moving to tacoma/tumwater please be honest! (Seattle, Lakewood: top neighborhood, apartment complex)
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Me and my wife are moving our family to Washington from the Chicagoland area in a few months. I will be stationed in Tumwater and I looked at the demographics and I am s little concerned. We are African American and don't get me wrong, I was born and raise in a predominately white area but when I see 1% black I am just concerned. I don't want to be an outcast and/or outdated. I am thinking of moving to the Tacoma area but I need some help. Being a city boy will I be shocked?
For whatever reason there are few cities in this area with much more of a percentage of African Americans. It really doesn't matter though, because the whole area is very accepting. It's actually become a lot more diverse in the Seattle and Eastside areas but not with Blacks, many Asian and Indian people coming into the area. Where I live, for example, is now 78.4% white, 0.9% African American, 0.4% Native American, 17.1% Asian.
The difference in Tacoma at about 11% is not worth moving there for,
if you want to be close to work and have kids in school. As a real city
dweller you might well be in for a shock only because our biggest cities are nothing like Chicago, even Seattle. Small downtowns and the rest sprawling with a lot of suburban and even rural areas within the city limits.
Me and my wife are moving our family to Washington from the Chicagoland area in a few months. I will be stationed in Tumwater and I looked at the demographics and I am s little concerned. We are African American and don't get me wrong, I was born and raise in a predominately white area but when I see 1% black I am just concerned. I don't want to be an outcast and/or outdated. I am thinking of moving to the Tacoma area but I need some help. Being a city boy will I be shocked?
It depends on what you are concerned about. A little background, I am black and my wife is white and we have mixed children and are living in TX. I am interviewing to get back to the NW, and can't wait to do it! If your concern is racism or being an outcast because your family is black. Your cool, I don't see that as a problem. I'm a NJ native and spent most of my adult life in the NW and straight up, they are some of the friendliest people I've ever met. I actually had to adjust to people being so nice. I'm not going to sit here and say there is absolutely zero racism, because I'd be lying, but for the most part they are good people and your skin color won't make a bit of difference in a bigger place like Tacoma.
Now coming from Chicago to Tacoma, that might be a little shock. Tacoma is nothing like Chicago, but it's also not small town America either. Think older suburbs of Chicago. You should do just fine as long as you have an open mind and don't expect to find deep dish pizza.
Not sure why the black population is low. That said, there's no real segregation here. The cultural heritage is more german/scandinavian. You won't find people here who are not accepting. Easiest to get some serious hate in Seattle is to make a racial comment.
I lived in the Tumwater/Lacey/Olympia area for 15 years. I loved it. The people are so nice and accepting. One of my best friends was black and in an interracial marriage with bi-racial children. She and her family had no culture problems. My problem was with the schools teaching to the state standards test. My daughters education was good enough I guess but not as good as it could have been. Housing can be expensive. I was initially in the military and stationed at Ft. Lewis. I was never discrimininated against or exploited because of that. (like I was in Kansas stationed at Ft. Riley) The area also has an active family culture with the Hands on Museum, the yearly Pet Parade, a Christmas Parade, And a just silly parade that I have forgotten the name of..where folks dress up in silly costumes and just have fun, then there's Priest Pointe Park, and Music In The Park in summer. Plus Oly has something similar to Seattles' Boat Festival with a huge fireworks diplay at the end...Olympia is a warm, inviting place to live.
Alot of folks commute from Oly to the north but I never knew anyone that went vice versa. Plus the commute can be long and troublesome at times depending on the weather. In winter it can even be dangerous around Ft. Lewis in the snow and ice. Something about the way the road in that area is banked... cars end up sliding into the outside lanes reducing traffic to one lane.
On the other hand Tacoma... The largest population of blacks live in the Hilltop Neighborhood. Google The Hilltop Neighborhood of Tacoma Washington and read the Wikki version. It is scarey. But I lived on "The Hill" for over a year and I am white. Everything Wikki said about The Hill is true. My experience with my neighbors was good. But my daughter was assaulted as she walked home from school once and was continally taunted by girls at school because she was white. My lawnmower was stolen from my backyard and occaisionally folks would come to the door asking for spare change. All of Tacoma is not The Hill... I also lived on 74th St. between I-5 and Bridgeport Way and liked that very much. The neighborhood had blacks, whites, asians and some hispanics. We all got along and even got together for BBQ's in our apartment complex. Alot of the people in my complex were also military like me and were used to living with diverse cultures. When my youngest daughter was born people I didn't even know came over to welcome my new little life into the neighborhood. Like I said I was active duty when I lived here..when I got out I moved to the Hill..then I moved to Oly where I stayed til I moved back to Texas. Each place had it's good and bad points. But IMHO if you are concerned about being judged based soley on the color of your skin you might be happier in Tumwater. Good luck
Tumwater is only 1-2% African-American and about 1 in 8 is self-identified as a racial or ethnic minority. By contrast Lacey on the other, eastern side of Olympia has about 6.5% blacks and about 1 in 4 minority. The schools would be more diverse and some of the neighborhoods are too. Lacey would be a 15-20 minute commute to Tumwater most of the time. If you want even more diversity, Lakewood is about 12% black, 40% minority. Crime is much higher than Tumwater or Lacey but there are probably better and worse neighborhoods and smarter and riskier ways to go about living there. Probably add 30 minutes each way to the commute. Tacoma's crime is even higher, on average. I wouldn't think it would be worth going further north than Lakewood into Tacoma itself to live (you can still go there pretty quick for shopping and other activities), but of course that is for you to assess and decide.
Please don't let the percentage of minorities affect your decission. What matters is the climate of acceptance and equality. If every African American thinks that way, there will never be more diversity. Tumwater, Lacey and Olympia are really one community, as the boundaries between these three cities are indistinguishable. As long as you can adjust to living in a medeum sized city, you'll be happy in the Tumwater, Olympia and Lacey area.
I wouldn't be concerned about any racism here. People in Washington are very warm and friendly and accepting of others (ok, maybe a bit introverted). It's actually surprising to me that the African American population is so low here.
Don't be concerned with racism. The people in tacoma are very welcoming. Living in the hill is not so bad. You just need to know where to live on the hill. There are quote a few good clubs and organizations and people here. Its definitely gotten a lot better. Be careful about which school you send your kids to. I grew up and still am in tacoma and have never had that type of problem with assault. The really good neighborhoods are in the north end by ruston way and such.
Tacoma is an awesome place. The demographics are different for each neighborhood so you might want to check that out.
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