“Be careful what you wish for,” as the old adage goes, “because you may just get it.” For years now, people have been talking about how Hilltop is going to be the next “Big Thing.”

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By Erik Bjornson
After the Tacoma Mall moved into Tacoma in 1968, much of downtown and neighborhood business centers suffered neglect and some were nearly abandoned in their entirety. The city likely struck its all time low point around the late 1970s and early 1980s (Stephen Cysewski made his infamous photo tour of downtown [...]

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Part 2 in a series on commercial development in Tacoma.
One of the side effects of being in the shadow of the Seattle-metro area is that an abundance of older buildings, many eligible for historic status, have been spared the fate of the wrecking ball. Love them or hate them, Tacoma has a LOT of old buildings.

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Part 1 in a series on commercial development in Tacoma.
Following the plight of a little nail shop has got me thinking about how we think about growth.

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