Considering Willowbrook Heights in South Richland (Yakima, Kennewick: transplants, chapel, credit)

[andersrmr]

We are moving from one Triangle Area (Raleligh-Durham-Chapel Hill, NC) to another (Tri-cities, WA) and considering purchasing a home in Willowbrook Heights, S Richland. We will have an elementary school age child who would attend Sunset View. Any advice about (1) going outside of Richland school district to Sunset View, (2) about living in willowbrook heights, or (3) the Tri-cities in general? e.g., I don't know if I'm going to like giving up tall tree-lined streets!!

[MovinOutWest]

I don't know about the schools, but I moved from NC to Richland about 18 months ago and don't miss the green around town as much as I thought I would. I live in N Richland and we've got tree lined streets, although not as thick as NC. It's when you get out of town that the lack of green really stands out, for me at least.

What I miss more is the beach. Sure, we've got the Oregon coast 5 hours or so away, but it's just not the same as hopping on 40 and being at warm, sunny Wrightsville Beach in 2 hours.

[Halloweenqueen]

We moved from Charlotte 18 months ago also. We live in south Richland and my kids go to White Bluffs.

I do miss the trees. I do miss the sunshine. Don't be fooled with the 300 days of sunshine they say is here. It's nothing like Carolina blue skies.

We are pleased with our school. I think Richland school district is the way to go, imho.

Good luck. We are considering an offer to return to the Carolinas. Maybe we could swap houses!

[PSLBOUND2010]

We are looking to move to the Tri-cities area and would like our kids to attend Hanford High. Are there areas in that school boundary that we should avoid when looking for a house? Areas with too much traffic, airplane noise, crime...? We would appreciate any input. Thanks.

[heymikey]

@andersrmr: I had a friend who lived in Willowbrook and was well pleased with Kennewick schools, though she didn't find out about the boundary craziness until they'd already moved in. She did say there was something weird about voting, since Richland ballots don't typically carry Kennewick school bonds. Otherwise, it's a great area to live.

@PSLBOUND2010: I've lived in the Hanford district (except for college) since '65 (HHS class of '74, with kids graduating in '99, '04, '07), and really don't think there's a "bad" area in it, as most people would define it (e.g., crime). Certainly some neighborhoods are more desirable than others; your budget will probably be your guide. Unless you live ON George Washington Way ("G Way") or along SR240 (the "Richland Bypass"), you probably won't hear traffic from the road or air.

Be aware, you are something of a rarity: many Richlanders consider Richland High to be more desirable, though the schools are quite comparable (both had recent, extensive remodels; RHS has better sports/HHS has amazing drama), which has led to crowding at RHS. Consequently, it's relatively easy to get a transfer to Hanford wherever you live in the Richland School District; the only catch is that if you transfer, you are usually responsible for your own transportation, which could be quite a hike from the far south of town. Verify the current accuracy of this with the school district before signing on a house, but I had a friend who did it last year with no problem, and it certainly broadens you selection of available houses.

Write back if you have more questions.

Regards,
HeyMikey

[PSLBOUND2010]

Heymikey,

Thanks for all the Richland info. I was suprised by your comment that the locals feel RHS is better than HHS. Although I do put great stock in the opinion of the locals when considering an area for relocation, the research I've done shows that HHS has the better SAT scores. I was also very impressed with HHS's 60 pages of info & forms on line, giving detailed information on all their classes, forms to plan out the entire 4 years of high school, college requirements... The only info from RHS was how many credits in each area of study are required for graduation.

I have read comments in the blogs stating that south Richland is not a desired location. Can you shed any light on that?

Thank you again for your help.

[heymikey]

…just "more desirable." RHS was the only high school here for years, and HHS has always been smaller. HHS was built at the north end of town at a time when many assumed housing would just keep expanding in that direction—it didn't. This left the school at the far north end of its own boundaries. Some elitist zoning early on had all the wealthiest of Richland, north & south, at HHS, while the poorer middle went to RHS. This led to HHS's reputation as a pampered, rich-kid, geek school; it's dismal sports record and excellent drama program reinforced the idea.

In reality, both schools have always been quite competent in quality of education (compared to US and WA overall). HHS still seems to have a slightly higher proportion of "over-achiever" parents who won't accept anything less than straight A's, and I heard several over the years complain about how "Mickey Mouse" some of the classes were, not offering their "superior" progeny an adequate intellectual challenge. Having graded papers for one of the English teachers, I can tell you they're not all young Einstein's. (I once had to give a kid full credit for using the word "celestial" correctly in the sentence: "That babe was so celestial I almost fainted.") As for the difference in web sites, I suspect that being "2nd best" in the hearts of the community, HHS probably tries harder in their on-line presence; RHS doesn't have to.

One thing I forgot to mention before: while it's easy to transfer to HHS, you will have to regard the change as permanent. You will not be allowed back once assigned to HHS (short of actually moving into RHS boundaries). About 10 years ago there was a notorious case of a talented, budding young actor who transferred to HHS to take the lead in a musical. Unfortunately, he was also an athlete (if I recall) and was appalled to learn that he would not be able to go back to RHS at semester for spring sports, and indeed, would be forced to graduate from HHS. (I think they left town…)

As far as south Richland being "not desired," some explanation is in order. For years, Richland's southern boundary was the Yakima River; anything south of Lee Blvd was considered "south," north of Newcomer was "north." After Columbia Center opened in 1968, Richland annexed land down to the Kennewick city limits and people started building houses. Gradually "south" Richland came to be defined as south of the Yakima River, and "north" became north of Van Giesen. As an old-timer, I still think in the old terms, and I suspect others do as well, which can confuse newcomers. The current "south Richland" has some of the newest/nicest houses in town; all the MDs I know live down there. The old "south Richland" has most of the cheap "prefab" (330-650 sq ft) and "precut" (850-1150 sq ft) houses built in the '40's. They were popular with seniors, who kept them up very nicely, but as they have passed on, the prefabs are becoming slum-lord fodder in many areas. Hope this clears that up.

Again, all questions welcome (if you don't mind the opinionated answers ).

[exit82]

as a 73 grad of RHS I have to agree with everything Mikey said except for "most" of the gov't prefab houses being in South Richland- to my recollection- they are pretty evenly distributed all over town.

[PSLBOUND2010]

Heymikey,

You have been a wealth of information and it is much appreciated. I'm going to check out maps of the area to get a better feel for the info. you provided.

P.S. I don't feel your responses are opinionated.

[heymikey]

I should have looked closer at the map before writing:
The prefabs/precuts (P/Ps) are certainly not limited to old south Richland (I-182 to Lee), but neither are they evenly distributed. For example, there are few if any P/Ps W of Wright Ave (mostly C, K, Y/Z "Ranch" houses; for more about the gov't houses, go to Welcome to the East Benton County Historical Society and look for "Letter Houses" & "Other Government buildings" in the left column) or E of G Way (M, Q, R, S—the biggest gov't houses). E of Goethals/S of Lee is a mix of A, B, E, F, H, & P/Ps. The bloc bounded by Wright (W), Van Giesen (N), Thayer (E), and Duportail (S) has mostly P/Ps. Of course, these are generalities: there's an R house in the 400 block of Goethals and a precut on Hunt's Point, both transplants.

Probably more than anybody wanted to know…