XP: North end of Tacoma?

cupcakepirate

I posted this over on the Nest, but I figured I'd post here too since this board gets way more traffic.

I've seen a few houses/apartments online that are in my price range in this area, but I have no clue as to the safety to this area. Does anyone live around there/lived there in the past? I haven't done a whole lot of research yet and figured I'd see if you ladies had any experience with the neighborhood first?

TIA

mrsjazzsinger

DH's parents and a lot of our friends live in the N Tacoma area. His parents live just over the border of Federal Way (NE Tacoma) and our friends live in the NW area/downtown area by Stadium HS and the hilltop area. Where DH's parents live is pretty safe, but I think the area our friends live in is a little more "depend on what street you live on" safe.

cupcakepirate

This is helpful. The one I'm most interested in is on 15th St. Its all up in the air at the moment, since I still haven't found a job yet, but am getting all my call backs from up in the Seattle/Tacoma area.

Em7.31.04

The North End is great. Very safe. Very cute. Charming in a Queen Anne (Seattle) sort of way.  UPS is in that area, so when school is in session there is a fun college vibe.  North 15th is what I'm assuming you are referring to?  Depends specifically on the cross-street but in general that is a safe bet.  Could be very close to UPS, actually, so think about how close you want to be to the school, drunk students stumbling home from parties, etc.  ;-)  I can speak from experience, lol...

cupcakepirate

After looking it up again on Google, I think it's more technically 'central'. Hmm. One of the sites I've looked on says the crime on a scale of 1-10 is a 7.

lulumialu

cupcakepirate:

After looking it up again on Google, I think it's more technically 'central'. Hmm. One of the sites I've looked on says the crime on a scale of 1-10 is a 7.

 I wonder where they're calculating that from. I'd be interested in checking it out!

CDMay2006

I posted on the other board, too, but... That area might be ok.  The Proctor District has some cute shops and a farmers market.  I see lots of families and people walking dogs when i am over there; i don't know how much it changes in the 11 blocks between there and 15th (could be quite a bit).

cupcakepirate

It's South 15th. And the nearest cross street is Oakes?

MelodyFerg

Just like in any city there are areas to live in and ones to avoid. The nicest neighborhoods in Tacoma are in the proctor district, stadium district, ne Tacoma, and near UPS. I work in Tacoma and will ask around about that cross street. Many of my coworkers live around there.

skenyon

I am in S. Tacoma. So. 15th and Oakes is not a place I would want to live. Unfortunatly here in Tacoma like in Seattle we have alot of areas that are hit and miss, but luckily that means that alot of the crime/violence and so forth are centered in these areas. We get a bad rap down here but love living here. I don't kow if I helped.

LuvBug12683

yeah...I agree with skenyon, DH and I bought our first house on 46th and Faucett. Not too far from where you're talking. It was shady. Our neighbors were awesome but it was everyone else that I was worried about. There were no driveways so everyone had to park on the street which led to our cars getting broken into on more than one occasion. Unfortunatley it reaffirmed our "vision" of Tacoma and we will never live there again. The schools are not that wonderful either.  But...Orting is sure a fun and cute city! just sayin'

Em7.31.04

cupcakepirate:

It's South 15th. And the nearest cross street is Oakes?

 The first house we owned was in this neighborhood.  I would live there again.

cupcakepirate

Thank you ladies so much for your help. The house has a little garage and off street parking, but it looks like you have to go down some sort of alley to get to it... I haven't gone to actually look yet, and now I think I'll just skip it.

Mysticblossom21

skenyon:

I am in S. Tacoma. So. 15th and Oakes is not a place I would want to live. Unfortunatly here in Tacoma like in Seattle we have alot of areas that are hit and miss, but luckily that means that alot of the crime/violence and so forth are centered in these areas. We get a bad rap down here but love living here. I don't kow if I helped.

I'm joining in a little late on this but thought I'd share an opinion too. I grew up in the Tacoma area, went to Stadium HS. My parents used to live on 17th and Oakes. They never really had any issues. In all honesty, 6th Ave is the dividing line between south and north. Once you cross 6th Ave to the north side, it's generally a pretty safe bet.