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Living in Gig Harbor

Fredzilla

Monkey
Aug 5, 2003
285
0
Seattle
Me and the family are thinking about moving out of Seattle. One area I was looking at was Gig Harbor. I've heard from several people that the schools there are good, housing prices are good (compared to Seattle), and it's a nice area. Does anyone have any additional first-hand info they could share? Neighborhoods to look at (or avoid), general opinions, and local riding spots (besides Banner, Tahuya, and Grn Mtn).

Thanks in advance.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,037
7,554
you know there's a toll over the narrows bridge now, no? :D i like seattle because of the seattle-y things to do within the city (restaurants, symphony namely) and given the traffic situation i don't think i'd get out of gig harbor enough to make it worth the still-inflated housing prices.
 

Bucknar

Chimp
Feb 13, 2007
13
0
T-Town
i used to live in gig harbor its a nice place, be careful when you look at houses online because many of the houses in "gig harbor" are actually out across the purdy bridge, i would say stay in the areas that feed ghhs as far as schools go. i dont know of many spots to ride other than some powerline trails, but there is many potential spots that would offer some good trails if you put in the work
 

jodysbike

wheel man
Oct 11, 2001
390
0
Dune
My vote. If you are a mountain biker looking for the ability to ride long challenging trails without an hour and a half plus drive. Need good schools both public and private. Need good job possibilities. Look at Issaquah,
North Bend,
Olympia,
Bellingham,
Bremerton (Short ferry to Seattle and close to this:http://www.dnr.wa.gov/htdocs/lm/recreation/tahuya/index.html) or
Seattle proper. A house savings of 30 to 60 grand does you no good if you end up un happy. I don't like Gig due to the bridge thing and it's hella far to go to a true forest riding spot like Tahuya, or Capital Forest or Tiger MTN.
 

adurham

Monkey
Jun 9, 2005
192
0
Gig Harbor is a really dull place, although it may have nice schools your children will soon end up with nothing to do, and up to no good.
 

dhmike

Turbo Monkey
Dec 20, 2006
4,304
43
Boise Idaho
i know i live in socal so i have no real say so in this discussion , but my mother lived in gig harbor for years [she now lives in tacoma] and i have been to that town numerous times and it's a great little town.there's old town bicycle shop and that seems to be a good shop.gig harbor seems to have the small town element which is also a plus if your looking for that. i think that the housing market there is kind of expensive there if i remeber , but you would know better than i. best of luck to you !
 

Bullitrider

Monkey
Apr 17, 2004
577
0
Seattle
I grew up there but live in Seattle now. Nice quiet place to live but affordable housing? Like Bucknar said, it depends on what you call "Gig Harbor". Still a lot of nice places in the area though. A quick hit would be the DJ park by The Gig Harbor City Park and there used to be some short trails by the women's prison. The prison trails could be gone by now though. It's been awhile. From what I've seen the traffic has been all but eradicated because of the new toll bridge. I'm almost happy to pay the one way toll to miss out on the mess it used to be.
 

4130biker

PM me about Tantrum Cycles!
May 24, 2007
3,884
448
Plan to drive to ride anywhere that isn't flat. Green mountain is really fun and probably the easiest ride to get to that has some elevation gain. From my experience in the past few years, I wouldn't reccomend moving there. The skatepark and jumps are fun, but I don't think the general population is very friendly. If you ride mountain bikes, or bmx, the shop in Gig Harbor is a total bummer.