Nestled in the gorgeous Pacific Northwest, just stone’s throw away from Seattle, Tacoma is the happy medium for Washingtonians seeking a balance between big cities and rural I-5 stops like Centralia. It’s big enough to get lost in crowds—and there WILL be crowds when big-name entertainers fill out the Tacoma Dome. But it’s also small enough to find your quiet spaces, and the housing costs won’t give you as much of a headache as they would closer to Seattle. When you want to get lost in nature, you’ve got an hour head start on Seattleites flocking to Mt. Rainier (fun fact: one of Mt. Rainier’s native names is “Tacoma”). When you want to escape to a big city, it’s less than an hour to Seattle and Olympia, and Portland is only a couple hours away. Once you settle in and learn the back roads, you’ll be able to avoid the dreaded Tacoma slowdown on I-5. To help you prepare for your move, we’ve put together a comprehensive guide to everything you need to know about Tacoma!