Relocating from Miami FL to Tacoma WA HELP! (Seattle, Puyallup: apartments, for rent)

[NYR1199]

Hi all,

I'm possibly relocating for work to the Tacoma area from South Florida. I know the office is located off of Broadway in the downtown area (98402 zip)

I'm pretty sure WA is going to be a culture shock for me, any help/recommendations will be much appreaciated.

Can you recommened some 1 bedroom apartments in the downtown area within 20minutes of Broadway?
I'm only 26, what can i expect of nightlife here? Anything else I would need to consider before moving across the country?

Thank you!!

[Jake840]

There are plenty of apartments on and around Broadway in Downtown Tacoma. Rents in DT range from $600 to $2000+ for a 1 bedroom apartment so it depends on how much you want to spend. You probably won't have to drive to work if you live Downtown.

The 2 main nightlife areas are lower Pacific Ave. in Downtown & 6th Ave., about a mile from Downtown. Both areas offer a good mix of places to go.

I haven't been to south Florida so I am not sure what people are like there. Tacoma is very liberal, especially Downtown, Central & North Tacoma. People are friendly.

[NYR1199]

Thank you for your reply! Have your heard anything about Bella on Broadway or Theas Landing? Both apt's are walking distance to the office.

From what i've been reading the places I should look at are downtown and stadium district?

[Jake840]

I haven't heard to much about Bella on Broadway. Thea's Landing is nice. There are a few things you have to take into consideration there 1) train noise on the downtown facing side 2) possible noise from the restaurant with outdoor seating on the SE water side 3) new hotel construction soon on the north side.

Hanna Heights or the Metropolitan might be good places to look if those are in your price range. Also condos for rent, you can usually find decent deals on them and they have higher quality finishes.

[EastMeetsWest7]

I drove through Tacoma and really didn't like it at all. By Northwest standards, it is quite ghetto looking. If I were you I would just avoid the area. There are parts of North Tacoma and West Tacoma near the water that I hear are nice. However, they are more costly. You may consider University Place, which looked like a nice area, although the seedy Tacoma element didn't seem too far away, which is why I chose to avoid that area. The downtown area did look quite nice, but as with the rest of Tacoma, there just was a loathsome element near the area that troubled me.

[Jake840]

So you drove through a part of Tacoma and generalized the whole city? You "hear" North Tacoma & West Tacoma are nice but then generalize the whole city as having a loathsome element?

Also with apartments, as the OP was asking about, Downtown is more costly than North or West Tacoma.

[EastMeetsWest7]

No, I didn't drive through "part" of Tacoma.. I drove THROUGH Tacoma.. Meaning a good portion of the city. I drove through and looked at a house in South Tacoma, drove through East Tacoma, Parkland, Central Tacoma, Downtown, University Place, Fircrest, Hilltop. I can say after driving around a good portion of the city and driving through many other cities in the Seattle area that Tacoma is not a place I want to live. I was just about to rent a place in University Place, but changed my mind, because I did not like the adjoining neighborhoods. I felt an upscale area like University Place bordering slummy Central and South Tacoma neighborhoods would mean that the area would be a hot-spot for break-ins. Yes, Tacoma has it's good and bad neighborhoods like all places, but it just seems to have too many bad areas and the bad areas are a lot worse than everywhere else I have seen in the Seattle area. The only exception I can say is the Rainier Beach in South Seattle. That area looked about as bad any I have seen in the Seattle metro.

IMO, the cheaper rent in Tacoma is the only justification. Look at any crime stats and you can see Tacoma is considerably much less safe than any other cities in the area. And, the nice parts of Tacoma are quite expensive, so there is no bargain in living in a nicer part of Tacoma. The North end area near the water I hear is nice, but I hear can be as or more costly than Seattle.

[Ira500]

Originally Posted by EastMeetsWest7

No, I didn't drive through "part" of Tacoma.. I drove THROUGH Tacoma.. Meaning a good portion of the city. I drove through and looked at a house in South Tacoma, drove through East Tacoma, Parkland, Central Tacoma, Downtown, University Place, Fircrest, Hilltop. I can say after driving around a good portion of the city and driving through many other cities in the Seattle area that Tacoma is not a place I want to live. I was just about to rent a place in University Place, but changed my mind, because I did not like the adjoining neighborhoods. I felt an upscale area like University Place bordering slummy Central and South Tacoma neighborhoods would mean that the area would be a hot-spot for break-ins. Yes, Tacoma has it's good and bad neighborhoods like all places, but it just seems to have too many bad areas and the bad areas are a lot worse than everywhere else I have seen in the Seattle area. The only exception I can say is the Rainier Beach in South Seattle. That area looked about as bad any I have seen in the Seattle metro.

IMO, the cheaper rent in Tacoma is the only justification. Look at any crime stats and you can see Tacoma is considerably much less safe than any other cities in the area. And, the nice parts of Tacoma are quite expensive, so there is no bargain in living in a nicer part of Tacoma. The North end area near the water I hear is nice, but I hear can be as or more costly than Seattle.

If one is comparing Tacoma and Seatle neighborhoods, then a North end Tacoma neighborhood like Proctor would be comparable to Wallingford in Seattle. Proctor is less expensive than Wallingford. The cheaper rent in Tacoma is not the only justification. Sure, there are run down and crime ridden spots in Tacoma, and that's precisely why the crime rate looks high. If you break it down by neighborhood, you'd see that the nice parts of Tacoma actually have low crime rates, but the not nice parts of Tacoma skew the statistics for the whole city.

[NYR1199]

Can any of your recommened a place in the downtown area thats under $1000 and in safe area. I'm flying out there next week to work out of our Washington office (which is located off Broadway).

So far a few places I will check out: Court 17, Villagio Apartments, Thea's Landing, Park Tower, Bella on Broadway, Vista Del Ray Apartments.

Those are all in the downtown area. If anyone of you also know some decent apartments within 20 min of the downtown area I would definitly consider that as well as I would assume the rent would be a little cheaper.

Thanks again for the input thus far.

[EastMeetsWest7]

20 min within downtown? Have you considered living in Puyallup? It is like 15 min from downtown Tacoma, much safer, better scenery with Mount Rainier right in your face and you can probably get more for your money than living in downtown Tacoma. Just a thought. I was in your boat and wanted to spend under $1000 and I got really lucky and scored a duplex near Puyallup. In that price range it is hard finding a nice place in a safe area, unless you want to live in a studio apartment. I'd seriously consider some of the outer areas. Those nice parts of Tacoma are costly. Also, I wouldn't want to personally live in downtown Tacoma. There is a very seedy area around and in the downtown. I hear the downtown, although safe in the day, is a bit sketchy at night.