Parkland, WA

Early white settlers named Parkland for its Garry oak and blue camas prairie, crossed by numerous creeks. In 1890, Norwegian Americans from the Midwest selected the area for a new college that became Pacific Lutheran University. Between 2010 and 2020, the Pierce County community’s population increased from 35,803 to 38,623. Parkland lies south of Tacoma, with 96th Street marking much of the Tacoma boundary and 152nd Street much of its boundary with Spanaway. State Route 7, also called Pacific Avenue, runs north–south through Parkland as a commercial corridor and connects Interstate 5 in Tacoma with the route toward Mount Rainier.