Tri-cities V. Yakima

[j_k_k]

Originally Posted by GameHog9

You can keep your Sonic on 1st street

But they have 'burrows'! Are you not suitably awed? Name one 'burrow' in the Tri-Cities! A burrowing owl hole out near 395, perhaps? With its Sonic and its burrows, Yakima scoffs at Seattle!

[tcres]

Who cares about Sonic and Panda Express... what got my attention was this recent Yakima Herald article. I will just copy and paste the important part.

County's crime rate among the worst in US
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

Yakima metropolitan area -- which includes all of Yakima County -- ranked 299th out of 338 metropolitan areas in the United States in 2007.

Other metro areas in the state that were below the national average crime rate included the Tri-Cities at 91

[GameHog9]

Originally Posted by tcres

Who cares about Sonic and Panda Express... what got my attention was this recent Yakima Herald article. I will just copy and paste the important part.

County's crime rate among the worst in US
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

Yakima metropolitan area -- which includes all of Yakima County -- ranked 299th out of 338 metropolitan areas in the United States in 2007.

Other metro areas in the state that were below the national average crime rate included the Tri-Cities at 91

How nice.


@ J_k_k:

I too find this amusing. What this oxymoron defines as a borough is way out of proportion with reality. A borough is not a loose chain of desert communities with populations so small that ive seen high schools in SoCal with bigger student populations (Terrace Heights).

A borough is Brooklyn. 2 million people live in Brooklyn. Thats more than ALL of Eastern WA combined. Do you realize how absurd it is to go to huge cities like NYC, LA, San Diego, SF, even Seattle, and then come back here and hear these ridiculous "Yakima/Tri Cities is a huge urban metro" statements? I totally agree with you.

[Firetwirler]

I was raised in the Yakima area and now reside in Tri-Cities, although they are close in proximity I can guarantee you they are very different! The weather down here in TC is nicer, better restaurants, more professional people live here, more family oriented entertainment, better parks, more water, etc. etc. etc.

Even though my family continues to live up in Yakima, West Valley, Tieton, and Naches, the trip is so quick at 80mph, oops, I mean 70mph, that moving back would be detrimental to my mental health!

[kube00]

Yak's crime rate is through the roof vs. the TC.

[ourrousehouse]

I've lived in both Yakima and Tri-Cities. When my family moved back to WA state from CA we went to Tri-Cities instead of Yakima due to crime levels. Yakima has its beauty and a stately looking downtown but there is majorly crazy crime that usually doesn't even make the news its so routine, and I lived in nice areas in Yakima too (had a nice farm in West Valley). Friends and family that live there have all seen some awful things going on there (mostly gang related). My husband would have more to say in this area because he worked in the security industry and knows the details of Yakima and its suberbs vs. Tri-Cities crime. He would never let us live anywhere near Yakima and I am on board with him. It is not somewhere I'd raise a family or walk down a street at night. I am from Santa Barbara, CA so I don't judge cities on chain restaurants but on unique local owned flavor, and have found more in Tri-Cities than Yakima. Yakima is in the news a lot boasting about all it has to offer but from what I've seen and lived Tri-Cities has more to offer with safety attached. Tri-Cities also has wineries by the way. Tri-Cities really hasn't been properly promoted to show off what it has to offer so out-of-towners relying on news headlines don't get a full picture of whats going on in Eastern Washington. My dad from Western WA was shocked by everything going on here while his business is hurting in the economy over there. The economy and growth here is great. I've lived here since 2003 and love the community. It could be called a downgrade from my old town in Cali but honestly I like the pace of life and affordability here. My husband and I live near the mall and I feel safe walking at 3 am in the summer in my neighborhood. There is a good bit of recreational activities mostly family oriented, you just have to know where to find it. As a mom, wife, and daughter that's been my role for our family and I can always keep us busy. There's more sophisticated places to go for a couple's night out too. There's room for improvement for TC of course, like an appealing downtown. That is something City of Kennewick is trying to plan out in conjuction with the Bridge to Bridge, River to Railroad development project. Hopefully something will come of all the talk. Both cities have things to offer but Tri-Cities suits me best.

[skinem]

Done both as well...I really liked my time in the Yakima area...like ourrousehouse we had a nice place out in Wenas Valley out of Selah. I hate the direction Yakima is going.
When we first saw Tri-Cities as a child, I thought it was the hottest, dustiest, ugliest place I'd just about ever seen. When we moved to the area as an adult, I felt pretty much the same.
As time went, the space and empty of the area grew on me. I like it.
Of the two areas, I prefer Yakima's location, it's proximity to outdoor activities and scenery. As a town to raise a family, send my kids to school in, I preferred Tri-Cities.
As far as economies go, Yakima's has been, shall I say, more stable? Tri-Cities has had a history of boom-and-bust cycles which over the last 65 years has been directly tied to Hanford. When things went well there, Tri-Cities did well. When they didn't, Tri-Cities didn't. (You can pretty well tell, for the most part when the boom times were by the ages of big clusters of houses.) Please note that I didn't say Yakima's economy was great, you just generally didn't have the big booms and (near) collapses TC has had.