Hardscrabble Tacoma

One of our favorite topics around here seems to be the image of Tacoma in the media.  What words do people use to describe Tacoma?  Erik points us to the The New York Times for a new word.  In a story about Dale Chihuly and his legal battle with a longtime collaborator, Mr. Chihuly is described as “a butcher’s son from hardscrabble Tacoma…”  Hardscrabble?  I went to Merriam-Webster and found:

1 a: being or relating to a place of barren or barely arable soil b: getting a meager living from poor soil
2 : marked by poverty

Is this a historical hardscrabbleness or is Tacoma currently considered a current hardscrabble kind of town?  The story isn’t about “us” so it goes on without further explanation and leaves me wondering.  It makes a better story to portray Tacoma as totally down and out.  And it is true that it wasn’t the best place to be for a many decades.  But things have changed a lot over the last ten years and are continuing to change.  It just makes me wince to see creative liberties taken at our expense.  Seattle does it to us all the time… oh wait, the author’s from Seattle.  (Via ErikEmery.com)

Link to the New York Times