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Lacey is a study in paradoxes. As the youngest city in Thurston
County's urban core -- and a true child of the 1960s --
Lacey has struggled for respect. Growing up in the shadow
of the state capital, it has had a hard time carving out
an identity.
And
yet Lacey grew 62 percent in the last decade, adding almost
12,000 residents -- more than any other community in the
county. By the next Census, it will be the county's biggest
city. Counting its growth area, its 44,400 residents already
give it that rank.
It
also is home to the county's largest high-tech employer;
it is the city with both the open land and the choice location
next to Pierce County that makes it the most likely to attract
the businesses economists say the county needs to prosper.
Robert
Costello, who has lived in Lacey since 1971, believes Lacey
is on its way to better things.
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"It
seems like Lacey was ignored, like the stepchild nobody
talks about," he says. "I think they're losing that."
To
paint a picture of Lacey at 35, The Olympian spent a day
with its citizens, watching how they live and talking to
them about their city. This special edition is the result.
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