When looking for a new place to live, many people will rely on the advice of friends who live in the area. Since most military families have friends scattered throughout the world, they often call on these friends for advice when moving to a new duty station. There are plenty of communities near the Joint Base Lewis-McChord area - and most people have an opinion one way or the other about living there - so what should military families consider when making the decision about where to live?

One city convenient to JBLM is Lakewood. Incorporated in 1996 and bordered by JBLM and McChord Field, Steilacoom and Tacoma, the city has sometimes gotten a bad reputation. Being prominently featured on the less-than-flattering television show COPs over the last few years (and as recently as last summer) probably doesn't help, nor does its community of Tillicum, a somewhat run-down - yet highly visible - area located adjacent to I-5 off exit 122.

Newcomers are sometimes advised to "stay away from Lakewood," with a blogger on a site for military families recently posting that she "was told when we moved here stay out of Lakewood (just north of the base) and Tacoma. The crime is just through the roof and the schools are struggling because of that." But another blogger countered, "Lakewood would be the best place to move off post! It's close to base and traffic is horrible around here! Especially the closer to winter it gets. I'm not sure about the schools, but Lakewood is really nice!"

Just as the opinions about the city, the disparity in Lakewood's neighborhoods is vast - from tiny bungalows to multi-million dollar mansions and just about everything in between. But there are safe, affordable and convenient homes to be had.

Gina Luplow, a former military spouse who has lived in the area on and off for 19 years, recently moved into a cozy two-bedroom cottage in the Lake Steilacoom area of Lakewood. Like others, Luplow says she was advised to "avoid Lakewood," but says she wanted to form her own opinions. "It's who you talk to," she said, noting that every city has its less-than-desirable areas. "In some cases," she said, the bad things you hear about cities "just aren't true ... You really just have to look."

Luplow found her current residence, a quiet, affordable rental with a beautiful lakefront view, on the Craigslist Web site. She drove by the home at different times of the day to see what the neighborhood was like and says she based her opinion "on her own feel ... I felt very comfortable with it." When making the decision about where to live, she said, "use your own judgment. Take other people's opinions in, but go with your own opinion."

Like Lakewood, the city of Tacoma is sometimes considered a less-than-desirable place for military families to live. Its bad reputation stems from a spate of gang-related violence in the mid-1990s (particularly in the Hilltop neighborhood, which garnered national media attention following a 1995 shootout between Army Rangers and local gang members) and reputation once as the meth capital of the world, said Sharon Benson, associate broker with Coldwell Banker Bain real estate in Tacoma (www.cbbain.com). However, the area - now known as Upper Tacoma - is one of the safest neighborhoods in the city, she said. Yet the pejorative association persists, and Benson said she still has clients who have been advised by others not to move there. However, Tacoma is "an undiscovered treasure," Benson said.

"If you are going to live there," wrote one blogger on the military site, "you really have to know where the good neighborhoods are. We have a nice apartment in a nice area and there are a lot of military that live here."

So how do military families make the decision? Other than relying solely on advice from friends and co-workers, research is the way to go. There are a plethora of available websites dedicated to schools, housing and city information (including crime statistics) to help families make an informed decision.

Finding a good school is often paramount when determining where to live. A great resource is the Great Schools site at www.greatschools.net. The site allows users to type in a city or school district and find information about all schools (public, private and charter) in that area, from test scores to parent comments. Users can even search for available homes in a particular school district. Benson suggests parents find the school that best serves the child's interest. "Know your child," she recommends, "and don't rely solely on scores." For instance, Tacoma and Clover Park school districts have high schools with an International Baccalaureate program, whereas the more rural Bethel school district near Spanaway offers 4H programs.

Another invaluable resource for PCSing military families is the Automated Housing Referral Network (AHRN). The site (www.ahrn.com) is sponsored by the Department of Defense and offers a comprehensive listing of available housing (rentals and sales) near military bases throughout the country. Users will be able to discern what their Basic Allowance for Housing at the new post should be (based on their rank), and can search accordingly. Many listings provide information about neighborhoods, commute times and schools. Military By Owner (www.militarybyowner.com) is another excellent online resource that allows users to search by state and proximity to a particular post.

Other valuable research tools include www.idcide.com, which lists a city's crime statistics, population breakdown and more, and www.icrimewatch.net, which allows users to search for registered sex offenders in a particular zip code. It's also helpful to visit a city's website (such as www.cityoflakewood.us or www.cityoftacoma.org) when trying to determine where to live.

Since knowledge is power - especially first-hand knowledge - it's best to do research. Although incoming families may "hear" things about cities like Lakewood and Tacoma from people who live in the area, what they hear may simply be based on one person's bad experience.  So do your own research and, as Luplow advises, "give everything a chance (because) you might find a gem in an area you never expected to find."