Tacoma Crime (Gig Harbor, Pacific, Ruston: lofts, neighborhoods, school)

[Seattlechica]

Hi, I live in Gig Harbor right now and was considering moving to the Harmon Lofts on Pacific in Downtown Tacoma..Do you think this would be safe?? Would you let your daughter live by herself there?

[Ira500]

There's been a lot going on in that neighborhood, good stuff. UW Tacoma is right there, and it's near the glass museum, art museum, history museum, and the Harmon brewpub right in the building.
It's a neighborhood that used to be quite dangerous, and it's still downtown Tacoma, but it's improved a lot in recent years, and there are neighborhoods in Tacoma that are far worse.
It should be a fun, exciting neighborhood with a lot going for it. Tacoma is much nicer now than people remember.

[mthomson]

Depends on how old my daughter was! Currently we live in Gig Harbor as well, but our daughter is only 8 months so she's not living anywhere on her own:-)
Ira is right I think. There's a lot of activity going on in that area. If your daughter is college aged, and you've raised her to be wise and alert, but not fearful, I can't imagine why living there would be a problem.
Reality is it's a city. Cities will always have more crime issues than places like GH tend to. But there's nothing about that area that is fearful. It'd be a very fun place for a college aged kid I think.

[Seattlechica]

I'm 19. I'm not super street smart, but book smart!

[mthomson]

You'd be fine then...just whack any would-be attacker with one of your college books! Seriously, I think you'd be fine, but would still want to be careful. Young female walking by herself wouldn't be too wise. Basic common sense and it's a good area.

[LordBalfor]

Originally Posted by Ira500

Tacoma is much nicer now than people remember.

Oh yeah!
Tacoma is up and coming (finally!!!).

Ken

[ukiyo-e]

Where exactly *is* downtown Tacoma - street boundaries, I mean? My son has decided to attend UPS starting next fall, and we visited the campus in March - we really liked the school, the north Tacoma residential area, Point Defiance Park, the bike path along Ruston Way, etc. Though we drove around some, I don't know if we actually hit downtown Tacoma because I don't know where it is! He'll be moving in late August and we'd like to check out the city a little more when we drop him off.

Tacoma seems like a nice little city that's coming into its own lately.

[mthomson]

Downtown specifically is Pacific Ave up through probably MLK St running N/S. Running E/W probably South 30-North 15th I'd guess. I don't have a map in front of me.
Basically, from UPS, you could shoot straight down N 11th (the street that runs between their stadium and basketball arena), and you'd go through some neighborhoods and in about 3 miles hit downtown.
A faster route would be to shoot over to 6th Ave, head east and it'll drop you right into downtown.
From the bike path on Ruston, that Schuster Parkway (at the far east end of the path) will wind you directly into downtown as well. UPS is a pretty nice, central location close to lots of things.

[ukiyo-e]

Originally Posted by mthomson

Basically, from UPS, you could shoot straight down N 11th (the street that runs between their stadium and basketball arena), and you'd go through some neighborhoods and in about 3 miles hit downtown.
A faster route would be to shoot over to 6th Ave, head east and it'll drop you right into downtown.
From the bike path on Ruston, that Schuster Parkway (at the far east end of the path) will wind you directly into downtown as well. UPS is a pretty nice, central location close to lots of things.

Ah, thanks. We checked out the 6th Avenue area directly south of the campus, so we'll probably go that way. I think we skirted the edge of downtown at one point when we were wandering around, but next time we'll know for sure. We were in one area that had taller, denser buildings and a few unsavory characters on the street corners, so it looked "downtown-y" to me. Luckily, my son spent the first 12 years of his life in San Francisco, so he's pretty immune to the usual urban grit that one finds in any city.