Tacoma adopted its name after the nearbyMount Rainier, calledtəˡqʷuʔbəʔ in thePuget Sound Salish dialect, and "Takhoma" in an anglicized version. It is locally known as the "City of Destiny" because the area was chosen to be the western terminus of theNorthern Pacific Railroad in the late 19th century. The decision of the railroad was influenced by Tacoma's neighboring deep-water harbor,Commencement Bay. By connecting the bay with the railroad, Tacoma's motto became "When rails meet sails". Commencement Bay serves thePort of Tacoma, a center ofinternational trade on thePacific Coast and Washington's largest port. The city gained notoriety in 1940 for the collapse of theTacoma Narrows Bridge, which earned the nickname "Galloping Gertie" due to the vertical movement of the deck during windy conditions.
Like most industrial cities, Tacoma suffered a prolonged decline in the mid-20th century as a result ofsuburbanization and divestment. Since the 1990s, downtown Tacoma has experienced a period of revitalization. Developments in the downtown include theUniversity of Washington Tacoma; theT Line (formerly Tacoma Link), the first modern electriclight rail service in the state; the state's highest density of art and history museums; and a restored urban waterfront, theThea Foss Waterway.
The Commencement Bay Land and Improvement Co. played a major role in the city's early growth.
The area was inhabited for thousands of years byNative Americans, most recently thePuyallup people, who lived in settlements on the delta. In 1852, Swedish immigrant Nicolas Delin built a water-powered sawmill on a creek near the head of Commencement Bay, but the small settlement that grew around it was abandoned during theIndian War of 1855–56. In 1864, pioneer and postmasterJob Carr, a Civil War veteran and land speculator, built a cabin (which also served as Tacoma's first post office; a replica was built in 2000 near the original site in "Old Town").[7] Carr hoped to profit from the selection of Commencement Bay as the terminus of the Transcontinental Railroad, and sold most of his claim to developerMorton M. McCarver (1807–1875), who named his project Tacoma City, derived from the indigenous name for the mountain.
Tacoma was incorporated on November 12, 1875, following its selection in 1873 as the western terminus of theNorthern Pacific Railroad due to lobbying by McCarver, future mayorJohn Wilson Sprague, and others. However, the railroad built its depot inNew Tacoma, two miles (3 km) south of the Carr–McCarver development. The two communities grew together and joined, merging on January 7, 1884. The transcontinental link was effected in 1887, and the population grew from 1,098 in 1880 to 36,006 in 1890.Rudyard Kipling visited Tacoma in 1889 and said it was "literally staggering under a boom of the boomiest".[8]
Sidewheel steamerAlaskan at the Northern Pacific Dockc. 1880
In November 1885, white citizens led by then-mayor Jacob Weisbachexpelled several hundred Chinese residents peacefully living in the city. As described by the account prepared by the Chinese Reconciliation Project Foundation, on the morning of November 3, "several hundred men, led by the mayor and other city officials, evicted the Chinese from their homes, corralled them at 7th Street and Pacific Avenue, marched them to the railway station at Lakeview and forced them aboard the morning train toPortland, Oregon. The next day two Chinese settlements were burned to the ground."
George Francis Train was a resident for a few years in the late 19th century. In 1890, he staged a global circumnavigation starting and ending in Tacoma to promote the city. A plaque in downtown Tacoma marks the start and finish line. The discovery of gold in theKlondike in 1898 led to Tacoma's prominence in the region being eclipsed by the development of Seattle. A major tragedy marred the end of the 19th century, when astreetcar accident resulted in significant loss of life on July 4, 1900.
Odd Fellows Parade at C Street and 9th Street, 1893
From May to August 1907, the city was the site of a smelter workers' strike organized by Local 545 of theIndustrial Workers of the World (IWW), with the goal of a fifty-cent per day pay raise.[9][10] The strike was strongly opposed by the local business community, and the smelter owners threatened toblacklist organizers and union officials. The IWW opposed this move by trying to persuade inbound workers to avoid Tacoma during the strike.[11] By August, the strike had ended without meeting its demands.[9]
Tacoma was briefly (1915–1922) a major destination for big-time automobile racing, with one of the nation'stop-rated racing venues just outside the city limits, at the site of today'sClover Park Technical College.
In 1924, Tacoma's first movie studio, H. C. Weaver Studio, was sited at present-dayTitlow Beach. At the time, it was the third-largest freestanding film production space in America, with the two larger facilities being located in Hollywood.[12] The production studio was also the first of its kind in the Pacific Northwest[13] The first film produced in Tacoma wasHearts and Fists, which starredJohn Bowers and premiered at Tacoma'sRialto Theater. The studio's importance has undergone a revival with the discovery of one of its most famous lost films,Eyes of the Totem. In 1932, the studios burned to the ground in a mysterious fire, and the production facility was never rebuilt. Several films were destroyed in the fire as old nitrate-based film did not survive.[13]
Tacoma manufacturing district and tide flats, 1912.
The 1929 crash of the stock market, resulting in theGreat Depression, was only the first event in a series of misfortunes to hit Tacoma in the winter of 1929–30. In one of the coldest winters on record, Tacoma experienced mass power outages and eventually the shutdown of major power supply dams, leaving the city without sufficient power and heat.[14] During the 30-day power shortage in the winter of 1929 and 1930, the engines of the aircraft carrierUSS Lexington provided Tacoma with electricity.[15][16]
A power grid failure paired with a newly rewritten city constitution – put into place to keep political power away from a single entity such as the railroad – created a standstill in the ability to further the local economy. Local businesses were affected as the sudden stop of loans limited progression of expansion and renewal funds for maintenance, leading to foreclosures.[17] Families across the city experienced the fallout of economic depression as breadwinners sought to provide for their families. Shanty-town politics began to develop as the destitute needed some form of leadership to keep the peace.[18]
At the intersection of Dock Street EXD and East D Street in the train yard, ashanty town became the solution to the growing scar of the depression. Tacoma'sHooverville grew in 1924 as the homeless community settled on the waterfront.[19][20] In 1927, Tacoma's Hooverville was coined "Hollywood" due to the type of crimes at the camp.[19][20] The population boomed in November 1930 through early 1931 as families from the neighboring McKinley andHilltop areas were evicted.
Collecting scraps of metal and wood from local lumber stores and recycling centers, families began building shanties (shacks) for shelter. By 1934, alcoholism and suicide were a common event in the Hooverville[19][20] that eventually led to its nickname of "Hollywood on the Tide Flats", because of theHollywood-style crimes and events taking place in the camp.[further explanation needed]
In 1935, Tacoma received national attention whenGeorge Weyerhaeuser, the nine-year-old son of prominent lumber industry executiveJ.P. Weyerhaeuser, was kidnapped[21] while walking home from school.FBI agents from Portland handled the case, in which a ransom of $200,000 secured the release of the victim. Four persons were apprehended and convicted; the last to be released was paroled fromMcNeil Island in 1963. George Weyerhaeuser went on to become chairman of the board of theWeyerhaeuser Company.
In 1940, after eviction notices failed, the police department attempted to burn down Hooverville.[19][20] In 1956, the last occupant of "Hollywood" was evicted and the police used fire to level the grounds and make room for industrial growth.[22][19][20]
In 1951, an investigation by a state legislative committee revealed widespread corruption in Tacoma's government, which had been organized commission-style since 1910. Voters approved a mayor and city-manager system in 1952.
Downtown Tacoma experienced a long decline through the mid-20th century.Harold Moss, later the city's mayor, characterized late-1970s Tacoma as looking "bombed out" like "downtownBeirut" (a reference to theLebanese Civil War that occurred at that time); "Streets were abandoned, storefronts were abandoned and City Hall was the headstone and Union Station the footstone" on the grave of downtown.[23]
The first local referendums in the U.S. on computerized voting occurred in Tacoma in 1982 and 1987. On both occasions, voters rejected the computer voting systems that local officials sought to purchase. The campaigns, organized by Eleanora Ballasiotes, a conservative Republican, focused on the vulnerabilities of computers to fraud.[24]
In 1998, Tacoma installedClick! Network, a high-speed fiber optic network throughout the community. The municipally owned power company,Tacoma Power, wired the city. In response, the State of Washington passed RCW 54.16.330 in 2000,[25] effectively preventing further research and development of Click! Network until its repeal in 2021[26] during theCOVID-19 pandemic, a period of over 20 years.
View of Mount Rainier and the Port of Tacoma fromBrowns Point
Beginning in the early 1990s, city residents and planners took steps to revitalize Tacoma, particularly its downtown. Among the projects were the federal courthouse in the formerUnion Station (1991); Save Our Station community group; Merritt+Pardini Architect (1991); Reed & Stem Architects (1911); the adaptation of a group of century-old brick warehouses into a branch campus of theUniversity of Washington; the numerous privately financed renovation projects near the campus; theWashington State History Museum (1996), echoing the architecture of Union Station; theMuseum of Glass (2002); theTacoma Art Museum (2003); and the region's first light-rail line (2003).[27] The glass and steelGreater Tacoma Convention Center opened in November 2004.[28]America's Car Museum was completed in late 2011 near theTacoma Dome.
ThePantages Theater (first opened in 1918) anchors downtown Tacoma's Theatre District.Tacoma Arts Live[29] manages the Pantages, the Rialto Theater, and the Theatre on the Square. Tacoma Little Theatre (opened in 1918) is northwest of downtown in the Stadium District. Other attractions include the Grand Cinema, McMenamins Elks Temple, and the Landmark Temple Theatre.
Tacoma has an official elevation of 381 feet (116 m), varying between sea level and about 500 feet (150 m).
According to theUnited States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 62.34 square miles (161.46 km2), of which 49.72 square miles (128.77 km2) is land and 12.62 square miles (32.69 km2) is water.[30]
Tacoma straddles the neighboring Commencement Bay with several smaller cities surrounding it. Large areas of Tacoma have views of Mount Rainier. In the event of a major eruption of Mount Rainier, the low-lying areas of Tacoma near the Port of Tacoma are at risk from alahar flowing down the Puyallup River.
As of the2020 census, there were 219,346 people and 91,951 households residing in the city.
Tacoma, Washington – Racial and ethnic composition Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.
As of the2010 census, there were 198,397 people, 78,541 households, and 45,716 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,864.9 inhabitants per square mile (1,492.2/km2). There were 81,102 housing units at an average density of 1,619.4 per square mile (625.3/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 64.9%White (60.5%Non-Hispanic White), 12.2%African American, 8.2%Asian (2.1% Vietnamese, 1.6% Cambodian, 1.3% Korean, 1.3% Filipino, 0.4% Chinese, 0.4% Japanese, 0.2% Indian, 0.2% Laotian, 0.1% Thai), 1.8%Native American, 1.2%Pacific Islander (0.7% Samoan, 0.2% Guamanian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian), and 8.1% were fromtwo or more races.Hispanic orLatino residents of any race were 11.3% of the population (8.1% Mexican, 1.1% Puerto Rican).
There were 78,541 households, of which 31.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.8% were married couples living together, 14.8% had a female householder with no spouse present, 5.6% had a male householder with no spouse present, and 41.8% were other families. 32.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 3.10.
The median age in the city was 35.1 years. 23% of residents were under the age of 18; 10.9% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 29.6% were from 25 to 44; 25.3% were from 45 to 64; and 11.3% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 49.4% male and 50.6% female.
As of the2000 census, there were 193,556 people, 76,152 households, and 45,919 families residing in the city. The median income for a household in the city was $37,879, and the median income for a family was $45,567. Males had a median income of $35,820, versus $27,697 for females. Theper capita income for the city was $19,130. About 11.4% of families and 15.9% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 20.6% of those under the age of 18 and 10.9% of those 65 and older.
According toUniform Crime Report statistics compiled by theFederal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in 2022, there were 3,601 violent crimes and 19,217 property crimes, for 221,776 residents. Of these, the violent crimes consisted of 147 forcible rapes, 41 murders, 752 robberies and 2,661 aggravated assaults, while 2,365 burglaries, 11,027 larceny-thefts, 5,582 motor vehicle thefts and 243 instances of arson defined the property offenses.
Tacoma'sHilltop neighborhood struggled with crime in the 1980s and early 1990s. The beginning of the 21st century has seen a marked reduction in crime, while neighborhoods have enacted community policing and other policies.[41]
Starting in 2020, during the pandemic, Tacoma's crime started to rise again. In 2022, the city of Tacoma had the highest number of murders in its recorded history, at 45 murders,[43] which dropped to 34 in 2023.[44]
Beginning in the 1930s, the city became known for the "Tacoma Aroma", a distinctive, acrid odor produced bypulp and paper manufacturing on the industrial tide flats. In the late 1990s,Simpson TacomaKraft reduced total sulfur emissions by 90%. This largely eliminated the problem; where once the odor was ever-present, it is now only noticeable occasionally downtown, primarily when the wind is coming from the east. The mill produces pulpwood andlinerboard products; previously owned by St. RegisCompany,[45] the mill was sold toRockTenn in 2014.[46] The mill's name changed yet again in 2016 to WestRock and closed on September 30, 2023.[47]
An economic setback for the city occurred in September 2009 whenRussell Investments, which had been in downtown Tacoma since its inception in 1936, announced it was moving its headquarters to Seattle along with several hundred white-collar jobs.[48] A large regional office for State Farm occupied the building until 2018 when the building was purchased by the 909 Destiny Fund LLC. The building reopened as a multi-tenant Class A property. The anchor tenant is TOTE Alaska, which announced in 2019 that it would be relocating its Federal Way headquarters to the 909 A Street building's top two floors.[49]
Tacoma adopted apercent for art ordinance in 1975, allocating one percent of construction costs from major public projects to public art. Though initially managed by the Tacoma Arts Commission, the program was repealed in 1985 following controversy over the use ofneon art in theTacoma Dome.[51][52] It remained largely unenforced for years, despite the city acquiring 136 public artworks by 1986.[53] The program was reinstated in March 2000.[54][55]
A hub for arts and heritage, Tacoma's Museum District includes theMuseum of Glass, known for its steel cone hot shop and pedestrian Bridge of Glass featuring works by local glass artistDale Chihuly. Nearby, theAmerica's Car Museum, opened in 2012, showcases over 300 vehicles and includes "Lucky's Garage," a tribute toHarold LeMay's extensive collection. Founded in 1935, theTacoma Art Museum moved into a new Pacific Avenue building in 2003, forming a core part of the Museum District alongside the Museum of Glass and the Washington State History Museum. TheFoss Waterway Seaport offers hands-on exhibits, a working boat shop, moorage, and the region's largest maritime collection.[56]
Fort Nisqually, originally aHudson's Bay Company fur trading post established in 1833, was reconstructed in the 1930s and now offers a living history experience at its new site in Point Defiance Park. Two original structures, the Factor's House and Granary, were preserved and donated by local citizens.[57] The Buffalo Soldiers Museum highlights the stories of African American soldiers who served in the American West. It is one of only two museums in the U.S. dedicated solely to the Buffalo Soldiers, the other being inHouston.[58] TheWashington State History Museum, operated by the Washington State Historical Society, partners with communities to explore state history.[59] Nearby, thePoint Defiance Zoo & Aquarium, the only combined zoo and aquarium in the Pacific Northwest, is accredited by theAssociation of Zoos & Aquariums and sits within Point Defiance Park, offering views of Mount Rainier and Puget Sound.[60]
Tacoma Arts Live operates three theaters, two listed on the National Register of Historic Places. These venues host local institutions including the Tacoma Opera, Symphony Orchestra, City Ballet, Northwest Sinfonietta, and Youth Symphony, among others. Annual events include theTacoma Film Festival at the Grand Cinema, theDaffodil Parade, and seasonal farmers' markets in the Theatre District and Proctor District.[61] Tacoma also made history as the site of the first modern legalmarijuana farmers' market and one of the nation's firstneedle and syringe programmes.[62][63][64] Shakespeare in the Parking Lot performs the works ofWilliam Shakespeare in non-traditional venues and provides theatre education[65]
Cheney Stadium is home to theTacoma Rainiers, aAAA minor league baseball team affiliated with the nearbySeattle Mariners since 1995. Minor-league baseball in the city began with the 1903–05Tacoma Tigers of the then-independentPacific Coast League (PCL), who were resurrected in theWestern International League and played from 1922 until 1951, winning three titles.[67] Following the construction of Cheney Stadium, the Tacoma Giants returned to the PCL in 1960 and were later renamed to the Rainiers.[68] Both the Tacoma Dome and Cheney Stadium hosted events during the1990 Goodwill Games, an international multi-sport competition.[69]
Tacoma is home to the all-female flat trackroller derby league Dockyard Derby Dames, which fields an away team.[73] Many golf clubs and courses are located in Tacoma including Lake Spanaway Golf Course.[74]
Parks and recreation services in and around Tacoma are governed byMetro Parks Tacoma, amunicipal corporation established as a separate entity from the city government in 1907. Metro Parks maintains over fifty parks and open spaces in Tacoma.[75]
Point Defiance Park, one of the largest urban parks in the country (at 700 acres), is in Tacoma.[76] Scenic Five-Mile Drive allows access to many of the park's attractions, such as Owen Beach,Fort Nisqually, old growth forest trails, and thePoint Defiance Zoo & Aquarium (PDZA). There are many historic structures within the park, including the Pagoda, which was originally built as a streetcar waiting room. It was restored in 1988 and now serves as a rental facility for weddings and private parties.[77] The Pagoda was nearly destroyed by fire on August 15, 2011.[78] Repair work began immediately after the fire and continued until January 2013, at which time the Pagoda was reopened for public use.
Ruston Way is a waterfront area along Commencement Bay north of downtown Tacoma that hosts several public parks connected by amulti-use trail and interspersed with restaurants and other businesses. Public parks along Ruston Way include Jack Hyde Park, Old Town Dock, Hamilton Park, Dickman Mill Park, Les Davis Pier, Marine Park, and Cummings Park.[79] The trail is used by walkers, runners, cyclists, and other recreationalists. There are several beaches along Ruston Way with public access, some of which are also popular for scuba diving.[citation needed]
Another large park in Tacoma is Wapato Park, which has a lake and walking trails that circle the lake. Wapato is in Tacoma's south end, at Sheridan and 72nd St.
Wright Park, near downtown, is a large, English-style park designed in the late 19th century byEdward Otto Schwagerl and Ebenezer Rhys Roberts. It contains Wright Park Arboretum and the W. W. Seymour Botanical Conservatory. This historic park is also the home of local festivals such as Ethnic Fest,[80] Out in the Park (Tacoma'sPride festival[81]), and the TacomaHempfest (Tacoma's annual gathering advocating decriminalization of marijuana).
Jefferson Park in North Tacoma is the location of a new sprayground, an area designed to be a safe and unique play area where water is sprayed from structures or ground sprays and then drained away before it can accumulate.
In response to the Tacoma area's growing dog population and stricter leash laws in many areas,dog parks have begun to be established. Rogers Off-Leash Dog Park is a metro public park established in 1949.[82]
The government of Tacoma operates under acouncil–manager government. TheTacoma City Council consists of an elected mayor and eight elected council members: five from individual city council districts and three others from the city at-large. All serve four-year terms and are elected in odd-numbered years.[citation needed]
As of 2023[update], the city had a staff of approximately 4,035 employees, includingtemporary employees; and a 2023–2024 biennium budget of approximately $4.3 billion, of which $1.6 billion was forTacoma Public Utilities.[83]
Victoria Woodards began her term as mayor of Tacoma on January 2, 2018. She is Tacoma's third African-American mayor and third female mayor, and the second African-American female mayor. The council adopts and amends city laws, approves a two-year budget, establishes city policy, appoints citizens to boards and commissions, and performs other actions. The council also meets in "standing committees", which examine the council's work in more defined areas, such as "Environment & Public Works", "Neighborhoods & Housing", and "Public Safety, Human Services & Education". The council meets as a whole most Tuesdays at 5:00 p.m. in the council chambers at 747 Market St. Meetings are open to the public and provide for public input.[citation needed]
Normal day-to-day operations of the city government are administered by Tacoma's city manager, who is appointed by the city council. Elizabeth Pauli was appointed Interim City Manager on February 6, 2017.[84][85] She replaced former manager T. C. Broadnax, who was appointed to the office in January 2012[86] and left in 2017 to become the city manager ofDallas, Texas.[87]
At the federal level, Tacoma is part of two congressional districts. The western and northern portions of the city are part of the6th District, represented byEmily Randall. The eastern portion is in the10th District, represented by former Tacoma mayorMarilyn Strickland.[88]
The majority of Tacoma is within the boundaries ofTacoma Public Schools.[89] The district contains 36 elementary schools, eleven middle schools, and 10 high schools, including three non-traditional high schools (SAMi, SOTA, and iDEA) and two alternative high schools (Oakland and Willie Stewart Academy). Tacoma is also home to three charter public schools: SOAR Academy (elementary), Green Dot Destiny (middle) and Summit Olympus (high) school.[90]
Henry Foss High School operates anInternational Baccalaureate program. Sheridan Elementary School operated three foreign-language immersion programs (Spanish, French, and Japanese).Mount Tahoma High School opened a new building in South Tacoma in the fall of 2004.Stadium High School andWilson High School were remodeled/refurbished and reopened in September 2006.Tacoma School of the Arts, opened in 2001 in downtown Tacoma, is a public arts-focused high school and is one of the nation's first schools to implement standards-based instruction. In 2009, SOTA's staff expanded to a second, STEM-based high school located inPoint Defiance Park, theScience and Math Institute (SAMI). In 2017, the school district opened a third non-traditional high school in the same vein as SAMI and SOTA, callediDEA (Industrial Design, Engineering, and Art) in south Tacoma.Lincoln High School reopened in the fall of 2007 after a $75 million renovation and expansion.[91][92]
The city's daily newspaper isThe News Tribune, which has a circulation of about 85,000 (100,000 on Sundays), making it the state's third-largest newspaper.The News Tribune was first published on June 17, 1918, as the result of a merger between two competing daily newspapers:The Daily News, started in 1883;[a] andThe Tacoma Daily Tribune, started in 1908.[93] The newspaper remained under local ownership until 1986, when it was sold toMcClatchy Newspapers.[94] TheE. W. Scripps Company published a competing daily,The Tacoma Times, from 1903 to 1949.[93] Other local newspapers include theTacoma Weekly,[95] the legal paperTacoma Daily Index,[96] and the alternative newsweeklyWeekly Volcano.[97] TheUniversity of Washington Tacoma is served byThe Ledger, a weeklystudent newspaper.[98]
Tacoma's system of transportation is based primarily on theautomobile. The majority of the city has a system ofgridded streets oriented in relation to A Street (one block east of Pacific Avenue) and 6th Avenue or Division Avenue, both beginning indowntown Tacoma. Within the city, and with a few exceptions, east-to-west streets are numbered and north-to-south streets are given a name or a letter. Some east-to-west streets are also given names, such as S. Center St. and N. Westgate Blvd. Streets are generally labeled "North", "South", "East", or "North East" according to their relationship with 6th Avenue or Division Avenue (west of 'Division Ave', '6th Avenue' is the lowest-numbered street, making it the dividing street between "North" and "South"), 'A Street' (which is the dividing line between "East" and "South"), or 1st Street NE (which is the dividing line between "East" and "North East"). This can lead to confusion, as most named streets intersect streets of the same number in both north and south Tacoma. For example, the intersection of South 11th Street and South Union Avenue is just ten blocks south of North 11th Street and North Union Avenue.
To the east of the Thea Foss waterway and 'A Street', streets are similarly divided into "East" and "Northeast", with 1st Street NE being in-line with the Pierce–King county line. "North East" covers a small wedge of Tacoma and unincorporated Pierce County (around Browns Point and Dash Point) lying on the hill across the tideflats from downtown. Tacoma does have some major roads which do not seem to follow any naming rules. These roads include Schuster Pkwy, Pacific Ave, Puyallup Ave, Tacoma Mall Blvd, Marine View Dr (SR 509), and Northshore Pkwy. Tacoma also has some major roads which appear to change names in different areas (most notable are Tyler St/Stevens St, Oakes St/Pine St/Cedar St/Alder St, and S. 72nd St/S. 74th St). These majorarterials actually shift over to align with other roads, which causes them to have the name changed.
This numeric system extends to the furthest reaches of unincorporated Pierce County (with roads outside of the city carrying "East", "West", "North West", and "South West", except on theKey Peninsula, which retains the north–south streets but chooses the Pierce–Kitsap county line as the zero point for east–west streets. Until 2018, Key Peninsula's roads also carried a "KP N" or "KP S" ("Key Peninsula North" or "Key Peninsula South") designation at the end of the street name. From 2018, these designations have switched to "NW" and "SW" respectively.
In portions of the city dating back to the Tacoma Streetcar Period (1888–1938), denser mixed-use business districts exist alongsidesingle family homes. Twelve such districts have active, city-recognized business associations and hold "small town"-style parades and other festivals. TheProctor District, Tacoma, Old Town, Dome,6th Avenue,Stadium, Lincoln Business District, and South Tacoma Business Districts are some of the more prominent of these and coordinate their efforts to redevelop urban villages through the Cross District Association of Tacoma.[105] In newer portions of the city to the west and south, residentialculs-de-sac, four-lane collector roads and indoor shopping centers are more commonplace.
The dominant intercity transportation link between Tacoma and other parts of the Puget Sound isInterstate 5, which links Tacoma withSeattle to the north andPortland, Oregon, to the south. It bisects the city for 6.5 miles (10.5 km) and has several overpasses for pedestrians and cross-traffic.[107]State Route 16 runs along a concrete viaduct through Tacoma's Nalley Valley, connecting Interstate 5 with Central and West Tacoma, theTacoma Narrows Bridge, and theKitsap Peninsula.
Tacoma has apublic transportation network that includes buses,commuter rail,light rail, andferries.[108] Public bus service is primarily provided byPierce Transit, which serves Tacoma and most of urbanPierce County. Pierce Transit operates 38 bus routes[108]: 12–97 using a fleet of more than 200 buses powered bycompressed natural gas, diesel, and electric batteries.[109] Bus service generally operates at 30–60 minute frequencies on weekdays; prior to service cuts in 2021, several trunk routes had service every 15 to 20 minutes on weekdays.[110][111] The busiest Pierce Transit bus route, serving the Pacific Avenue corridor, was planned to be upgraded into abus rapid transit line by 2022, at a cost of $150 million. Significant cost increases during the COVID-19 pandemic caused Pierce Transit to pause the construction of the bus rapid transit line, named theStream Community Line, and instead launch a limited-stop "enhanced bus" on the corridor in 2024.[112][113]
The city's main train and bus station isTacoma Dome Station, a multimodal hub near theTacoma Dome southeast of downtown. The station is also served bySounder commuter rail trains to Seattle and intercityAmtrak trains on both theCascades andCoast Starlight.[114]Sound Transit, the regional transit authority, operates Sounder, theT Line (part of theLink light rail system), and dailySound Transit Express bus service to and from Seattle. The T Line connects Tacoma Dome Station to Downtown Tacoma, the University of Washington campus, and the Hilltop neighborhood.[115] Sound Transit plans to extend the Tacoma Link light rail further west towardsTacoma Community College along South 19th Street by 2039 or 2041.[116]
Seattle–Tacoma International Airport lies 22 miles (35 km) north, in the city ofSeaTac. The city of Tacoma contributed $100,000 to the airport's construction, in return for it being constructed atBow Lake. The other proposed location nearLake Sammamish is much further from Tacoma, while Bow Lake is halfway between Seattle and Tacoma.[118]
Aseaplane service with tours of the Tacoma area is operated byKenmore Air from a dock near Old Town. It was started in August 2023 as part of a partnership with the Puyallup Tribe; Kenmore also plans to offer flights from the dock to other destinations in the region.[119]
Tacoma's relationship withpublic utilities extends back to 1893. At that time the city was undergoing a boom in population, causing it to exceed the available amount of fresh water supplied by Charles B. Wright's Tacoma Light & Water Company. In response to both this demand and a growing desire to have local public control over the utility system, the city council put up a public vote to acquire and expand the private utility. The measure passed on July 1, 1893, with 3,195 in favor of acquiring the utility system and 1,956 voting against. Since then,Tacoma Public Utilities (TPU) has grown from a small water and light utility to be the largest department in the city's government, employing about 1,200 people.
Tacoma Power, a division of TPU, provides residents of Tacoma and several bordering municipalities with electrical power generated by eight hydroelectric dams on theSkokomish River and elsewhere. Environmentalists, fishermen, and the Skokomish Tribe have criticized TPU's operation of Cushman Dam on the North Fork of the Skokomish River; the tribe's $6 billion claim[120] was denied by the U.S. Supreme court[121] in January 2006. The capacity of Tacoma'shydroelectric system as of 2004 was 713,000kilowatts, or about 50% of the demand made up by TPU's customers (the rest is purchased from other utilities). According to TPU, hydroelectricity provides about 87% of Tacoma's power; coal 3%; natural gas 1%; nuclear 9%; and biomass and wind at less than 1%. Tacoma Power also operates theClick! Network, a municipally ownedcable television and internet service. The residential cost per kilowatt hour of electricity is just over 6 cents.
Tacoma Water provides customers in its service area with water from theGreen River Watershed. As of 2004, Tacoma Water provided water services to 93,903 customers. The average annual cost for residential supply was $257.84.
Tacoma Rail, initially a municipally owned street railway line running to the tideflats, was converted to a common-carrier rail switching utility. Tacoma Rail is self-supporting and employs over 90 people.
In addition to municipal garbage collection, Tacoma offers commingledrecycling services for paper, cardboard, plastics, and metals.
^Gallacci, Caroline Denyer (2001).The City of Destiny and the South Sound: An Illustrated History of Tacoma and Pierce County. Carlsbad, California: Heritage Media Corp. p. 49.
^abStover, Karla (2012).Hidden History of Tacoma: Little-Known Tales from the City of Destiny. Charleston, SC: The History Press. p. 125.ISBN978-1-60949-470-4.
^Hollywood-on-the-Tide flats, 1938. Richard Studio Collection, Northwest Room Tacoma Public Library, Tacoma, WA.
^Mullins, William H. (1991).The Depression and the Urban West Coast, 1929–1933: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, and Portland. Indiana. Indiana University Press.
^Schmid, Calvin F. (1944)."Social Trends in Seattle, 1944"(PDF).University of Washington Publications in the Social Sciences.14:286–293.
^abcdeTacoma News Tribune. Tacoma Hooverville Archive, September 4, 1940 – July 24, 1974. Northwest Room Special Collections and Archives, Tacoma Public Library. Tacoma, Washington.
^abcdeTacoma Daily Ledger. Tacoma Hooverville Archive, July 18, 1924 – September 4, 1940. Northwest Room Special Collections and Archives, Tacoma Public Library. Tacoma, Washington.
^Anderson, Hilary. "A Tale of Two Shantytowns."Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History 26, no. 2 (Summer 2012): 10-14. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost.
^abHarvey, Paul W. (1962).Tacoma Headlines: An Account of Tacoma News and Newspapers from 1873 to 1962. Tacoma, Washington: The Tacoma News Tribune.OCLC2720728.
^McDermott, Terry (June 19, 1986). "Jobs at Tacoma paper up in the air".The Seattle Times. p. C1.
^City of Tacoma Community & Economic Development Department, GIS Analysis & Data Services (October 8, 2009)."City of Tacoma Streets"(PDF). Archived fromthe original(PDF) on July 18, 2011. RetrievedOctober 15, 2009.
^Sherman, Chris (January 12, 2006)."Court Ends Fight Over Dams".Foundation for Water and Energy Education, quoting The News Tribune. RetrievedMarch 27, 2008.
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