Best Place I've Ever Lived By Far
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6/27/2020
Here's the thing. I've lived in nine states during my lifetime (I'm 51 years old at the time of this writing). I grew up and lived most of my life in Indianapolis, but I've also lived in Colorado Springs, a couple towns in Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Virginia, Arkansas, and Montana. Tacoma is HANDS DOWN the best place I have ever lived. The weather is pretty much perfect. It is almost never too hot, never too cold, and the humidity is so mild that the air usually feels perfect in the summer. Yes, it rains more here, but it's not the kind of hard rain you get in the midwest. Usually, you can still function and go about your business even without an umbrella. Where I live, close to Puget Sound, we can sit on our balcony or deck and not have to worry about mosquitoes or flies at all. One fly might come along every tenth time we sit out there, but that one usually just flies into our house and leaves us alone. We usually sleep with our balcony door wide open at night, and no bugs come in to bother us. The lack of mosquitoes is truly astounding, though. The community is very liberal and welcoming. I moved here in 2015 and have found it incredibly easy to make friends. I also love the diversity of the area. The town is very community-minded and interested in preserving historic buildings, bridges, etc. The location and size of Tacoma are both perfect. I can make a day trip to Portland or a day trip to Seattle with no problem either way. Being here on the Puget Sound with the best view of Mount Rainier as well as the Cascade and Olympic ranges is also a plus. I forgot to mention that I love the rain we get in fall, winter, and spring because its the reason we are as green as Ireland here. We literally have a lot of the same foliage, though Ireland doesn't have are amazing giant trees (another bonus of this area). Negatives to Tacoma? The cost of living is high for someone from the midwest. There is a lot of trash and visible homelessness (this is true throughout the beautiful Pacific Northwest unfortunately), and there are very, very, very few good restaurants. I think that people from this region have a different idea about good food. It's even hard to find good pizza here. Oh...one more thing I love about Tacoma is all the little neighborhoods. I love downtown Tacoma, but I feel like I actually live in the little "town" of Proctor. I have great walkability as well as a fabulous water/territorial/small town (Old Town) view from my house. We are blessed. Not everyone could afford this spot. But even if you can't afford to live in the North End or another great neighborhood, you are only minutes away from some of the most beautiful spots on the planet. And that's not exaggeration. The Tacoma Aroma someone mentioned is a thing of the past. That smell came from a long line of paper mills that used to be here but exist no more. Tacoma has been on the rise and polishing itself up for a great many years. It keeps getting better and better and better, and I really wouldn't want to live anywhere else.
Kelly | Tacoma, WA