In comparison, sure, but that's like saying "I grew up burrowing in a huge festering pile of rendering plant throw-backs. This place is much better!"

Sure Olympia has it's junkies, bums, and tweekers, but so does everywhere else. Even Mayberry had a town drunk. Difference between Elma/McCleary and Olympia? We don't have to drive 50 miles to go see a movie, have to worry about Barney Fife stopping us and playing hide the night stick just because he's bored, and there's enough going on here that we don't have to worry about our sons starting meth labs or our daughters getting knocked up on some logging road landing at some post-game kegger. (Yes, I grew up in a small SWW town. I know all about it.)

All of Washington State is a dismal schithole. It just comes with the territory. Its just that some schitholes are much less dismal than others. The only thing we have going for us is the Natural Beauty, which our local outdoorsmen, governments and companies seem hellbent on permanently fvcking up.