Sign up, and you'll be able to customize your font size and more! Sign up
Oct 2, 2019
9:12:16am
seacougar Walk-on
I am from NE Tacoma. You have to be very particular about the area.

I lived in the Puget Sound area for 30+ years. It was a great place to grow up — in public schools even — but I'm not sure I'd ever move back there because it is doing its best to be like the SF Bay area in terms of idiotic taxes, politics, and crowding.

There are some fantastic schools in Western Washington, but Tacoma in general probably not not going to be very high on the list unless you're in certain areas. The economic demographic varies a lot from area to area and so to do the schools so you'll have to be selective and do your research. Getting down toward Olympia and Lacey may be better, though, I'm not sure. I wouldn't send my kids to public schools anymore unless you want htem being indoctrinated. There are some great charter schools through, and I would plan on going that route these days if it were my kid.

There are some really, really, nice areas in the South Sound, but there are also some real armpits and Tacoma as a city until recently has been one. It had a pretty abysmal crime rate during the 90s, but they've cleaned it up a lot. It has become a much more metropolitan city now, and from that aspect it has some fun things to offer, and you don't necessarily need to go to Seattle or Bellevue as much anymore for a night out. If you were looking at Tacoma proper, you'd want to be in Ruston near Pt Defiance, otherwise no way.

Not sure what areas you're limited to, but if you could be up more in the Gig harbor/Bremerton area I would definitely recommend it over Tacoma. You'll have to deal with the toll bridges, but it's a much better area in my opinion and not too far North. There are some really nice spots down near Lacey, but you have to be selective because there are nasty areas around Olympia too. Puyallup / South Hill isn't my favorite, but there are some great spots there as well pretty high LDS concentrations (relatively speaking) and lots of wards with big primaries, etc.

 

Geographically, it is a gorgeous area, but if you're used to Nevada you may definitely struggle with the weather. A lot of people have a hard time with it. 

 

Personally, I've been to all three of your possible areas I would opt for San Antonio if it were me, but certain areas in the South Sound (Tacoma-Olympia) could be a good fit and I would definitely take that over Sacramento.

This message has been modified
Originally posted on Oct 2, 2019 at 9:12:16am
Message modified by seacougar on Oct 2, 2019 at 9:19:14am
seacougar
Bio page
seacougar
Joined
Oct 5, 2010
Last login
Mar 28, 2024
Total posts
1,410 (1 FO)
Messages
Author
Time
10/2/19 7:02am
10/3/19 9:58am

Posting on CougarBoard

In order to post, you will need to either sign up or log in.