Tacoma Untapped » Lists

Tacoma Pass the SPF!

Jake — Wed, 27 May 2009 18:21:51 +0000

The website TotalBeauty.com has named Tacoma the city with the 12th worst skin in the country. Why because we are stressed, have lots of skin cancer, and too many tanning beds!

From the website:

Not a fan of stress breakouts? (Stress raises your level of cortisol, which can affect oil glands and acne.) You may want to avoid Tacoma like the plague, because — along with 21 tanning salons per capita and a high incidence of skin cancer according to the Center for Disease Control — it is the most stressed-out city in our country. (Tacomans may find some relief from these top-rated acne-fighting products.)

So once the most stressed, always the most stressed? Where is my Oil of Olay? Want great skin? You better move to Eugene, OR. They are the closest city to Tacoma to rank on the Best Skin list (#13).

Full List of Best & Worst Skin HERE

2nd Narrows Bridge #5 in Top 10 Infrastructure Projects

Jake — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 21:32:36 +0000

In 2008 members of the IRWA voted for the for the Top 10 North America Infrastructure Projects. More than 130 projects were nominated. The 2nd Narrows Bridge made it to the Top 25 list and then was selected as #5 on the Top 10 list. The list was not just for projects completed in the past few years. The 2nd Narrows Bridge is on the list with the Interstate Highway System (#1), The Hoover Dam (#3), and The Golden Gate Bridge (#10).

You can find the Top 10 list here (pdf)

Tacoma 5th Most Secure Large Metro Area in U.S.

Jake — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 23:00:32 +0000

Everybody loves lists. Sometimes they are good, sometimes bad. I would put this list in the good category for the Tacoma metro area (along with Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Bellingham, and Olympia).

From the press release:

The rankings, compiled by database experts at www.bestplaces.net, took into consideration crime statistics, extreme weather, risk of natural disasters, housing depreciation, foreclosures, air quality, life expectancy and job loss numbers in 379 U.S. municipalities. The study divided the communities into three groups: large metropolitan areas, mid-size cities and small towns.

Large Metro Areas (500,000 or more residents)
1. Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash.
2. Portland-Beaverton, Ore./Vancouver, Wash.
3. Honolulu, Hawaii
4. El Paso, Tex.
5. Tacoma, Wash.

Mid-Size Cities (150,000 – 500,000 residents)
1. Olympia, Wash.
2. Las Cruces, N.M.
3. Salem, Ore.
4. Bremerton-Silverdale, Wash.
5. Bellingham, Wash

Small Towns (Fewer than 150,000 residents)
1. Corvallis, Ore.
2. Bismarck, N.D.
3. Logan, Utah
4. Wenatchee, Wash.
5. State College, Pa.

Last year Tacoma was ranked #177 out of all 379 metro areas (large, midsize, and small) so we should be near the top of the overall list this year.

It is interesting though if you think about the issues they looked at. Here is my opinion on them:

Crime: decreasing in Tacoma but not sure about the rest of the metro area

Extreme Weather: yawn.. not here (ignore this weekend and next week)

Risk of Natural Disasters: Earthquakes and Volcanos, aren’t those 2 of the big ones?

Housing Depreciation: Could be worse

Foreclosures: I think we are on one of those lists for most foreclosures

Air Quality: Mixed Bag. Parts of Tacoma and Pierce County are failing in air standards. Where I live in Downtown Tacoma the air seems fresh but when I travel to the Eastside or South End I can really smell the smoke from fireplaces in the air.

Life Expectancy: We are pretty healthy people.

Job Loss: Not too many big layoffs around here.