Tell me about Tacoma, WA and surrounding areas (1 Viewer)

[Tim Holyoke]

I started a thread a while back stating that I wanted to move, but didn't know where. Some people mentioned Washington. Well, I've got a couple semesters of school here yet, but my sister and her BF are ready to up and move. He's got an uncle who's the head of maintenance or something for a Tacoma military base (not sure which one). That is one of the areas they have narrowed their search down to.

So, tell me about Tacoma and surrounding areas. Positives, negatives, good neighborhoods, places to stay away from, etc. Thanks a lot for any help.

Tim

 

[Doug Miller]

Um... Places to stay away from... Yeah, that would be Tacoma. Seriously though, if you're looking for a place to live I would live a little further north towards Fife/Auburn, or a tad east over towards Puyallup. Dead center of Tacoma isn't great. I've had buddies who've lived in there, including one who had his car broken into 3 times and another who had it stolen. (Granted I lived in Gig Harbor for awhile, and also had my car broken into 3 times, so who's to say.) There's plenty of good places to eat, a few good bars for shows, etc., but overall quality of living = low.

I think a better question is what do you like to do? The nice thing about Seattle to Tacoma is that they're easy to commute between. I've lived in Auburn and was 15 minutes from Tacoma and a half hour away from Seattle (for work, and for baseball.) The whole area is doable and the quality of life is good.

Doug

 

[Kevin Hewell]

Just watch out for any rumblings from Mt. Ranier.

 

[Bill Cowmeadow]

The 'Aroma of Tacoma' is nice, especially at extreme low tide...

But as Tim said above, the whole area is a great place to live. Yes, it rains. Yes, it rains some more, but if you make an effort, the rain is nothing more than a nusance.

If I had the chance, I'd move back in a heartbeat.

One more thing, when the weather is nice, (more often than is advertised) there is no better place on earth.

Bill

 

[Tim Holyoke]

Thanks. Actually, coming from

 

[Leila Dougan]

You must not be a Fark reader. . . this was posted today
http://www.bestplaces.net/docs/studies/stress3.aspx

Anyway, I haven't spent much time in Tacoma so I can't really comment. But I remember a few years ago spending some time in Eugene, OR and thought it would be a nice place to live. Eugene is also decently sized, but close enough to Portland if you really need a big city.

 

[Aaron Schmitt]

Leila: it's so stressful because the commute sucks and people are still unemployed, oh and gang violence in Tacoma. Other than that, it's great

If your sister's BF is more of an outdoorsy type, have him check places like Enumclaw, Maple Valley, Issaquah, North Bend (both of these on I-90, and close to mountains), Carnation, Duvall (the last 2 are probably an hour northeast of Tacoma but much closer to mountains, rivers, farms, not to mention cheaper).

The unfortunate thing about Western Washington (King/Pierce/Snohomish counties in particular) is that people are continuing to creep out into the rural areas making them less and less rural all the time. The town I live in (and grew up in) was a farming community population 3000 in 1990, and is somewhere around 15,000 now, and they haven't improved the highways at all. Imagine the commute. Also the prices of houses/property continues to go up here, even though we're still one of the highest unemployment states in the country.

That said, this area is still great to live in, and if they visited now they'd be getting better weather than California (although it is kind of cold at night). But don't tell anyone how great it is here. We don't need anyone else moving out here.....

Oops.

Aaron

 

[ChrisHeflen]

I also agree about Tacoma. It's kinda not very good. I did hear that they are trying to renovate the downtown area.
As Aaron said, if you can move to the surrounding areas you'd be better off. The only thing is, as afore mentioned, you are gonna have nasty traffic if you commute.
If you are interested, Portland/Vancouver is nice as well.
It isn't as rich as the Seattle area, but at least you can get around and afford to live easier.
Plus, Portland is close to a great part of the coast and close to Mt Hood and the Gorge. It's just the right size of city I think.
Don't worry about the rain, you get used to it.

Seattle does have "Definitive Audio" and they carry some great gear.

 

[Jordan_E]

I live in Auburn, and the commute to anywhere on 167 is a BITCH! But it's a terrific area to live.

 

[mark alan]

I went to that site and ran through the "find your best place". Damned if it didn't come back and say that where I live is my best place.

Guess I better never move.

 

[Vince Maskeeper]

ahhh, the Tacoma Aroma.

I always liked olympia, but it really is targeted to young people: the exciting stuff going on in town really revolves around the evergreeners and the ever present indie art rock scene.

-V