Mature couple looking for nice and reasonable housing in Tacoma-commuting to Auburn (Seattle: rental)

[pgrdr]

Hello,

My spouse is probably accepting a job with a company headquartered in Auburn, WA. After reading about Auburn neighborhoods and what is there in the little city, we've concluded Tacoma is a better bet for for both of us, especially me, with more to do and more opportunities to find employment of my own. We don't want to move to Seattle because it is a longer commute and we are not keen on a longer than necessary or stressful commute every day. We've experienced the I-5 commute before and are not anxious to jump back into that grind after years of freedom from it.

We are not interested in buying a home again until we know we will be staying long enough to make it worth the extra investment and drudgery of home maintenance work. With the kids grown up and gone, we'd rather have fun! Hence, we are looking at longer-term renting.

Can anyone offer suggestions/advice on a nice area in Tacoma, with responsibly managed rental apts/condos/townhouses or single family homes? We do have one small, very well-behaved, sweet dog, and we are responsible pet owners considerate of our neighbors and the property owner; plus he is very old and not long for this world now.

We are looking for a safe, well-maintained, well-managed, respectful-of-tenants property to make our home, close to things to do and amenities.

I'm guessing that the north side of Tacoma is better for a commute to Auburn, but I could be wrong.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

[blaserbrad]

Are you looking to be more in the city or suburbs? North end would be a good choice if you like having the city a few blocks away. It's dense, older homes, charming, tons to do, and walkable. Northeast Tacoma (West of 49th street or risk sketchiness) Is the suburban equivalent and would be a closer commute to Auburn. It lacks amenities compared to North End however since Northeast Tacoma is basically part of Federal Way, Federal Way's city center has quite a bit to do and A LOT of Asian cuisine if you're into that. Anyway both are safe areas

[pgrdr]

@ blaserbrad:

Thank you!