Revitalized Tacoma, Washington

[Sundodger]

Tacoma has gone through a massive revitalization. 20 years ago the city was in bad shape, downtown was dead and crime rampant in the surrounding residential neighborhoods. Things are totally different today. The University of Washington-Tacoma, which renovated historic buildings for its campus is generally credited as the major catalyst that really got downtown moving.

Here are some pics I took of Tacoma today.

Heading down Pacific Ave. towards downtown. Pacific is the main drag through town. The lightrail line goes down Pacific.

Downtown from near the University of Washington-Tacoma campus.

The University of Washington-Tacoma. UWT recently became a four year university. It originally just served 3rd year , 4th year, and grad students.

Looking towards the museum district from campus. The Washington State Museum of History is the building with the portal. The Museum of Glass is the cone visable through the portal.

Looking up Pacific from UWT. The lightrail line runs through here. The building in the middle is the federal courthouse. It originally was Union Station, Tacoma's train station. The courthouse is full of Chihuly glass sculptures and stained glass, but it was closed for Columbus Day, so no pics.

Here comes the lightrail.

Looking down Pacific towards UWT from the courthouse.

The Chihuly Bridge of Glass links the University/museum/courthouse area with the waterfront and Museum of Glass. Dale Chihuly is from Tacoma.

Looking back towards UWT and courthouse from bridge. St. Joseph Hospital is the white building on the top of the hill.

The large building towards the right is the new convention center. It is pretty sweet. My office held our Christmas party there and we had KC & the Susnhine Band play.

Looking up Foss Waterway towards the Tacoma Dome. Tacoma's namesake, Mt. Rainier (Mt. Tahoma in aboriginal tongue), is visibile, but not in this pic due to the angle of the sun.

Condos and lofts are springing up all over the place.

That's all for now, I only had 45 minutes to kill.

[Randy@Tacoma]

Absolutely speechless! Today was a beautiful day for taking pictures wasnt it? Thank you Sundodger, for representing Tacoma in its immaculate condition! I cant say Thank You ENOUGH!!! :-)

[Charlotteman]

These are terrific pics! Hopefully someone who has not thought about visiting Tacoma will see these pics and get inspired by them:)

One thing I find so interesting about Tacoma is how intensely URBAN it is for a mid-sized city. It feels every bit as urban as Seattle when you're there. The museums and artistic flourishes throughout downtown are truly dazzling for a city this size.

And Tacoma has perhaps the largest stock of historic housing in the region. I can't say enough good about Tacoma!

[Randy@Tacoma]

Say more! Right this minute, I am heading out of my house to go to class for two hours and then Im going to the Proctor, Old Town, 6th Ave and Stadium Business Districts to take photos. If Im lucky, theyll be loaded up on the computer tonight. Definately by tomorrow... BYE YALL!

[Sundodger]

^ Awesome! I can't wait. Tacoma has many great neighborhoods.

[Charlotteman]

The Proctor District is absolutely gorgeous. Old Towne isn't anything to sneeze at either.

One of my favorite parts of the city is Antique Row!

[Randy@Tacoma]

Photo Bucket hasnt been letting me upload my photos lately. It just sits there when I ask it to do something...

[dtown]

cool pics, looks like a real nice city. id like to see more.

what is the population of Tacoma anyway?

[krazeeboi]

Wow, great pictures; never knew the city was so dense for its size.

[waccamatt]

Those are some great pics, Sundodger, I hope to make it to the great northwest someday and checkout Tacoma and Seattle.

[Lone Ranger]

Love 'em.

[seicer]

Great photos! The area looks to be quite revitalising and one whose close proximity to the waterfront will only spur development. How popular is the light rail system?