The Hilltop Neighborhood is a historically diverse neighborhood in the Tacoma, Washington Central District. Hilltop's approximate boundaries are 6th Avenue in the north, 25th Street in the south, Yakima Avenue in the east, and Sprague Avenue in the west. It derives its name from its location on a high bluff overlooking Commencement Bay and the Port of Tacoma.
Hilltop is near the historic Tacoma Public Library main branch, Bates Technical College, the Pierce County Courthouse, and the new Pierce County Correctional Facility, all of which are located on Hilltop's east side. It is adjoined by Tacoma's more affluent Stadium District.
Hilltop has been notorious for drug-related gang activity, most notably related to the infamous Hilltop Crips.[1] The word "Hilltop" became synonymous specifically with Tacoma's gang problems, and more generally with urban pathologies associated with the US's Crack Epidemic.
Neighborhood watch efforts, increased police presence, commercial real estate development efforts along Martin Luther King Way and rising real estate values in all areas adjoining downtown Tacoma have served to lower the amount of crime in Hilltop.[2] However, Hilltop continues to have a high crime rate.[3]
The neighborhood's population is 13,038 and remains racially diverse. 42% of residents are White or Caucasian, 31% Black or African-American, 10% Asian, 3% Native American, 1% Pacific Islander, 3% from other races, and 8% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7% of the population. 32% of residents were below poverty line.
In 2007 the Tacoma City Council adopted new official boundaries for downtown Tacoma which includes a portion of the Hilltop neighborhood as far west as South L Street which includes most of the Upper Tacoma Business District. The Hilltop Crips have not modified their name to reflect the neighborhood's new designation.[4]