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Old 10-30-2007, 08:48 PM
 
3,633 posts, read 6,169,294 times
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My son is applying to colleges and one of his teachers here in northern CA talked to him after school today and suggested several not-too-tiny liberal arts colleges, esp. the University of Puget Sound. We looked at their website and found that in spite of its smaller size, it has the music education and math majors he's interested in. The tuition and housing costs seem reasonable considering the small size of the school, too. And I'm planning to move to Portland when he goes to college regardless of where he goes, so it would be a pretty easy commute home for breaks and holidays.

Can anyone give me any info on living in Tacoma and even better, if you know the area around the University, shed some light on it, in terms of crime, nightlife, transportation (I can't get this kid interested in driving because our town literally has more bikes than people, and everyone bikes everywhere), and other things that would matter to an 18-year-old? We live in a town of 60,000, he isn't into partying at all, and loves hiking and other outdoor pursuits (which we know are plentiful in that area of Washington).

Thanks so much for any info anyone can give me.
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Old 10-30-2007, 08:55 PM
 
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Oh, I just found the "If Tacoma is so bad, why are people moving there" thread...which sounds rather ominous... but if anyone has any info specific to the area around the U of PS, I'd still like to hear it.
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Old 10-30-2007, 09:15 PM
 
Location: WA
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The area around UPS is nice. It's easy enough to get around to stores and the campus on bike. A few streets over is 6th Ave which is the business district. Lots of restaurants and places where a lot of the local college kids hang out. If I have time this week I'll go over and take some pictures of the area for you.

UPS is pretty much in the North End of Tacoma in a great neighborhood.
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Old 10-30-2007, 09:16 PM
 
Location: WA
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Oh...and you'll get a lot of "don't move to Tacoma" replies. Whatever.
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Old 10-30-2007, 09:24 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by back2sa View Post
Oh...and you'll get a lot of "don't move to Tacoma" replies. Whatever.
Oh man, I know...I read the Portland forums and people either love or hate it, and the ones who hate it love Texas, or LA, or wherever, which other people start bashing, etc., etc., and it isn't very useful after awhile.

I grew up around Washington DC and lived in San Francisco for 18 years, so I know ANY city has its nice areas and its awful areas...so your information that the area right around the University is nice and has some public transit, etc., is great. My son spent his first 12 years in SF stepping over panhandlers and seeing spaced out junkies in doorways when we'd go downtown, so he can handle some urban grit - I just don't want him going to a school that's completely surrounded by it!
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Old 10-30-2007, 10:11 PM
 
Location: WA
60 posts, read 315,347 times
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Ha...yeah, I guess it happens everywhere. I'm from Texas and over there it seems Austin bashes San Antonio and San Antonio bashes Austin. It's the "which place is better" game.

I should have time on Thursday to go to that area and get some pictures. I'm just 15 minutes away. It really is in a nice area.
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Old 10-31-2007, 10:14 AM
 
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Photos of that area would be much appreciated, if you have the time!
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Old 10-31-2007, 02:48 PM
 
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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UPS is pretty nice area, and school. Portland offers a lot of choice too, both in recreation, culture, school choices, and EZ travel to CA (nice airport).

I have a niece as a freshman at UPS, and she came from Portland area, I'll see what she says in May... I expect she'll really like it.
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Old 10-31-2007, 10:16 PM
 
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If you're interested in pictures of some nearby places, I found some via google:

Ruston Way waterfront (about 2 miles from the college): KevinFreitas.net ~ Photos ~ Sunny day walk along Ruston waterfront ~ kevin freitas tacoma blog photos pics cheats projects seattle web developer

Point Defiance Park (about 4 miles from the college):
Point Defiance Park Tacoma Washington USA pictures from pacific northwest photos on webshots (http://travel.webshots.com/album/436820526HvZXQt - broken link)

Those photos focus more on the things you can see than the actual trails, but the Ruston Way waterfront is several miles of walking/biking, and Point Defiance Park has quite a few miles of trails as well as beach area. Also Titlow park is also about 4 miles from the college with trails. Tacoma is connected to Seattle and most of the other major towns in the area by bus. However, he'd probably have to hop a ride with a friend if he wanted to do things like hiking at Mt Rainier (The Wonderland Trail is a gorgeous hike that you can do in a week or two with camping sites all along the way... perfect for people that like that sort of outdoors thing), Skiing/Snowboarding, hitting the rain forest, or checking out the beaches directly on the Pacific (as opposed to the beaches on the Sound).

Like back2sa said, North Tacoma is the good part. As long as you don't head too far south from there, it's a really great area.

Also, the train from Tacoma to Portland is about 3 hours for something like 20-25 bucks. Pretty reasonable for coming home to visit.

The only thing I can add for negatives is that I don't remember there being much of a college town surrounding UPS. There are times in college when your head feels like it's about to explode, and you just need to walk away from it for an hour or two. It's nice to have that little college town area where you can go and have a variety of non-campus food... or go to a book store or coffee shop and just sit, relax, and let your mind cool off.
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Old 11-02-2007, 09:24 AM
 
3,633 posts, read 6,169,294 times
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Thanks for those links, springshades! The area looks and sounds like it would suit him really well - since we live in northern CA we do a lot of outdoorsy things, and he would realy enjoy being so close to the water and Mt. Ranier. And I had already looked into the train situation and it looked perfect for him getting to Portland on breaks.

We live in a college town now - Davis, CA - and I know what you mean about the college town area with restaurants and cafes, etc...even at my age I enjoy those kinds of places! I think the more urban campuses have a little less of that, but sometimes they make up for it by having other amenities.
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