Pros & Cons of Tacoma

[102nd Soulja]

if you choose tacoma, university place ain't too bad to live in.

[Smartbuyer]

Can anyone answer the question I posted?

[Jake840]

This tread seems a bit dated. What is your question?

[SeattlitefromNC]

I think what happened was that Smartbuyer posted in his blog, not in the thread, so his question was not immediately apparent. Here is what he posted:

My family and I will be stationed at Ft. Lewis, WA really soon. In order to prepare for the move, we'd like some brief information about Tacoma. We'd like to rent a house in tacoma, but have heard many bad things about the city and would like clarification. Are there any redneck cities in tacoma, if so, can you please name the cities. If you can, please recommend cities which are quite diverse.

Thank you for taking time to answer my question.

[Jake840]

Thanks for clarifying.

Tacoma has good parts and and not great parts like any city. It has also changed a bit from 2006 when this post was started. Where Hilltop used to be really bad (80's -early 90's) a lot of people who are from Tacoma don't give a second thought to living there. I know of police officers, doctors, restaurant owners, etc living there. As it has been said by me and others it is one of the lowest crime rates in the city. North Tacoma is nice. West Tacoma is nice, a lot of Central Tacoma is nice. University Place and Fircrest are nice. Lakewood I am not a big fan of personally but there are very nice areas in that city along with a lot of not so nice places . Tacoma and Lakewood are probably the most diverse cities. But a lot of the suburbs in unincorporated Pierce County (South Hill, Fredrickson, Spanaway, and Parkland) are pretty diverse as well. If you like "real" city living then you will probably like Tacoma. If you like the suburb feel (homes that look the same, no sidewalks, drive everywhere you go) you will probably like the places outside of Tacoma.

The more redneck areas would probably be east and south of Bonney Lake, Graham, and Elk Plain. Even those areas have a lot of suburban sprawl but you have a few more of the redneck types.

[catzilla02]

I had lived my entire life hearing how gawd-awful Tacoma is. Not knowing a thing about it I swore never to set one dainty foot in it...much like the others, whose car door locks can be heard engaging when they see Tacoma on an exit sign on I-5. Having lived in several areas FAR south of Seattle where my husband works, due to the high price of living in Seattle, I can honestly tell you that the largest problem we've had in Tacoma have been from raccoons. Location, location, location! There are two parks with hundreds of acres, Point Defiance and a new one in University Place.What gorgeous waterfront natural treasures! If you golf, it must be a haven...provided you don't mind soggy greens. If you can tolerate the weather, you are probably safer in North, and West Tacoma than where you're living right now. For myself, I cannot acclimate to the dreary weather the northwest boasts nine months of the year. An earlier poster was so right about the summer months however. I had central heat and air conditioning installed in the home we purchased, after sweltering through several summers that heated the indoor air above 100 damp, sticky degrees for what seemed an eternity. While it takes effort to make friends, I have never lived in a more difficult area than the northwest. In Federal Way, neighbors would go out of their way to avoid passing others on the sidewalk, or heaven forbid..making eye contact! Many believe that the now - yuppie enclave of Federal Way is somehow safer than Tacoma. It is only because gang violence isn't always reported. Within two years of living there, the two closest convenience stores experienced the same thing. A gang member walked in and shot the clerks, not for money, but for gang - related status. Our first week, people were shot in cars in two separate incidents. Rapes occur which are not always widely known. Oddly I've not had any of the mysterious strangers at my door now that I live in Tacoma, nor have I heard of gang violence in the area where we live, and it's certainly not a grand, gated community. It all comes down to researching the area of the city in which you choose to live. For those who must work in Seattle, but cannot afford it, the bus system has been invaluable, but mass transit could improve vastly!