Now they're fighting to improve their quality of life and reduce the number of social service agencies coming into the area. The Hilltop has the highest concentration of social service agencies in Tacoma, and even more proposals are aimed at helping the homeless, the mentally ill and ex-convicts.
Residents say they realize the importance of programs that help the socially disadvantaged.
But placing so many of those programs in their neighborhood is unhealthy, they say. Data gathered by The News Tribune shows that more than a quarter of all the social agencies in Tacoma serve the Hilltop. Four group homes, two work-release facilities, eight shelters and the Pierce County Jail are located in the neighborhood or nearby. Neighbors are speaking out against placement of so many agencies and trying to change the neighborhood's reputation as a ghetto. People are seeing the neighborhood get better and better.