Tacoma - What's the real story?

[magrack]

Midland still OK for the most part....Spanaway a little more "iffy".

Quick answer, avoid the five blocks either side of Pacific (Moutain Highway) from 112th to the Roy Y and the three blocks either side of any and all major East/West arterials 112th, 128th, 136th, Militay Road and 176th. I woud avoid especially anthing along the 112th St corridor all the way out to Waller.

I didn't do much of anything south of 96th as the thread was about Tacoma and the city limits end at 96th.

[Kalliope]

Is there an update to the color coding on the map or is it still about the same?

[Jake840]

I think the maps are a bit to general. There are parts of North Tacoma that have pretty high crime rates (lots of property crime sshhh North Tacoma's dirty little secret) like sections of North Slope and around 6th Ave. Then there are place like the Hilltop that has a bad perception from the past (80's and early 90's) but has one of the lower crime rates in the city according to the TPD. Hilltop/Central/Downtown Tacoma are where most of the "creative class" are moving. The residents of that area are probably more involved in the neighborhoods then anywhere else in the city.

There are parts of the Eastside that aren't too bad. Strawberry Hill is a very nice small neighborhood with some of the best views of Downtown/Olympics Mountains/Commencement Bay in the city. The areas around Pacific Ave between roughly South 60th and 48th Street are nicer neighborhoods.

There are also a lot of steps the city has taken in the past few years to improve parts of the city. Homeless encampments are cleaned up right away. Panhandling is banned. You can't buy malt liqour (aka high octane beverages) beverages in about half of the city. The city has expanded the Community Based Services program where they go into certain neighborhoods and go all out on code violations, crime, etc.. That programs is supposed to expand to the whole city soon. The police are easy to work with, all you need is your community liason officers email and you are set. It is easy to turn in code violations to the city and they give the violator 18 days to fix it or the city will do it for them.

Most neighborhoods in Tacoma are pretty safe. I think you have to look more at property crime than violent crime. People don't really get randomly shot or beat up in Tacoma.

[Ira500]

People don't really get randomly shot or beat up in Tacoma.

That's right. People in Tacoma wait until they get to know you before they shoot you.

[Jake840]

Exactly IRA. Keep good company in Tacoma and you are good. We don't seem to have as many crazies that do the random stuff like our neighbor to the north.