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David Scherer Water
By David Scherer Water
Interstate 5 is the West Coast's main artery and the only road to connect the three countries of North America. But around here, it's more than a highway. It destroyed Tumwater. It created Lacey. And it completely redefined Olympia.
Before 1956, all traffic had to pass through downtown Olympia. When Interstate 5 (I-5) opened, the traffic vanished. The city center became a ghost town of vacant stores and eerily quiet streets. For seven decades, ambitious revitalization efforts turned abandoned shells into the downtown we have today.
Lacey was born with the highway. It's completely defined by its four exits. So if you've ever wondered, "Where is Downtown Lacey?" The answer is simple: It was never built.
In 1952, Tumwater officials made a shocking decision: they voted to abandon their downtown core. Just think about that. The earliest settlement, the first Washington town at the end of the Oregon Trail — literally the oldest city in Western Washington — was deliberately surrendered and demolished.
So if you've ever wondered, "Where is downtown Tumwater?" The answer is grim: It’s buried under millions of tons of concrete and asphalt right between exits 103 and 104.
Wall off the waterfront
One hundred and fifty years ago, 99% of Olympia's population lived downtown.
Eighty years ago, it was 50%.
Today, the majority of the people seen downtown are visitors. That’s because a little less than 3% of the city's population lives here.
Population density and a critical mass of residents are key drivers of downtown vitality. Urban planning research, particularly from organizations like the International Downtown Association and the Brookings Institution, consistently shows a correlation between a strong residential population and the overall health of a downtown area.
Downtown has a lot of overlapping uses and a lot of overlapping problems. The single most effective step we can take to solve all of them is to create more downtown housing.
In 2002, a campaign was launched to restrict downtown housing development under the pretense that it would block views of the mountains. Yard signs went up with the slogan, "DON’T WALL OFF THE WATERFRONT."
The campaign was successful. We held out for "views" and single-family home sprawl took over huge swaths of wilderness. A decade passed without new downtown housing. That lost decade still shapes Olympia’s housing crisis today.
We don’t need to cut down trees to build in downtown. Three percent is just way too low a figure. I say, wall off the waterfront. To hell with the views.
Mayor Stinky
You might not know it, but modern-day downtown Olympia is man-made.
Between 1909 and 1911, Olympia Mayor P. U. Carlyon bucketed 2.3 million cubic yards of mud from the harbor to make a great stinking sandcastle.
At the time, everyone promised to name his 29-block neighborhood "Carlyon’s Fill," but the name never stuck, although it stunk. Carlyon died before it stopped stinking or his ultimate dream came to be: He envisioned Capitol Lake, an idea that came to fruition 50 years later.
Next time you’re downtown, give the neighborhood a sniff. See if you can catch a whiff of history. Downtown’s very foundation carries the mark of messy, improvised planning.
Big beer
Olympia — a city with a population under 60,000 — has a whopping 83 bars, with 41 of them located in downtown. Why?
A 2005 study from the city’s future police chief showed a link between our high number of bars and our higher rate of violent bar incidents. The study compared Olympia to a dozen similar-sized cities in the state.
A common complaint is that the bar scene in Olympia is mediocre. If there’s truth in this, market saturation could be the cause. I have a fantasy: Olympia’s bar owners hold a summit to negotiate a reduction in bar quantity in the name of boosting bar quality.
The high number of bars isn't random. It's a relic from the big beer era. You might not know it, but for most of our history, beer was our second-largest industry.
The old Olympia Brewery in Tumwater, as seen in this undated photo.
David Scherer Water | For The JOLT News
The lost spirit (and beer) of the old Olympia Brewery still haunts this shuttered 1 million-square-foot complex. Under its shadow, at Tumwater Falls, the Olympia-Tumwater Foundation maintains an open-air museum to promote the so-called heritage. But until this complex is redeveloped, our beer-fueled past remains a legacy of lost potential, irrelevant trivia and ghosts. Cheers!
David Scherer Water explores absurdity through the lens of comedic nonfiction. He is the author of an Olympia history book, this column, and last week, he launched a TikTok/Instagram series. All have the same title: Making Sense of Olympia. Discover more of his work here.
turtleman
Steilacoom claims that they are the oldest city in Western Washington. What's Tumwater's claim based on?
Wednesday, September 10, 2025 Report this
HappyOlympian
Agree with Turtleman, that claim raised my eyebrows when I read it. Is this a history piece or a piece to promote development? Selective bits of information promoting the author's point-of-view. Not the first time I have suggested articles written by Water have a disingenuous quality not befitting a "historian".
Wednesday, September 10, 2025 Report this
Pkt3154
I went back to read the writer's purpose. Fulfilled, but not a lot of depth on what exactly happened to Tumwater's city center and why/how that went down. Made it sound like a simple choice and probably was not. Got Lacey pretty much spot on...but missed the big point that Lacey was essentially THE Mall. We got one, it was first and it was the place to go once it got built. Correct that Tumwater was essentially a Brewery town. The brewery was one of the few large job providers. Sunset Life, close by, the Brewery, Logging or stuff supporting logging, State jobs, and independent contractors or services made up the rest (usually generational or a few extra positions from time to time).
Still remember when Downtown was the place to go in the Sixties and declining in the Seventies. Entertainment was/is downtown. No facts, but would not be surprised if housing "downtown" just stayed the same from 1960 on. There was a limited number of choices even back in the early days... it just not has changed a lot. Actually, they added some condos and stuff I would define as downtown so you could make the argument it is larger than ever (since 1960).
Bottom line: the writer wants more housing downtown. Not for it or against it. Just the thesis of the story does not support it...kind of a wandering path.
Thursday, September 11, 2025 Report this
Wesley
What a weird column.
Thursday, September 11, 2025 Report this
AugieH
This opinion piece caught my eye because I-5 as the sole main artery north and south from OLT is so often a nightmare because of accidents or highway construction. Even Los Angeles, from where I emigrated to Lacey, has main route alternatives to get anywhere within or away from the city or county. And the most common complaint about Olympia you can reference is the mediocre bar scene? The irrelevance of this to anyone but barflies is jaw dropping. Jeez, Dave, get a life.
Thursday, September 11, 2025 Report this
MakingSenseOfOlympia
There were a variety of nationalities living near Steillacoom starting in 1833, but this trading fort was closely tied to the British Hudson Bay Company. It became an American town in 1851, and incorporated in 1854. The Simmons-Bush party had the first official US land claims and arrived in Tumwater in 1845.
I don't think my editor is wrong to encourage brevity. For longer stories, I recommend the book version of Making Sense of Olympia, the TikTok / IG series and https://davidschererwater.substack.com
Thursday, September 11, 2025 Report this
Snevets
It happened in New Orleans & my hometown South Bend, IN. Thriving downtowns where the towns people had no say in the pouring of the concrete over their livelihoods.
Thursday, September 11, 2025 Report this
AnitaThomson
What about converting the two one way streets running through the heart of downtown into two way streets? It seems like they would be so much more friendly that way. I think those one way streets are probably the vestiges of the old highway through town. It still feels like somewhere to just speed through. Not somewhere to look around and see the little city I love.
Thursday, September 11, 2025 Report this
skyelirious
This is either poorly researched or the information is intentionally being presented to forward an agenda. I noticed that the section titled "Wall off the waterfront" made ZERO mention of agreements with local tribes. It's not just about white people wanting a nice view. That mountain is hugely culturally important to indigenous peoples from this area.
Thursday, September 11, 2025 Report this
DeaneTR
Wow... I stopped reading your writings forevermore at the moment you tried to imply that building along west bay drive was prevented and somehow west bay drive is part of downtown? That's absurd. Furthermore the don't wall off the waterfront campaign was defeated and we got rolled over by the developers that you're parroting for.
Truth is most of west bay drive is still in the planning process for giant buildings with hundreds of luxury waterfront housing units that most all of us could never afford. The efforts of the people who live here to stop this have failed at every step and currently the only challenge to approved permits is the developer's desire to illegally fill in waters of the state, which is a violation of city planning regs as well as a federal violation, as well as a threat to the Port ability to have a deep water birth.
Of course you're too ignorant to pay attention to any of these details beyond repeating the lies that the developers told you. I will never read anything you write ever again because you don't even know the basic facts of which you speak!
Thursday, September 11, 2025 Report this
Dave_A
What the author misses, is that Lacey and Tumwater don't need a 'downtown'.
It's not 150 years ago. Walking is no longer the primary means of transportation. And storefront retail has been largely wiped out by the internet.
The reason that the change in downtown living happened, is that cars gave people better options - and made development of the sort that defines Lacey possible....
It's a good thing... Certainly better than making everyone South of Olympia drive through main-street to get to JBLM or Tacoma.....
Friday, September 12, 2025 Report this
leftcoast
Connecting "Don't Wall off the Waterfront" to current downtown problems is completely bogus. The results of "Don't Wall off the Waterfront" took one thin strip of waterfront land out of HIGH-RISE housing--not housing, just high-rise housing. Lots of downtown housing has been built since then--mid-rise at State & Columbia, high-rise at 123 4th Avenue, Harbor Heights apartments on Columbia between A and B Avenues; I can think of 5 other instances of new housing construction all over downtown, plus conversions to housing like the former offices on Adams between 5th & Legion. Stating that "Don't Wall off the Waterfront" led to downtown housing not being built is to completely ignore reality to support a thesis that doesn't (apparently) have any other support.
The columnist's blurb at the end of the article reads: "explores absurdity through the lens of comedic nonfiction". This article is not comedy, and it is fiction.
Friday, September 12, 2025 Report this
chrispc2u
“wall off the waterfront. To hell with the views.”? The views downtown and out to Priest Point or whatever it’s called now are exactly what gives Olympia its aesthetically pleasing charm that attracts visitors. Adding more concrete in the wrong place is exactly what we DON’T need. I do agree with having people live downtown adds to the vitality of a city as long as structures remain below 5 stories. Otherwise you end up with an ugly Bellevueesque urban soulless hellscape. I think Capital lake was also an inspiration, like the Jardin des Champs-Élysées in Paris people need a place to stroll and connect with nature. Turning into an estuary will only make it more interesting.
Saturday, September 13, 2025 Report this