Lacey, Washington
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lacey is a city in Thurston County, Washington. Formerly established as a suburb of Olympia, Lacey's population is now believed to be about three-fourths of its progenitor city.[citation needed] This makes it less of an Olympia suburb and more of a city in its own right, although the city lacks a cohesive downtown area. As of the 2000 census, it had a population of 31,226. Thurston County, which includes the cities of Lacey, Olympia and Tumwater, has a population of 224,100.
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[edit] History
Lacey was officially incorporated on December 5, 1966. At the time, the main industries were cattle, milk, forest products, and retail. Lacey became a "bedroom" community for Olympia and to some extent Tacoma. The city is perceived as a slower paced community with its best characteristics being in close proximity to many lakes and forests as well as being close to the beautiful Nisqually Valley.
Lacey sported one of the Northwest's first ever "indoor malls," South Sound Center. It has since been partially demolished and turned into an outdoor shopping center. When the Lacey Plywood Mill shut down, Lacey took on the challenges of being a place to invest in. Lacey now flourishes with retail, warehousing/distribution centers, a large retirement community, a major mushroom farm, and Weyerhaeuser's corrugated container facility.
[edit] Geography
Lacey is located at (47.026368, -122.807170)GR1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 42.3 km² (16.3 mi²). 41.3 km² (15.9 mi²) of it is land and 1.0 km² (0.4 mi²) of it (2.27%) is water.
[edit] Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 31,226 people, 12,459 households, and 8,148 families residing in the city. The population density was 755.9/km² (1,957.8/mi²). There were 13,160 housing units at an average density of 318.6/km² (825.1/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 78.19% White, 4.77% African American, 1.33% Native American, 7.76% Asian, 1.06% Pacific Islander, 2.16% from other races, and 4.72% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.90% of the population.
There were 12,459 households out of which 34.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.1% were married couples living together, 11.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.6% were non-families. 28.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 3.02.
In the city the population was spread out with 26.3% under the age of 18, 9.7% from 18 to 24, 30.7% from 25 to 44, 20.0% from 45 to 64, and 13.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 91.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $43,848, and the median income for a family was $50,923. Males had a median income of $37,053 versus $29,497 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,224. About 7.4% of families and 9.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.5% of those under age 18 and 6.5% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] Education
In addition to being the home of many public and private schools, Lacey is also home to Saint Martin's University.
[edit] Trivia
The band Sleater-Kinney takes their name from a major street in the city.
[edit] Sister City
Lacey has the following sister city relationship, according to sistercities.org [1]:
[edit] External links
- City of Lacey
- Saint Martin's University
- North Thurston Public Schools
- Lacey-Thurston County Chamber of Commerce
- Thurston County Chamber of Commerce
- Economic Development Council of Thurston County
- Olympia Thurston County Visitor & Convention Bureau
- Thurston County Fair
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
