Help! Where to live, area ranging from Yakima to Richland (Kennewick: low income, apartments)

[jacquelinelee826]

I am a Boston resident soon to be relocating to the Tri-Cities area. I will be working for a health care company and will be responsible for managing facilities that are between Yakima and Richland as well as have a presence in hospitals in Yakima and Richland. I am unfamiliar with the area and need suggestions on where to live.

A little about me - 26 years old, looking to rent a 1-2 bedroom apt, not spending more than $1k/month. Looking for a safe, "nice" area, and also an area with other folks in my age range. My boyfriend will be moving with me as well and will be looking for work. Ideally I would want to be in the middle of Yakima/Richland stretch but would be willing to move a little closer either way if the area was worth it.

I guess overall I want to know what are the "stay away!" towns/cities and what are the fancy "ooooo la la" places? Anyplace in-between good for a young professional?

Thank you in advance!

[KayteeRN]

We live in Yakima now but are relocating to West Richland in a few months. If you HAVE to live in Yakima I would suggest far west of town (West Valley). Honestly, I wouldn't live here if you didn't have to.

[Hemlock140]

There are no fancy areas there, and if it were me, I'd look at Pasco, Richland,or Kennewick. Better yet, Ellensburg, though it would be farther to drive.There are some nice wineries now along the road between Yakima and the tri-cities, such as Chandler's Reach in Benton City.

[poopskooper]

I'd say Richland for safety and "niceness." There are some very nice areas in Richland.

To me, all the little towns between Yakima and Tri-Cities are suffering from too much crime and a certain amount of gang activity. It's an agricultural area and not known of any type of real sophistication. Maybe Prosser for a more small town atmosphere but it isn't known for having folks your age. Yakima itself doesn't have a good reputation unless, as Kayteen has stated, you're looking in the West Valley area. To me, Ellensburg, would be too much of a commute if you have to be in the Tri-Cities regularly.

My opinion only.

[Tall Tiger]

Originally Posted by jacquelinelee826

I am a Boston resident soon to be relocating to the Tri-Cities area. I will be working for a health care company and will be responsible for managing facilities that are between Yakima and Richland as well as have a presence in hospitals in Yakima and Richland. I am unfamiliar with the area and need suggestions on where to live.

A little about me - 26 years old, looking to rent a 1-2 bedroom apt, not spending more than $1k/month. Looking for a safe, "nice" area, and also an area with other folks in my age range. My boyfriend will be moving with me as well and will be looking for work. Ideally I would want to be in the middle of Yakima/Richland stretch but would be willing to move a little closer either way if the area was worth it.

I guess overall I want to know what are the "stay away!" towns/cities and what are the fancy "ooooo la la" places? Anyplace in-between good for a young professional?

Thank you in advance!

Prosser is in between and is pretty nice although rather small. I would recommend Richland as the best place in the area....very low crime, nice housing, more things to do. There also are a lot of high paying jobs in Richland so better opprtunities for your bf. Kennewick would meet your requirements as well as Richland.

[j_k_k]

If you like small safe towns with a lot of civic spirit and high school football focus, Prosser is nice. If you want bigger and less visible, with more access to general services, Richland. Both are fairly socially conservative, but not in oppressive ways. That whole business is handled differently out here than you are used to, I think, so it basically works like this: unless you wash people's faces in your difference (if any), and thus force them to make an observation, people live and let live and figure it's none of their business. Expect some major culture shock. For example, a New Englander was mayor of Pasco for a time. I asked her what the differences were, and she pointed out that as a transplant to where she came from, such a result would have been out of the question. Here, it isn't.

Don't pick anywhere between Grandview and Yakima inclusive. Especially don't pick Sunnyside or Mabton. I wouldn't pick Benton City either--it is a small town deeply wound up in its internal divisions, which it takes very seriously and you simply don't need. Kennewick (where I live) is a little farther out of your commuting way than you really need.

Hope you like wine. There are 150 wineries, if not more, within 50 miles of my house, some quite highly acclaimed. Prosser is about 20-25 miles from me. I like Prosser.

[ChappyWhiteGuy]

The advice so far in this thread is spot on. Yakima to Sunnyside sucks. Some people love Prosser, but I know people who know Prosser, and it's probably going the way of Sunnyside.

Here's the deal on the Tri Cities. You could be happy here if you're not low income. The low income half of the Tri is the Eastern half. East Kennewick, and the eastern part of Pasco is low income. Richland used to be very nice, but I sure do here a lot about crime there over the past year. I think your best choices for a "nice" area are West Pasco and Southridge in Kennewick. You mentioned apartments, and there are some supposedly nice ones coming up in Southridge, while West Pasco has limited options for nice apartments. So, I think you should check out the southridge area.

[M3 Mitch]

Prosser is nice, you can probably find an apartment in your price range, it has decent amenities. Quite a few decent restaurants, just one real grocerty store but it's OK, not a lot of entertainment as such. Prosser is pretty much in the middle of your working area, right on I-82. Probably you ought to try to get a house-hunting trip, or set yourself up in a motel for a couple of weeks, and explore the area. In my experience Grandview is OK as well, but it does have a bit more gang-related activity. Agree with jkk that Sunnyside, Mabton, etc. are not very desirable. I am not sure there are any apartments in Mabton anyway.

Think about how much of your work will be towards Yakima, how much towards Richland, that might influence you to go further east or west - there are houses to rent in rural areas as well.

[tluedeke]

Agree with a lot of the other posters. Prosser, a lot of Richland, Burbank, and West Richland in general are pretty nice. Parts of Kennewick, and Yakima are ok, although you need to be selective. Most of the rest is pretty nasty - lots of Hispanic gang activity and crime, especially the lower Yakima Valley, a large chunk of Yakima, and quite a bit of Pasco.

I recommend asking around in areas you find appealing.

[cesparza]

I live in Prosser and it's one of the best areas between Yakima and Richland. I've lived here for five years, just bought a house about 3 years ago. It's a great place to live and raise children, the streets are safe, even at night.

I would avoid Yakima, Sunnyside, and Grandview. It's not safe. Some people here have said that they think Prosser will go the same way in a few years. I don't think so. Crime seems to be in poverty-stricken areas, and Prosser is not one of those areas. Prosser is very nice with a lot of old Craftsman and Victorian-style homes, vineyards, and a strong sense of community. There is a 10:00pm curfew for teens, and our police actively patrol the streets, even through the night. We have one of the best police departments, in my opinion.

Edit: I just want to add that Prosser is only a 25 - 35 minute drive to the Tri-Cities, depending on weather and traffic.