Middle/high school (Kennewick, Richland: sales, home, purchase)

[momamovin]

We have an opportunity for work in Oregon. With two children the Tri-Cities may suit us better. Any input on middle/high schools and commuting from the Umatilla area?

[hamellr]

Keep in mind that living in Washington, working in Oregon, you'll still have to pay a 9% income tax to Oregon.

[batztech]

That is exactly what my parents did. They live in the south end of Kennewick and he drives there to work every morning (he does not like the drive - boring and long). I should mention you get hit with the income tax in Oregon and then pay sales tax in Washington. You also have to consider the fact that south Kennewick is as far away from all of the shopping and whatnot as you can be. I went to Southridge and its a pretty good high school, in my opinion much better than the alternatives and as a CBC student ambassador I have been in and dealt with many of the schools and their teachers. Southridge is fairly new and most of the teachers there are great. My brother went to Horse Heaven middle school and I have heard my mom say that it was a good school for him.

[M3 Mitch]

I'm not sure why you would think the Tri-City schools are all that much better than Umatilla? Living in WA but working in OR is sort of the worst of both worlds, and the commute will not be fun on the few snow days we get.

[rymandev]

I just sold another client who works in Umatilla a home here. He decided he liked the schools better (he chose Richland, but there are good schools in all 4 towns) for his young children and didn't mind the relatively short commute. He'd come out 6 months ahead of time and did a lot of research before deciding to purchase in TC. After having an hour each way commute in southern California, this commute seemed more like a quick trip to the store for him!