South Sound Mag has named ‘best city’ in South Sound. Spoiler: It starts with a ‘T’
There aren’t that many cities in the South Sound. But Tacoma is celebrating a win where it can: T-Town recently was named the best city in the region for 2024.
Take that, Lakewood.
On May 6 the city of Tacoma posted about the accolade on Facebook.
“We are honored to be recognized as the Best City in the South Sound by South Sound Magazine in its ‘2024 Best of the South Sound’ list!” the government wrote. “Thanks to all the readers who voted for Tacoma.”
Some social media users were dubious.
“Got to question the merit & quality of the other ‘winners’ if Tacoma is voted best city,” one commenter quipped.
Another local Facebook user griped about the state of the City of Destiny’s infrastructure, noting potholes and “vehicle intersection signal systems.”
The result wasn’t a surprise to South Sound Magazine’s Editor-in-Chief Lisa Patterson, though. She told The News Tribune that the publication has run the readers’ poll for more than 10 years.
“And most of the time, Tacoma takes the top spot,” Patterson said. “I think people in the South Sound have a lot of pride — in Tacoma, people especially are very proud of their city — and they come out and support it through their votes.”
The latest best-of poll went live on Nov. 1 and ran through Jan. 12, Patterson said. Thousands of voters weighed in on various categories although she wasn’t immediately sure how many cast a ballot in the city section.
Tacoma won the same award in 2022 and 2021. Why voters pegged it as this year’s gold medalist is unclear.
A South Sound Magazine write-up about its 2024 winners mentioned some basic facts: Tacoma’s form of government (council-manager), population (roughly 222,000) and efforts toward transparency and accountability (Tacoma Open Data website). While those details might be true, they don’t exactly make for the sexiest travel brochure.
Tacoma would be advised against letting the best-city honor go to its head. South Sound Magazine’s readers have historically loved its across-the-Narrows neighbor, too.
Gig Harbor took home the trophy multiple times in recent years.
Other award-givers also dig Tacoma’s style. Previous notable honors include getting ranked among the best spots to live nationwide by “The Today Show.” Earlier this spring, the marketing company Livability called it the 11th-top place to reside in the Pacific Northwest and No. 4 in Washington state, The News Tribune previously reported.
Patterson encourages those who are unhappy with this year’s results to remember: There’s always 2025.
“If people don’t agree with the winners,” she said, “they need to vote next [time].”
This story was originally published May 8, 2024 at 5:30 AM.
