Pros & Cons of Tacoma (Seattle, Federal Way: to rent, crime rates, house)

[southerngirl_for_now]

Neptune,Mark and Chris-thank you all for replying. I'm going to remain open minded and visit the area as planned in Dec. I have a few realtors who told me to drop by their offices and they would be on the watch for a nice rental home for us. I'll select an area for them to look in once I visit there.

[klove1228]

Wow, lots of good info being said here. It looks like the only nice area to live "in" Tacoma is that one area north of 16 and west of 5. Is this the "Hilltop" area? It would be really nice to live downtown and not have the long commute to work.

[klove1228]

Today I also heard someone refer to Tacoma as "Tacompton." What's this all about?

[chris]

Not all of Tacoma is bad - the hill part you mention, mainly from the Stadium High School and the area to the West/NW of there... Some scenes from the movie "10 things I hate about you" was filmed at Stadium high. It's being redone right now but it's an incredible piece of history worthy of checking out for those who make it to the area. What a inspiring place to go to high school with that view.

There are lots of beautiful views of the sound from on the hill (just don't look north towards the mill)... Being a nice area, a decent house on a nice street will cost you 400k-500k although you can find homes in the 300-400k range. The area is really very nice in comparison to the up tempo feeling you get in Seattle, and probably not a bad place to live, if you can find an affordable place to live.

Someone probably mentioned this but downtown isn't all that bad. Pretty good culture for a city that's primary downtown focus is a big old smelly mill (you get used to it).

[chris]

East Tacoma = Tacompton.. The area to the east of I5.

I think parts of the hilltop east of Stadium are borderline Tacompton too. Head down hilltop any warm evening or the weekend for a better feel.

[Mark S.]

Originally Posted by chris

East Tacoma = Tacompton.. The area to the east of I5.

I think parts of the hilltop east of Stadium are borderline Tacompton too. Head down hilltop any warm evening or the weekend for a better feel.

Yep. But those aren't the only bad parts of town. Even some of the hilltop neighborhoods (especially around the hospital) are REALLY bad. When my daughter was in Mary Bridge Children's hospital, I saw drug deals and prostitutes working the streets in broad daylight.

So yeah, if you're moving to Tacoma, be VERY careful where you live.

[KidBlue]

I think any larger city anywhere in the United States will have gangs and run down neighborhoods. I can't think of one off hand that doesn't have this. I don't think Tacoma is any worse than any large city in CA (and I've traveled on business to all of them). There are places in Sacramento that I wouldn't walk alone in--so I don't. I don't live there either.

Just a note on Compton--the population has shifted over the years, and it's about 90 percent Hispanics now.

[amberlynne253]

im a 16 year old female from tacoma. well not exactly tacoma, if you are planning on moving somewhere close to tacoma and want to live in a good area of town, university place, fircrest, && parts of tacoma closer to the waterfront/ruston way. Stay far away from buying houses close to "hill top" the top of downtwon tacoma and some streets such as 6th ave. and tacoma ave. are not the best of places to be around at night. I personally live in university place. its a nice place to live and very safe compared to the bigger city. I can drive from my house to downtown in 10 to 20 minutes depending on traffic meaning the commute to tacoma is not that bad. If you have children Curtis jr. && sr. high are probably one of the best schools out of all the tacoma or surrounding areas' school districts. The gang situation is not as bad as people say. Mostly just misguided teenagers. After you live here for a while you start to know what good and bad parts of town are. But any large city will have their fair share of gang related crimes and bad areas. As far as im concerned i would much rather live in university place than seattle or tacoma because its more of a smaller based community so not as much crime yet you still have the large city basically next door when you want to. check it out for yourself because you wont know whether or not you like it until you try.

[KidBlue]

My niece is named Amber too. Thanks for your information about Tacoma. I feel much better about the area. I was getting concerned about the gangs in WA. I was hoping to get away from gangs when I retire, not move into the middle of them. I was just threatened by three gang members in Sacramento (right across the street from the Capitol!) while waiting for a bus, so I'm really trying to avoid any areas that have gangs. One threat on my life was enough! Luckily, at home I only have to be alert for mountain lions and the occasional skunk!

[jjjmr02]

While I don't have any experience living in Tacoma (I've heard it nicknamed Tacompton), I don't think I'd want to either. It is nice to visit, though. My husband is stationed at FT Lewis, and when we looked into buying a house, we looked farther south, in Thurston County, particuarly the Lacey area. Housing was much more affordable and the school districts were excellent. It has more of a small town feel as well. There are some areas of Lakewood that are very nice, as well as some places in Spanaway and Puyallup,too. Good luck!