Tri-cities V. Yakima (Seattle, Spokane, Kennewick: how much, hotel, places to live)

[mustang34]

Actually "Small Towns near Yak" are unincorporated areas literally bordering Yakima. Toppenish and Grandview etc. aren't included. Benton City and Wallula barely made it to the list.

You are definitly right, neither is a true metro, but I like to think we are

[GameHog9]

That really is a good and new way to count both areas. Thank you young one. I had actually always assumed Terrace Heights, and blah blah blah were incorporated (kind of like Horn Rapids here).

Yet, I always chuckle whenever someone calls Union Gap a suburb of Yakima or Prosser a suburb of Tri Cities. A suburb, should be Yakima, or Tri Cities. These people really need to get out

I like TC, it is growing at an acceptable rate (projected pop. for Pasco is 70,000 in 10 years ), but I am getting tired of the desert

[Moon Waffle]

And here are the 2008 statistics per the state OFM, just recently released.

Within the City Limits:

Yakima 84,300

Tri-Cities:
Kennewick 65,860
Pasco 52,290
Richland 46,080
W. Richland (gotta include it) 11,180
Total: 175,410

Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA)

No updated 2008 data yet...

[criccy]

Tri-cities is fast paced. Yakima Slow.
TC has more activities than Yak. More recreation. Yakima is a tight community, that welcomes everyone.
Gangs are everywhere and they travel back and forth- Yak to TC.
There is more work in TC.
The weather is better in Yak. It's hotter & foggier in TC.
Yak is closer to the mountains. :-)

[Stevenml155]

I do business in both towns and here is my take on it. Tri-City growth has me spending less and less time in Yakima as the economy there seems to be dropping off strongly. The opposite seems to be happening in the Tri-Cities area. The economy seems to be booming...just my observations. I happen to prefer Tri-Cities.

[GameHog9]

Strictly speaking, Tri Cities is better.

The economy here is booming, there are more chain stores, and it has 2x the population (within city propers, in the areas, it is merely a 50k difference).

All in all though, they are almost the same.

I just came back from work in Wallula, OR. and going to places like that makes me grateful to live in a town as big as TC

However, moving from Yakima to TC strictly because of the marginally better entertainment options is a very, very stupid reason to move.

As for seeing potential in the TC economy...
The newspaper said were one of the lucky ones, were not getting hit as hard as Bakersfield

[AJWazzu07]

There's a lot of difference -- depending on where you are.
Pasco? Not so different.
Richland has one of the highest college education rates in the nation and is a fairly well-off little area -- good schools, somewhat decent people, not so agricultural.
Kennewick is a little more "normal" and a balance of the two, bigger than the others (population and geographically) and has lots of shopping.
Tri-Cities is generally cleaner, smells better and has more native English-speaking people than Yakima -- if that's important to you.

[GameHog9]

"Pasco not so different?"

Youre not another Pasco hater are you?

Im not branding you one, but there are so many on this forum its ridiculous

[graffitibrad]

I lived in Yakima from 1989-1999 and visit many times a year to visit my family who still live there. I've never lived in TC, but from the few times I've visited it seems to have more shopping, eateries and much cleaner of a city.

Its no secret East Yakima (around downtown and fairgrounds) and Northwest Yakima (off Lincoln and Summitview between N. 5th AVE & N. 16th AVE) has a high crime rate. Most of Yakima's murder investigations take place in those neighborhoods. The Surenos and Nortenos street gangs both have strong holds in those areas as well.

Things are looking up for Yakima though. A cleaner downtown with a few more restaurants/ wine tasting places, it seems like the Capitol Theatre is attracting more acts/shows. The shopping district around Union Gap's Valley Mall is not as good as Tri-Cities Columbia Center area, but I've read several stories of new retail centers in the works for Union Gap along South 1st/ Main Street and near N. 16th Avenue by Yakima Cinema.

Population wise:
City of Yakima: 84,300
City of Kennewick: 65,860
City of Richland: 46,080
City of Pasco: 52,290

Benton/Franklin County: 235,700
Yakima County: 235,900

[wannabe1]

I actually think the two are quite strikingly similar. I always ALWAYS crack up at the Palm Springs of Washington billboard. *snicker*

I think of TC as bigger and probably a little nicer because of the river running through. Both have VERY similar feels; I doubt you'd feel much difference b/t the two. It's a tough call - TC is bigger and has more "stuff" but Yakima is closer to Seattle. I don't know - both are way too small for me and I'd never live in either.