“Keep Tacoma Feared“

When my husband and I moved to WA from Florida we rented in the Seattle, area of WA.  Rent was almost 2k a month and we still didn’t live in a gated neighborhood, no pools, tennis courts etc.. We were spending so much more $ on stuff than back home in FL. The house was a new construction ,cookie cutter, with thin walls and no character. We went to MANY different areas to house hunt and were told, “Just don’t go to Tacoma, It’s the ghetto!”  When our realtor suggested we see Tacoma we right away said, “NO, Tacoma is a ghetto! The crime and violence is terrible and we’ve been told to stay away from there.” She laughed, told us Tacoma isn’t like the 80’s and early 90’s. It has a new mayor, and got cleaned up. So, she took us anyway…We were so glad she did!!!

Tacoma is Washington’s FIRST port town. Many of the homes were built late 1800’s & early 1900’s

The proximity to the water and parks and restaurants makes North T-town an ideal place to live.

We noticed right away that there was a quaint feeling in Tacoma that we didn’t get in Seattle. Yeah it’s funky and hip to say you live in Seattle. There are great malls nearby and lots of tourist attractions but Tacoma is a bit more low key for us.. we are that kinda folk I guess. One of the cool things about living in Tacoma is that we share the Puget Sound with both Seattle, Gig Harbor, & Vashon Island.  All the fish mongers deliver to Pikes Place market from the chilly Alaskan waters but actually dock their boats HERE because is MUCH less expensive than King County. Perks for us… fantstic seafood at lower prices!


If the sky went grey it’s because I took these while snooping at people’s homes in the Fall.  Of course I keep pics of random homes that don’t belong to me…. you don’t? ?


I really love seeing the flowers pop some colour in front of the grey house. So pretty! Oh and look…a Toyota! You see… living in a house like this is do-able in Pierce county. Seattle… don’t even think about it!


So ya’ll know Bing Crosby right… the… “I’m dreaming of a White Christmas”.. the “Road Movies” with Bob Hope…
Anyhoo.. He was BORN in this house! (the one above) Yup, another piece of Tacoma’s awesome history. He has a rose bush named after him in our local rose garden

I love double porches… reminds me of being back home. You can take a girl out of the South, but you can’t take the South out of the girl!
I like the Victorian below. Needs a roof cleaning and some paint but it could be perfect!
Btw, if ya’ll hear trash talk about Tacoma, go ahead and say it’s ghetto. We like to keep the best kept secret in WA feared. ? We don’t have loads of people moving here. It’s quite, we don’t sit in loads of traffic, we have small town farmers markets and botiques. We are 38 minutes to downtown Seattle and hop skip and a jump to Portland, Oregon. Gig Harbor looks like Coastal Living magazine & is a 5 min drive across the bridge. Vashon Island is one of Washington’s last remote islands. It’s a 10 min ferry ride from our home. Hubby and I enjoy going for a morning breakfast on the island and collecting driftwood on the EMPTY beach.

Oh… the PUBLIC SCHOOL district ain’t that shabby either! Hogwarts! hee-hee!

Pretty good view from the football field.

Hope you all enjoyed it and that it opened your eyes to the beauty of Tacoma. ?

Thanks for looking! ?

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26 Comments

  1. 1

    Nila, I knew very little about Tacoma and what I know now is that it looks quaint and charming. I’m from the east coast, north of Boston, so anything with ocean views is to my liking. I love the homes there, not totally unlike homes in New Hampshire and Maine. I think you found a perfect place to live.

    • 2

      Thank you! I’m a coastal girl as well so I knew we wanted to live near the water. We are 2.8 mi from my home. One day I am wanting a view ! My husband travels for work so this town was a great midpoint for him to go to Oregon and as far north as Seattle & Everette . We’ve been very pleased with affordability and being able to live below our means .

  2. 3
    • 4

      So glad u liked it! It works for us at this moment in our lives. We are considering moving to the Harbor but hate the thought of paying the toll every day. I would much rather spend $200 month on pretty decor and plants lol in cheap 😉

  3. 5

    I think Tacoma looks incredibly charming, Nila! I would choose quaint and quiet over hip and trendy any day of the week! I don’t blame you for wanting to keep it a secret. 🙂

  4. 6
  5. 7

    Hi Nila, I grew up about an hour from Tacoma. My husband’s Aunt and Uncle who have lived in Puyallup forEVER say that Tacoma used to have gangs, but now they’ve all moved to the Puyallup/Lakewood area. They bemoan the fact that Tacoma is nicer than where they live now. Sound like they were right! those houses look amazing! I especially love #4!

    • 8

      Puyallup and Lakewood are far apart, not the same area. Lakewood sucks and Puyallup is nice. Puyallup is still nicer than Tacoma. Tacoma still has gangs, a lot. They did not move to Puyallup. GRIDE for example. Look at all the gang tags on the buidings, roads, and other structures. Google has a map of all the gang-controlled areas of Tacoma.

      I live in the area. It is amazing to me to see such a lie as this. Tacoma is an armpit of criminality.

      East Side Green Raggers
      Native Gangster Crips 40 Blocc
      Crips
      Native Gangster Bloods 32nd
      East Side Locos Surenos 13
      Hilltop Crips
      Seven Deuce Mob
      Lakewood Hustler Crip Gang 47th
      Active Park Uso
      Varrio Surenos Locos 13
      Active Park Uso
      96 Gangster Disciples
      66 Scanless Fam Folks
      Kushman Block Bloods
      Tillicum Park Gangsters
      Bloods
      East Side Gangster Crips
      West Side Islanders
      Bloods
      56 Crime Fam
      Bloods
      People Nation
      The Fam 43rd
      Samoan Mafia Gang
      43rd LOC
      West Side Piru
      Young Gangster Crips
      Young Gangster Crips
      KnoccOut Crips

  6. 9

    Oh Nila! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! Those houses are incredible! I took a drive around my neighborhood last weekend but the flowers aren’t showing their best yet. I did get one picture of one of my favorite houses. I’ll continue the tour next week. 🙂
    If you know anything about Nova Scotia, you know we are a quiet laid back part of Canada where the folks are friendly and hospitable. I think Tacoma would suit me just fine. Thanks for sharing your home town!

    • 10

      Map of the Tacoma gangs and ghetto of Tac Town, shows the Bloods like the 181 Goons or the Samoan Bloods around Spanaway and Pacific Avenue, South Tacoma with 66 Scanless Fam or Crime Family Gz aka 56-74 aka Jive-6 GD, gangs in Lakewood like the Hustler Crips of 47th Avenue or the West Side Islanders, the Tillicum Park Gangsters, and Crips in Tacoma’s Hilltop area from 12th Street to 25th Street.

      Other areas of Tacoma are in the SouthEnd like the Trey Five Alley Dawgs, 96 Murdaville, or Kushman Block. On the East Side there is Original Ruthless Bloodz of 38th, the Original Loko Boyz of 44th, Eastside Gangster Crips, Morton Blocc Crips, Seven Deuce Mob, and more.

  7. 11

    We had the same experience (ended up buying in Covington, eventually)- apparently Tacoma now is what Seattle used to be, before the influx of Californians made it expensive, crowded, and hipster. 😉

    Are all those homes from North Tacoma? I get that’s a lovely historic neighborhood, but what about the diversity of awesome houses in the rest of Tacoma, like University, the Sound End, NE Tacoma, the dodgy Eastside, Summit, etc.? 😛

  8. 12

    This is great, I live in Tacoma! The North end has some of the most spectacular homes. I love to drive by at night when the lamps are on and see how cozy the homes look. ( Does that make me a stalker? yikes!) So glad you choose Tacoma……so much cool stuff here without the crowds of Seattle!!

    • 13

      Yayyyy! I am so glad to have another neighbor… and from T-Town! 😀 I just love it here. Hubby and I recently drove over to the harbor but my heart is in North Tacoma. It’s so awesome!

  9. 14

    I’ve always wanted to visit the NW, and you’ve encouraged me to add Tacoma to my list. What beautiful houses and it sounds like the perfect location.

  10. 16

    Interesting post! I’ve always loved the ‘ride-around’, as we call them. Our town has more modest neighborhoods, but it’s all good. I haven’t met a house that I didn’t re-do in my head, as I drive/walk/ride my bike past!

  11. 17

    I TOTALLY keep pictures of people’s homes that don’t belong to me!!! If you ever are in Michigan, look up the Bay City historic district! There are so many beautiful older homes. I have a collection of pictures from my trip up there. 😉

  12. 19

    I had no idea Tacoma was so lovely! Haha! I live in Seattle and have only really driven through Tacoma or stopped at the mall. Love getting to check out the neighborhoods through your pictures! Thanks for sharing! 🙂

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  14. 21

    I love Tacoma and all the old neighborhoods with beautiful trees. I’m from Gig Harbor, living in Oak Harbor currently. Every time I drive by its seems like Tacoma gets more cleaned up and more and more houses are being redone. Thanks for shaing all the pictures, it’s inspirering me to do a drive by of my own next time I’m visiting family 🙂

  15. 22

    What a lie. Tacoma is a ghetto overall. She only shows the nice houses and places in the nice areas of Tacoma. It’s no fun to be surrounded by ghetto even if you have a nice home. Are you going to stay in your redoubt or compound all the time, and never go out? Tacoma is worse than in the 1980s and 1990s, not better. The “new mayor” doesn’t care about stopping crime or improving the quality of life for the majority of Tacoma residents. They just create Potemkin villages in order to deceive.

    • 23

      Your correct, not a single photo was taken in south tacoma. To be honest I don’t think she has even been there, once you cross division it is an entirely new world. Plus she shows the nicest public school (stadium) which is completely different from other schools like foss and lincoln.

  16. 24
  17. 25

    Some of the photos you took are of my friends houses and their grandparents, if possible can you delete the photo of the house with pink flowers in the front and a view of the Puget sound (port area) in the back

  18. 26

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