Tacoma joins Portland, Chicago, South Bronx as coming urban hot spots

The online list provider Thrillist has named downtown Tacoma as one of America’s 12 hot spots.

According to a description accompanying a recent list, the firm said it tapped “trendsetters, developers and real-estate professionals — folks with their fingers on the pulse of America’s cities and towns” — to predict the next hot spots, the criteria for which included “neighborhoods that are affordable now, but poised to blow up.”

Downtown Tacoma made the list because the city “is finally stepping into its own as a legitimate alternative to traffic-choked and expensive Seattle. Downtown Tacoma is filled with historic architecture and vintage theaters (it’s reminiscent of a mid-1990s Portland), and the downtown waterfront is home to multiple breweries and restaurants.”

Along with downtown Tacoma, the list of soon-to-sizzle neighborhoods includes: Leah Arts District, Hialeah, Florida; North Central, Charleston, South Carolina; South Bronx, New York; East Bank, Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Pilsen, Chicago; Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard, New Orleans; Trinity Groves, Dallas; Highland Park, Los Angeles; Southwest Waterfront, Washington, D.C.; Cesar Chavez Street, Austin, Texas; and Lents in Portland, Oregon.

This story was originally published January 5, 2016 at 12:33 PM with the headline "Tacoma joins Portland, Chicago, South Bronx as coming urban hot spots."