Tacoma is the City of Destiny, dudes.
[youtube id=”qIYEW_1k-Nw” mode=”normal” align=”left”]
Back in the days of Tacoma’s founding (the swinging 1870’s!) Tacoma was chosen as the western terminus of the Northern Pacific Railroad and was a wild crazy cool town where things were happening. Word is Mark Twain might have said, “The pleasantest winter I ever spent was one summer on Puget Sound.” He also might have said it about San Fransisco. Or not at all. Regardless, English writer Rudyard Kipling even said it was, “literally staggering under a boom of the boomiest.” That’s right folks. Tacoma was freaking awesome.
Hard Times
Times got hard for Tacoma after that. With every boom and bust we busted bigger than we boomed, retailers left for the nearby Tacoma Mall in the sixties. The downtown area became a ghost town, with Mayor Harold Moss saying in the 1970’s that it looked “bombed out” like “downtown Beirut.” If you want to know what he meant, check out these pictures titled, “Wandering Tacoma in the 70’s” by Steve Cyzewski.
The singer Neko Case (who grew up in Tacoma during this time) sang about this in her famous song about Tacoma, “Thrice All American.”
People they laugh when they hear you’re from my town, they say it’s a sour and used up old place. I defended its honor and shrugged off the put-downs- you know that you’re poor from Tacoma!
[youtube id=”9AXVBtBJjLw” mode=”normal” align=”left”]
Better and Better
Things really started turning around in the 1990’s, with the arrival of the University of Washington, Tacoma campus rejuvenating many of Downtown Tacoma’s empty factories into amazing spaces of learning and the renovation of Union Station from an abandoned railroad station into a Federal Courthouse. From there came investment, condos, townhouses, coffee shops, restaurants, and a new swagger in the step of those of us who live and work downtown! People around the region still like to make fun of Tacoma, kind of like you poke fun at your little brother on Thanksgiving no matter how accomplished and grown up he gets, and that’s fine. We know we’re cool.
Today in T-Town
The link light rail drives past the federal courthouse in downtown Tacoma, WA in Spring of 2020.
Living in Downtown Tacoma today is a treat. It’s still pretty affordable with a wide variety of types of housing to choose from, with lots of cool people doing things their own way. Check out the neighborhood profiles below for an idea of what the neighborhoods are like. To learn more about what it’s like living in Tacoma visit MovetoTacoma.com.
Tacoma and her Neighborhoods:
Ruston
For the most complete guide to Tacoma neighborhoods and cities and neighborhoods across Pierce County, visit the Tacoma Neighborhood Guide on our sister site MovetoTacoma.com.
