Sixth Avenue is Tacoma's most active strip for bars, restaurants, and independent retail — a commercial street lined with early 20th-century storefronts that has retained enough of its original character to remain genuinely interesting. The street serves the surrounding Sixth Avenue and North End neighbourhoods, which are densely residential and populated largely by people who moved to Tacoma from Seattle seeking lower rents.
The 6th Avenue corridor has Tacoma's best concentration of craft-beer bars, casual restaurants, vintage shops, and coffee spots. It is liveliest on weekend evenings and has a noticeably younger and more neighbourhood-feeling character than the downtown cultural district. The area around North 6th and Sprague is the core of the bar scene.