Lakewood...love it or hate it? (Seattle, Tacoma: fit in, lease, hotel)

[brubble]

My wife and I are about to move North and have decided that Lakewood seems to be the best of what we are looking for, that is, close to Seattle w/out being right in downtown (shudder) and decent home/rent prices. Seeing that we live in Sonoma County, Ca (wine country) anywhere has better home/rental prices, lol. I am wondering about the general idea of Lakewood. I have talked to the police, checked out the city website, and was given the "10cent" phone tour by someone at the chamber of commerce...Now that Im done with the "sunshine crew" I would like to know the real deal. Hows the crime? What type, where, when? Hows the shopping? (Wife wants to know, lol). Is there a place where a guy w/a few tattoos and a twisted sense of humor can get a beer n bowl o pretzels n swap some bs w/other people? How about if I want to take my wife to a dinner somewhere w/out a drive thru...do we gotta go to "the city" or is there some decent dining in Lakewood? And no, Applebee's isnt decent dining..Is there any community spirit? Yep, all these questions. I want everyones opinion. Where, if not Lakewood, would YOU move to? We both have multiple professions, so job finding won't be a big obstacle. We just want to find somewhere we can do our thing, and be left alone. We told each other when we started dating that we wanted to grow up to be "coffee drinking, book reading, 420 nerds" well, thats us...lol. Mid 30's, and just wanna be us, w/no issues. So whaddya think? Let us know, the good, the bad, the ugly,and the "wth?"
Sean n Traci

[cobolt]

You're joking, right? Lakewood is bad. Really bad. I would not walk down S Tacoma way (main drag) during the day by myself. I used to go with my co-workers to a little Vietnamese joint for lunch. We'd walk down the street and you will be accosted by people strung out on meth. We saw a guy high on something, just laying on the ground by the bus stop talking to himself. Hookers cruize the streets, thugs everywhere. There are some areas that look nice, but even the YMCA looks nice and people have their wallets stolen from locked lockers, car theft is pretty high, personal property theft is high. Tacoma mall is just a few miles north and there was a shooting there a few years ago, and a shooting in an adjacent neighborhood just last weekend. Lakewood has more episodes on COPS than any other city. Just check it out. I would never live in Lakewood. It's just bad news. Very spotty. I would STRONGLY suggest you visit here first and stay in a Lakewood hotel and see for yourself. NEVER move somewhere without first visiting and getting the vibe without the Chamber of Commerce dog and pony show. CHeck out Dupont, Steilacoom, Lacey, or North Tacoma but stay out of the Lakewood hood.

[sean98125]

Lakewood and Spanaway are not great places to live by any measure. Avoid them. The cities that Cobolt mentioned are worth looking into, and I'd add Hawk's Prairie to the south and some parts of Puyallup, Federal Way, Milton and Enumclaw to the north.

[wythors]

Cops films in Lakewood regularly. Watch a couple of episodes of Cops in Pierce county and you'll get a good idea of what it's like.

[wonderingsoul]

I've only been here a few month but I can tell you that Lakewood is a bad area, rundown and generally questionable folks. Certainly if you have kids or plan to, stay away from Lakewood and Spanaway. We are currently renting in the Tacoma area but looking to buy soon. I've done a fair bit of reseach and driving around and seems like the best areas are as follows:

Puyallup
University Place
Steilacoom (not a lot of infrastructure, places to eat..)
Gig Harbor (quiet and isolated, may not be your thing)
Dupont
Olympia (further South)
Maple Valley (closer to Seattle)

These are all places I would consider living. Some are quite expensive though, so depends on your budget.

[cobolt]

I used to live in UP for 2.5 years. Do your research. There are spotty areas there as well---maybe not in the Lakewood sense, but just the same---area around TCC is questionable, especially at night. Puyallup has gotten too big and congested. Most people who live in Steilacoom work, shop, eat elsewhere---no biggy---the peace, quiet, proximity to the water, and relative security are worth commuting. Dupont has a small infrastructure, but you'll have to go elsewhere for shopping, although it is slated to have a grocery store soon. I think Lacey would be the closest shopping. Gig Harbor is nice if you dont mind the bridge and it being more low key, although with the new bridge, construction is booming and the town is expanding by leaps and bounds. Fircrest is nice---again you'd have to do your shopping and entertainment elsewhere as it is mainly residential and mostly houses at that, although some are for rent. I'd really check into Lacey. If you work in Tacoma, the commute gets a bit hairy on I-5 northbound around the Ft Lewis exit, and the hwy 16 merge, but other than that, no biggy. Olympia is worth a check too. Lots of neat little places there, very liberal mindset, not as congested IMHO.

[JTC]

Yes stay away from Lakewood!!!! It's really bad news.

[Gubbinsgal]

If you consider Puyallup, which is overall a fairly nice suburb, find somewhere close to 512 and not way down on Meridian/South Hill. We moved here 6 months ago and had heard of bad traffic but coming from CA scoffed at it. We shouldn't have done...it's horrible and I mean, horrible!! We live in a nice neighborhood on the Graham side of Puyallup but it's a headache just getting to 512. Good shopping facilities although mostly the usual chains you can find anywhere. We've found that overall, folks are friendlier here than in CA. Due to the traffic and nightmare commutes though, we will be moving once our lease is up.

[springshades]

It's not that ALL of Lakewood is horrible... but yeah, everything near that part of South Tacoma Way is horrible. Lakewood covers a large area and the parts west of Gravely Lake and Lake Steilacoom are actually nice. Might want to make sure you don't move somewhere too near the mental hospital though.


You don't have to go too far to find nice restaurants either. Head to Tacoma (15 minute drive or so) for CI Shenanigan's, Stanley Seaforts, and a few really nice places downtown. I've never been into the bar scene all that much, but The Swiss in downtown Tacoma is very popular for get togethers if you like live music... Katie Downs and the Harmon Brewery is more of that lounge feel. The Ram and the Rock fit in the Sports bar category... the Ram has some of the best 1 lb burgers and the Rock has strange but amazing pizza. I can't comment too well on bars/pubs/taverns though.

The Lakewood Mall... well... it sucks. It went out of business a while back and is now named the Lakewood Towne Center... and it still sucks. The Tacoma Mall isn't very far away though and is much better.

North Tacoma is nice but expensive. Downtown puyallup is the same... nice and expensive. As people have said, you don't really want to live in the South Hill area (that's the area just south Puyallup) unless you're fairly close to a freeway onramp or you work nearby as traffic is just horrible there.

[Mtn Viewwa]

You mentioned living in wine country and wanting to be close to Seattle. You might think of the area NE of Seattle -Woodinville, Bothell, Redmond. I think it would have all that you mentioned and is safe, clean, things to do local and easy to get into Seattle. You can live in a neighborhood with homes on small lots or acreage allowing for horses etc...
Shoping is close as is good places to eat.