6th Avenue is a major east–west

street A street is a public thoroughfare in a built environment. It is a public parcel of land adjoining buildings in an urban context, on which people may freely assemble, interact, and move about. A street can be as simple as a level patch of dirt, ...

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, and northwest of Mount ...

, United States. It runs for across the city, connecting

Tacoma Community College Tacoma Community College (TCC) is a public community college in Tacoma, Washington with operations in Tacoma and Gig Harbor. It serves the city of Tacoma and the Pierce County portion of the Kitsap Peninsula. History TCC's creation was author ...

to the North End and

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

. 6th Avenue defines the directional north/south prefixes for streets. State Route 16 and its predecessors followed 6th Avenue between the

Tacoma Narrows Bridge The Tacoma Narrows Bridge is a pair of twin suspension bridges that span the Tacoma Narrows strait of Puget Sound in Pierce County, Washington. The bridges connect the city of Tacoma with the Kitsap Peninsula and carry State Route 16 (know ...

and downtown until the construction of a freeway in the 1980s. The historic business district of 6th Avenue from approximately State to Alder remains one of the most active business districts in the city. An elected

chamber of commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to ad ...

called the Sixth Avenue Business District manages activities in the neighborhood.

Street description

6th Avenue begins as a continuation of South Wilton Road on the south side of the

Tacoma Narrows The Tacoma Narrows (or the Narrows), a strait, is part of Puget Sound in the U.S. state of Washington. A navigable maritime waterway between glacial landforms, the Narrows separates the Kitsap Peninsula from the city of Tacoma. The Narrows i ...

near

Titlow Park Titlow Beach is in Tacoma, Washington, USA. It is located along Puget Sound near the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. It has a beach, community center, park, water play area (all of which are run by Metro Parks Tacoma), two restaurants., a view of the Tacoma ...

and Day Island. The street crosses over a double-tracked railroad and briefly turns north around the park while climbing a hill. After another brief curve at Jackson Avenue, 6th Avenue turns due east and runs through a commercial area north of

and south of State Route 16 (SR 16). The street reaches an interchange with SR 16 at Pearl Street (part of SR 163), which travels north to

Point Defiance Point Defiance may refer to: * Point Defiance Park Point Defiance Park in Tacoma, Washington, United States, is a large urban park. The park includes Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium, the Rose Garden, Rhododendron Garden, beaches, trails, a boardwalk ...

. 6th Avenue continues east across northern Tacoma, passing the

University of Puget Sound The University of Puget Sound (UPS or Puget Sound) is a private university in Tacoma, Washington. The university draws approximately 2,600 students from 44 states and 16 countries. It offers 1,200 courses each year in more than 50 traditional an ...

campus and a linear business district named for the street. At Sprague Avenue, it turns northeasterly and splits away from Division Avenue, passing south of the city's hospitals and Wright Park. 6th Avenue then enters downtown Tacoma and terminates at Broadway, which overlooks

Commencement Bay Commencement Bay is a bay of Puget Sound in the U.S. state of Washington. The city of Tacoma is located on the bay, with the Port of Tacoma occupying the southeastern end. A line drawn from Point Defiance in the southwest to Browns Point in ...

References

External links

Sixth Avenue Business DistrictFormer Sixth Avenue on Tacoma's Neighborhood Business Districts WebsiteArt on the Ave website
Transportation in Tacoma, Washington {{Washington-transport-stub