tacoma neighborhoods (Seattle, Yakima, Puyallup: violent crime, home, buy)

[mthomson]

[moderator cut: mod calling] htcballer is making up misinformation that doesn't serve the people asking serious questions about an area. Most rape crimes? Where did you get that? Go ahead with your 50...start naming. You may have grown up in Tacoma, but you don't sound like you know everything there is to know because you haven't said a single nice thing about it.

[mthomson]

I'm wrong, sorry. You did say N Tacoma was nice.

[ShariSez]

North Tacoma may be nice, but it is also prohibitively expensive. Anyone coming from the Midwest is going to be so shocked by the prices in this area that sending them to UP or Proctor could be fatal. You can still buy a nice 3 bedroom on a decent lot in say, Kansas, for $100,000. All that would get you here is a fixer upper in a so-so neighborhood.

Don't get me wrong, I love T-town and will never move but it's not the 'crime' here that scares people, it's the cost of real estate.

[VelcroQueen]

Really, let me think about Tacoma for a moment. I have lived here 20 years and 7 months.

The first 5 years were on the east side wherre, while we lived there, crime grew exponentially in the last months, until we left, running, the week a rape happened on our street corner, on the sidewalk, a neighbor's house was set on fire, and a finger was found on another neighbor's car.

At that point we moved to north Tacoma, where my husband could not sleep for the first few nights, because it was too QUIET! But we got used to it and loved it there.

Then we moved from there to south Tacoma, where we were clueless that we were moving into a hornets' nest of crime! We were initially horrified and intimidated, but I got to the point at which I quit caring if I lived or died: I was going to STAND UP to the JERKS -- openly! The neighbors and I rallied, and we partied everytime the police came and hauled someone away, staring directly at them as they were handcuffed and hauled off. It took us over a year, and the police know my name and know me by sight and voice, but the "business people" are gone, and our neighborhood has had 2 years of peace.

But let me tell you about the Tacoma police. We Could Not Have Done It Without Them! They were the warriors who came when we called, who arrested and arrested, until the dolts decided that ours was not a good neighborhood to do business. You want to say something about the Tacoma police? I have twice as much positive to say about them.

The Tacoma police are the hardest-working group of law enforcement people I have ever known, and simply put, I love and appreciate them.

Well, that was emotional!

[mthomson]

Great post...fun to hear something positive about a group that is grossly underappreciated.

[Luke9686]

Yeah but that $100,000 house is in.... Kansas. I lived in Topeka Kansas and there is TONS of crime there. Probably more than Tacoma.

Plus the Hilltop area is getting revamped. I stopped by the police station in Hilltop to ask the cops what the lowdown was on the neighborhood. They said it is actually one of the safest neighborhoods in Tacoma now due to the neighbors standing up to the criminals. Neighborhood watches, etc...

[emily_mac2003]

Ok, I can't seem to get straight answers anywhere I look online...
I currently live in California with family because my husband is in Iraq, and will be moving withing 42 days back to the Fort Lewis area. We lived in Puyallup for a year, and loved it! I'm trying to find a home to rent right now, found one we LOVE, but it's in the Hilltop area of Tacoma near Bryant Elementary School... I've heard AWFUL things that make me terrified! But at the same time, I hear GREAT things! That it's just fine. I don't know! I really love this house I've found, but I've never even been on that side of I-5, so I want to make sure I pick a safe area. I have a 2 year old little girl and picking a bad area for her to grow up in terrifies me! Will I get robbed? My car stolen? My house shot up or broken into? Live with the blinds drawn closed? Or can I walk my daughter to school without worries and have coffee on my front porch?
Can someone PLEASE please please give me a correct, current, for real answer about Hilltop? More importantly, South Sprague Ave???
Thanks to all who can help

[misunderstood73]

I am also moving to Tacoma by the end of the year. My fiance is in the military and we do not want to live on post. I have heard so many gang related stories about the Hilltop, the East Side and now the South End. I pulled up articles from a local Tacoma paper and was very disturbed to hear about the gangs and crime. I read that some of the nicer areas are Fircrest and University.

Can someone please let us know where we should consider living? My daughter is 4 and will be attending Pre-K. Can anyone recommend a really good daycare or Pre-K? And would downtown Tacoma be the likely place to find employment?

Thank you for your help.

[bluetarp]

Steilacoom or University Place. Expect to pay +/- $250k for something you will not be embarassed to say you own. Some water view properties in Steilacoom are seven figures. South Hill in Puyallup is pleasant as well, but it's a sprawling traffic nightmare (if you don't mind that, you're fine).

Lakewood is hit and miss. It has areas with extreme poverty within walking distance of $1M lakeside homes. You've got meth labs and mansions in the same neighborhood. It's really a micro version of Tacoma. It's been called Lake 'hood' among the young people. That should tell you everything you need to know. Think Oakbrook if you must think Lakewood.

If you want to be close to Fort Lewis or McChord, look at Dupont. All new, master-planned community, military-friendly and I believe it's in the Steilacoom School District. If not, it's the Clover Park School District.

$75k in Tacoma, buys you a 6,000 sq. ft. lot with no house on it in a marginal, gang-infested neighborhood. Closer to $275k gets you a nice Craftsman or 60's split level. Stretch yourself to get into University Place or Steilcoom or Dupont, much better schools, lower crime and less aggravation.

Not meaning to provoke an anxiety attack in anyone, but I can't say it enough: Visit here before you commit to anything. The jobs are in King County or Seattle. There is a remnant of a Downtown Tacoma, with a few regional companies in a lot of Class B office space. Very few people live downtown - it's empty at night and on weekends, even during the weekday. One third of the workforce in Pierce County commutes to jobs in King County.

Pierce County's web site and Tacoma's web site will show you crime statistics in any neighborhood by address. If you have a property in mind, plug in that address and you'll see what's going on around you. Or if you don't have a property in mind, input an intersection, for example: "6th and Sprague" or "S. 9th and Sprague" or "6th and J". Also, Tacoma is 'group home', 'halfway house', 'transitional housing', 'early release' heaven. There are halfway houses within sight of "schools" and across the street from parks. Felons in boarding homes next to single-family houses. Heroin, crack, chronic homelessness, graffiti, the usual. 4,000 inmates were released early from the Pierce County Jail last year. Note the location of the jail and understand that that is where the early release takes place.

I can not implore you enough to research, research, research. Read the online local paper every day. And it is worth the money to come here and spend a few days.

To those that say it is not all bad, they are right. It's not all bad, but it's far from ideal. Tacoma/ Pierce County lags behing King and Snohomish Counties in per capita income, household income, property appreciation, job creation, etc. It has higher crime, higher taxes, higher levels of poverty/ unemployment, higher dropout rates and is vastly under-educated. Tacoma is not a smaller, quaint version of Seattle. It's a hardcore, blue-collar, paycheck to paycheck kind of town and has all the associated social problems and more.

It's not Gary or Detroit, or Camden in terms of physical decay, but think Tulsa, El Paso, or rural Louisiana, alot of mossy, tilting, sagging roof-line, no-foundation, wood-framed, $200k shacks. The most popular piece of lawn equipment in Tacoma is the weed-whacker, not the mower, but the whacker (hint).

The Police and Fire Department are excellent. They will work with you if you articulate your concerns in a rational way. Seems as if a responsible citizen is a welcome respite. Get to know you Community liaison Officer, they are great to work with.

If you must live in Tacoma, chose Northeast Tacoma or Brown's Point. It is reported to be the only area of the City that is not seeing a property value decline, but is very expensive, probably because it is geographically seperated from the rest of the City. Why is that?

Google for facts and statistics.

[back2sa]

I have to agree with bluetarp on almost everything said.

Definitely come and visit before committing. University Place and Steilacoom will have the better schools in the Tacoma area (besides private schools). We live in UP and are very happy. Just drive through the different areas and you will *know* where to live and where not to live. Dupont is nice and it is Steilacoom schools. It's probably a little cheaper there for homes than the Tacoma area. It's also about halfway between Tacoma and Olympia so you'll have a few more options for jobs.