Tacoma, which is a port city, is reaching out to economic investors to bring more business to the area.
Tacoma, which is a port city, is reaching out to economic investors to bring more business to the area. George Cole / Shutterstock

According to Tacoma city officials, Seattle doesn't have to be the only center of the Pacific Northwest's tech boom.

Tomorrow, the City of Tacoma is hosting an economic development showcase in attempt to attract potential developers and tech companies to the city, which is an hour-long bus ride and 35 miles south of Amazon's headquarters.

“Those who are exploring the possibility of developing or investing in Tacoma will see that, not only is Tacoma competitively priced, it is also very well situated along I-5 and easily accessible from Seattle and Portland. It is also home to one of the largest ports in the United States, the University of Washington Tacoma, two regional hospitals and a diverse economic base," Ricardo Noguera, Tacoma's community and economic development director, said in a press release.

City officials also wrote:

Start-ups as well as expanding tech companies from Silicon Valley like Infoblox are seizing opportunities to grow in Tacoma and tap into its reliable and skilled workforce, as well as students emerging from the top-notch Computer Science and Information Technology programs at the University of Washington Tacoma, and competitively priced office spaces in a very walkable downtown community.


Noguera told KPLU that lower housing costs could be a big incentive for tech workers to move to Tacoma rather than Seattle.

"More and more people are moving from Seattle to Tacoma to stretch their dollars and more and more companies will follow them," he said.

Noguera said there’s a lot of development in the works for downtown Tacoma, including a 300-room Marriott hotel next to the convention center. That will be developed by a Chinese company and Noguera said construction is scheduled to start next spring.

And he has a point. According to a recent report, workers in King County would need to earn at least $23.56 to afford a one-bedroom apartment in the area.