There are places in and around Tacoma that would be absolutely great to live in - and others that are very scary and dangerous places. Based on personal knowlege, here is how Tacoma breaks downNorth and Northeast Tacoma - Generally pretty nice. A lot of old restored homes that has been take over by young urban professionals. Mostly very expensive places to live, but you can find exceptions if you look hard enough. Central Tacoma (the business district and Tacoma Dome) - Nice by day, but a empties out at night. Some homeless hang out down there at night, but the Tacoma Police try and keep them out of the main downtown area, so it s really no different that other downtown areas of mid-size US cities: Empty at night, a little spooky, but generally safe.The Hill - as hard as the city government tries to change it, it remains the ghetto area of Tacoma - kind of a scary place to beEast and South Tacoma (extends down to some of Parkland and Spanaway) - These areas are the drug and gang areas of the city. There are parts that I would not go in day or night, but I definately would stay out of the area at night. Some nice areas but also lots of problems.Lincoln St - 6th Ave - west into University Place - In my not so humble opinion, this is THE happening place of Tacoma. Lots of coffee houses, restaurants, bars with cool points , etc. One of the hipper places to hang out in Tacoma.University Place and Gig Harbor - on both sides of the Puget Sound Narrows (University Place on the East side and Gig Harbor on the West), these small west Tacoma suburbs are pretty upscale. Translation: nice, but expensive. While there are some inexpensive homes and apartments in pockets of these areas, most of the people who live here are middle class and above. Downtown Gig Harbor is a real cool place to hang out, however.Lakewood - Borders Tacoma on the south, and is quite a mixed bag. There are parts of Lakewood that scream GHETTO , but are right next to some of the most glamorus properties in the entire Tacoma area. A real mixed bag. Many parts of Lakewood are right next to Ft. Lewis, a major army post.Steilacoom - a real nice quaint Tacoma suburb that is bordered by Lakewood, Tacoma, and the Puget Sound. As most of the homes are considered Puget Sound view homes , the homes here are very expensive. While Steilacom rolls up its sidewalks soon after dark, it is a great place to hang out during the day and offers unmatched views of the south Puget Sound.Parkland and Spanaway - working class suburbs south of Tacoma. Again a mixed bag. Some nice areas intermixed with white trash areas. Spanaway has a bad rap of being one of the meth capitals of Pierce county - and Pierce county is one of the meth capitals of the entire US. I personally would not live in Parkland, but might live in the southern parts of Spanaway.Dupont - Although it is far south of Tacoma, and next to Ft Lewis, this is one of Tacoma s newest and suprisingly affordable sub-divisions. Built on land reclaimed from Ft. Lewis, it s a nice suburb - but is somewhat isolated because of lack of any sizable malls. Does have a couple of nice strip malls. however.There you have it - Tacoma is a mixed bag. I lived there for almost three years, and personally, I liked it alot (even with the rain). I lived in two houses while I was there - one in Lakewood, and one in University Place. There is crime, but if you know what areas to stay out of, you may not experience it. I remember the place quite fondly. Generally good schools, pretty good public and private universities (UW is going into Tacoma in a big way), a good shopping mall, GREAT parks (Defiance Point is one of the best city parks in the US, in my opinion), and good highways to support movement of traffic between Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia, and all parts in-between. Hope this helps.
Tacoma is a very large city. There are VERY nice parts of Tacoma such as the North End, University Place, and Ruston Way. There are also not so nice places like East Tacoma, South Tacoma Way, and Hilltop. I really like Federal Way because it is really nice and there is some great apartments that are very affordable. The nice part of Federal Way is that it is about 20 min north of Tacoma and 30 min south of Seattle. You are a little more centrally located so that if you want to do something outdoors you aren t far and if you want to be in the city you are still close too. Hope that helped.
Not particularly, but sections vary tremendously, just like in any city. There s a lot of crime throughout the Seattle-Tacoma area, and you can get more details on the city (and zip codes) at www.bestplaces.net
tacoma is so ghettoyou will probably get shotno, honestly. its really ghetto haha my mom never lets me go alone.