Tacoma: spooky, kitschy, cool?

An article related to Amanda Knox caught our attention over the holiday weekend... No, not the news that Italian courts have acquitted her of the killing of her roommate. The piece we caught was a story by Knox, not about her - a story about a recent visit she paid to Tacoma.

Tacoma doesn't come out looking entirely undesireable in Knox's story; Knox pulls off I-5, asking herself "why not spend a few hours wandering around Tacoma?" 

Coming in over the bridge, the port city was prettier than I remembered. Brick edifices with arched windows and the green dome of the transit station lined the main street. Large outdoor stairways with seating areas connected lower streets to the uppers. I had never felt more relieved driving into a city most memorable to me because it rhymed with “aroma.”

On the other hand, her article isn't exactly likely to make its way to the Visitor's Bureau website, either. The city she finds has plenty of parking, and cool little shops... but sounds a bit like a ghost town, too, leading her to conclude, "That was weird," as she leaves.