Moving to the Tacoma Area (Lakewood, Kirkland: apartments, for rent, sex offenders)

[wescape]

Hello,

We're moving to the Tacoma area very soon and are curious which areas are decent places to live. University Place is centrally located to where we'll be working but we'd love to get some feedback from people who know the area.
Thanks!

[RiftReaper]

run , don't walk, away

[Mommy05]

Originally Posted by wescape

Hello,

We're moving to the Tacoma area very soon and are curious which areas are decent places to live. University Place is centrally located to where we'll be working but we'd love to get some feedback from people who know the area.
Thanks!

What are you looking for in the area you'd like to move to? Are things like schools & low crime important to you?

[wescape]

Originally Posted by Mommy05

What are you looking for in the area you'd like to move to? Are things like schools & low crime important to you?

Yes, both of those things are important. We're just looking for a decent neighborhood to live and raise a family. Do you live there? If so, how long?

[dajam_fxdli]

Originally Posted by wescape

Yes, both of those things are important. We're just looking for a decent neighborhood to live and raise a family. Do you live there? If so, how long?

UP is a pretty nice area. Have you thought about Gig Harbor? You mentioned you both work in the Tacoma area. I would suggest going to realtors and ask about the area. Realtors have a unique and intamate view of the local neighborhoods.

[back2sa]

I live in the UP/Fircrest area and it is nice. You can definitely tell a difference when driving into it from Lakewood or Tacoma. It just has a different feel.

UP is supposed to have some of the best schools in the state (at least that's what I've heard/read). Because of that you may pay a little more for houses in this area over Tacoma or anywhere south of Tacoma (I would not move anywhere south of Tacoma). But it's worth it.

If you do decide to move here be sure you check out which school district the house is in. I live in Fircrest but we are in the UP school district (was a huge factor in buying our house). There are areas that are University Place but the way the district lines are they are in the Tacoma School District. I don't have the website link handy but if you do a search for Tacoma School District you'll come up with their main website and somewhere on there you can see where the district lines are.

Gig Harbor is very nice too. We would have loved to have lived out there but with the traffic over the bridge (may not be so bad now that they finished the other bridge) and the tolls we decided not to. It's also a little more expensive out there.

[cobolt]

I used to live in UP. It's spotty. The areas around 19th and Mildred to 27th are full of alot of hoodlums and general riff raff and it's congested----traffic wise. If I were living in UP, I would stay on the west side of Grandview and south of 27th along the Chambers Creek area. Anything along Bridgeport is just too spotty. There are some nice neighborhoods tucked in on the side streets but I think the area around Chambers is more consistent.

Fircrest is also nice-----it's pretty much residential with a few shops on Regents Blvd, but you'll have to venture out to UP or elsewhere to do your shopping. Fircrest doesn't really have alot of apartments or complexes---more houses from what I've seen but there are some for rent and I would feel pretty comfortable living in Fircrest.

I'd recommend Gig Harbor as well. The commute with the addition of the new bridge is much nicer than it used to be. I-5 is still a pain in the rear but it will always be. The new bridge has also prompted alot of new growth in Gig Harbor---there are positive and negative sides to this.

Stay away from Lakewood, most of Tacoma outside of N Tacoma (proctor dist). Also stay away from Parkland and Spanaway. Steilacoom and Dupont are also good communities---again you will have to drive elsewhere for shopping, but the schools are decent---lots of military families and retirees choose to live there.

Cobolt

[ness]

Originally Posted by wescape

Hello,

We're moving to the Tacoma area very soon and are curious which areas are decent places to live. University Place is centrally located to where we'll be working but we'd love to get some feedback from people who know the area.
Thanks!

I checked out UP and thought there were some very nice parts. I especially liked the new Trader Joe's in the shopping center. My favorite store. I think DH and I have decided on moving to Gig Harbor (GH), though, instead. Couple reasons: 1. GH Doesn't have the same soil contamination problem. (Most areas around Tacoma have arsenic in the soil from an old smelter--which means you're supposed to remove your shoes before coming in the house and not let kids play in the dirt). 2. Lower crime and a bit more of an upscale feel than UP. 3. The new bridge makes the traffic much less than it used to be so its not a bad drive in. The toll is likely to keep out the riff raff.

UP is supposed to have excellent schools.

[Mommy05]

Originally Posted by wescape

Yes, both of those things are important. We're just looking for a decent neighborhood to live and raise a family. Do you live there? If so, how long?

No, I don't live in the area-my husband & I live in Kirkland-we're planning to move to Gig Harbor though for this reason. I've heard they have good schools & it seems to be one of the nicer & safer areas in Pierce county. Whenever I look up the address of a house I like on Family Watchdog (familywatchdog.us) the results show hardly any sex offenders or other criminals in the area. Plus we can find many nice, good-sized homes for 300k or less

[cobolt]

Yea Gig Harbor is pretty good at keeping out the riff raff and you are also correct about soil contamination. There are 2 or 3 co-workers who live in GH and work across the bridge. The Trader Joes is the only one in this area and people travel from as far as Port Townsend and Port Angeles to shop there. I love TJ's! They are also building a sort of TJ type market in Gig Harbor.