4 a gallon and above," he said.

An increased number of troops at Fort Lewis also is contributing to South Sound's growth as some military families choose to live in Thurston County, Edwards said.

Tacoma, if broken out as a standalone metro area, had 773,165 people, the Census Bureau said.

The Tri-Cities metro area of Richland, Kennewick and Pasco grew 19.4 percent from 2000 to 2007, to 228,992 people, the sixth-largest metro area in the state.