Tour of Urban Living

SATURDAY, OCT. 11-SUNDAY, OCT. 12: OK, you live here — here being the suburbs. Mrs. Kravitz next door drives you insane with her uptight attitude. Kids jumping their Schwinns off wooden ramps irritate. And the neighbor’s dog? I know. That neighborhood is not you.
It doesn’t take a Microsoft employee to realize that downtown Tacoma is now an urban center capable of entertaining and sustaining a downtown populace. Condos and apartments are sprouting up at a rapid pace with the coffee shops, restaurants and boutiques to support them. Whether you plan to leave the burbs or not, this weekend is an opportunity to sneak a peek into how the other half lives. The Tour of Urban Living is a foot-on-the-ground and up-the-elevator tour of condos, townhomes and apartments in the city of Tacoma.
[Downtown Tacoma, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., free, self-guided tour, Pantages Theater homebase (maps, coffee), Ninth and Broadway, Tacoma, downtown tacomaliving.com]

Empty Bowls

SUNDAY, OCT. 12: There are not many foods you can philosophize about effectively (what does a hamburger mean?), but soup is one of them. It’s the perfect winter food, it’s rich and healthy, it’s just so damn ... warm. You could probably come up with many more fitting theories why soup is so metaphorical. So, come embarrass your peers by waxing poetic at Empty Bowls where 1,000 bowls created by professional and amateur potters will be on sale to benefit Pierce County food banks. Admire (and take home) the pretty bowls at $10 a pop. Oh, and there’s soup, baby. The Swiss, Ale House, Vuelve a la Vida and Mother Earth Farms will put Campbell’s to shame.
[South Park Community Center, 4851 S. Tacoma Way, Tacoma, 253.584.1040]

Come out

MONDAY, OCT. 13: In honor of National Coming Out Day today — and all the beautiful people, young and old, who’ve stormed out of the closets in an explosion of sequins and feathers — Pacific Lutheran University opens up its Red Square to those individuals who are forced to remain silent about their gender or sexual identity due to discrimination. It’s just love, baby!
[Red Square, 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., free, Wheeler Street South and Eight Avenue South, Parkland/Tacoma]