Wenatchee, Yakima or Tri cities ? (Spokane, Vancouver: insurance, crime, neighborhoods)

[alaska907]

Thinking of moving, I think its between Yakima or Richland in Tri cities. I would like to hear from people in all three area's, so I can decide. I am retired, however I am raising a grandson thats 10 years old with high function Autism. He is mellow and very good. I do however need a good hospital for chemo treatments and to stay on top of this cancer thing. The most important thing is a good school, hospital, crime and things to do to keep busy out doors. Coming from Alaska we are looking for 4 seasons, less snow or no snow and lots of sunny days
Thanks for any help

[Jay F]

I lived in Wenatchee and currently live in Yakima. There are excellent hospitals in both towns. Central Washington hospital in Wenatchee and two main hospitals in Yakima. I was very impressed with the one I went to called Memorial.

Everyone will tell you how bad the crime is in Yakima but it doesn't seem that bad to me. From what I understand, like the country as a whole, crime is way down here compared to it's late 1980s/early 90s peak.

There are tons of outdoors things to do within a short drive of both Wenatchee and Yakima, I would guess the same is true of the Tri-Cities.

[NCDavid]

Originally Posted by alaska907

Thinking of moving, I think its between Yakima or Richland in Tri cities. I would like to hear from people in all three area's, so I can decide. I am retired, however I am raising a grandson thats 10 years old with high function Autism. He is mellow and very good. I do however need a good hospital for chemo treatments and to stay on top of this cancer thing. The most important thing is a good school, hospital, crime and things to do to keep busy out doors. Coming from Alaska we are looking for 4 seasons, less snow or no snow and lots of sunny days
Thanks for any help

Your previous post said you were moving to the Tri-Cities. Are you having second thoughts about TC, and have expanded your search?
I'm also curious why you're looking at small, basically rural, agricultural cities that are also fairly isolated and a long way from big city amenities?
All three of those towns have lots of summer sun. They also tend to be dusty and really hot in the summer, cold in the winter. Eastern Washington has more extreme weather than the west side of the state. I'm sure their hospitals are fine but not up to the quality of major hospitals. They do have things to do outdoors but not on the scale of larger cities.
Not making value judgements, just pointing out facts, but the three cities you mention are very conservative and have proportionately very large Hispanic populations.
If I were going to locate in Eastern Washington, I'd choose Spokane or a nearby smaller town because of the availability of more and higher quality amenities. However, given your parameters, I wouldn't move to Eastern Washington at all. I'd consider Bend, Oregon. It's isolated too but much nicer, newer, great recreation all around, tremendous scenery, good health care, four seasons with plenty of sun. Ditto for Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, which is close to Spokane.
Good luck in your search.

[TD*]

I just moved to Yakima a week ago and its pretty nice. I passed through Tri-Cities but i did not stop and explore. The nice thing about Yakima is that you can be up in the Cascades in about 45 minutes. I'm an outdoors Enthusiast and yesterday I went up and hiked through an old growth forest, visited Mount Rainier National Park, saw streams and waterfalls, and stopped at Rimrock lake.

Cant beat the beauty of the Cascades just a short drive away.

Yakima is charming in its own right, with nice neighborhoods, and a redeveloping downtown.

[alaska907]

Coming from Alaska I do not care for large cities. I know I would get better medical care, thats why I'm trying to find something around a large cities that I can drive to once or twice a month. I have a friend here in Alaska that is from Livermore Washington and she told me I should look at Yakima and said that there has been problems with Hanford. Not really sure about this hype on Hanford and if I should be concerned?

[NCDavid]

Originally Posted by alaska907

Coming from Alaska I do not care for large cities. I know I would get better medical care, thats why I'm trying to find something around a large cities that I can drive to once or twice a month. I have a friend here in Alaska that is from Livermore Washington and she told me I should look at Yakima and said that there has been problems with Hanford. Not really sure about this hype on Hanford and if I should be concerned?

Hmmm. I've lived in Washington state all my life and never heard of a town called Livermore, and I can't find it by Internet search. Did you mean Leavenworth, which is actually a nice small town just west of Wenatchee?
Re Hanford, yes it is where they built the first atomic bombs, and is the most polluted nuclear site in the Western Hemisphere, leaking radioactive waste into the groundwater.

[Jay F]

All C-D boards seem to have a bias or preference towards big cities. As someone who spent nearly my entire life in big cities I am very much enjoying living in a smaller town. Here are sone reasons why...

I love how uncrowded it is. You hardly ever have to wait in a long line. When you walk in a business or some place like the post office you generally get served right away. When i went to the emergency room last month I was in awe that they instantly took me in to see a doctor When I had a similar situation in a big city I was in the overcrowded waiting room for 5 hours!

The lack of traffic is wonderful. They don't even have traffic reports here because they are not needef. With the lack of traffic comes the abscence of road rage and obnixious, aggressive drivers. Everyone drives kind of slow...nice and relaxed just what I like Plus because you don't drive far you save a lot of money on gas . Auto insurance is also a lot cheaper than big cities

I like the people better. Way less status strivers than large metro areas and the total lack of hipsters is really refreshing. Yes this area is conservative. I'm all over the map politically but enjoy being in an area that is bucking the national trend of becoming really liberal. It's hard to find non-liberal places these days , I can appreciate the independent spirit this region of the state has not to join the liberal herd/groupthink.

Finally, the isolation aspect appeals to me. I like the whole idea of living in a rather isolated area in the middle of a state in the far NW isolated from most of the country. Perhaps this is so attractive to me because I'm used to being in "center of the universe" type places. I don't think I would like living in a tiny town but the size of Yakima, just under 100K is the perfect size for me.

[NCDavid]

Originally Posted by Jay F

All C-D boards seem to have a bias or preference towards big cities. As someone who spent nearly my entire life in big cities I am very much enjoying living in a smaller town. Here are sone reasons why...

I love how uncrowded it is. You hardly ever have to wait in a long line. When you walk in a business or some place like the post office you generally get served right away. When i went to the emergency room last month I was in awe that they instantly took me in to see a doctor When I had a similar situation in a big city I was in the overcrowded waiting room for 5 hours!

The lack of traffic is wonderful. They don't even have traffic reports here because they are not needef. With the lack of traffic comes the abscence of road rage and obnixious, aggressive drivers. Everyone drives kind of slow...nice and relaxed just what I like Plus because you don't drive far you save a lot of money on gas . Auto insurance is also a lot cheaper than big cities

I like the people better. Way less status strivers than large metro areas and the total lack of hipsters is really refreshing. Yes this area is conservative. I'm all over the map politically but enjoy being in an area that is bucking the national trend of becoming really liberal. It's hard to find non-liberal places these days , I can appreciate the independent spirit this region of the state has not to join the liberal herd/groupthink.

Finally, the isolation aspect appeals to me. I like the whole idea of living in a rather isolated area in the middle of a state in the far NW isolated from most of the country. Perhaps this is so attractive to me because I'm used to being in "center of the universe" type places. I don't think I would like living in a tiny town but the size of Yakima, just under 100K is the perfect size for me.

De gustibus non est disuptandum.
Lots of nice things about small and medium-size cities. I recently moved to Vancouver, WA, just over 100K but 20 minutes from Portland, OR. I get the best of both worlds, since I'm retired and don't have to commute.
I've lived in smaller communities (Renton, which also gave me the best of small town living near a big city) and (Kennewick, which felt like the middle of nowhere and required a long drive even to get to Yakima) and (Asheville NC, size of Yakima and also the middle of nowhere) to name a few.
If my choice were that of the OP, I'd take Wenatchee, then Yakima, and stay the heck away from the Tri-Cities. Walla Walla would be a much better choice than TCs.
To each his/her own.

[NCDavid]

=I'm all over the map politically but enjoy being in an area that is bucking the national trend of becoming really liberal. It's hard to find non-liberal places these days , I can appreciate the independent spirit this region of the state has not to join the liberal herd/groupthink.

Boy are you right, Jay. Those doggone liberals are taking over everywhere these days. They control the White House. And they control Congress. No, wait, they only have the Senate, not the House. They control the Supreme Court. No, wait, they are in the minority there. Well, the liberals control state government all over the country. Gosh, wait on that one too; there are 29 Republican governors to 21 Democratic governors, and 24 legislatures are controlled by Republicans and only 13 by Democrats.
Well, I'll bet there are lots of liberals lurking out there anyway. No, darn it, Gallup poll shows that only 17 percent of Americans call themselves liberal, compared to 36 percent conservatives and 43 percent moderates.
But gee, Faked News, I mean Fox News, says the liberals are taking over, so it must be true.

[PS90]

Originally Posted by NCDavid

Hmmm. I've lived in Washington state all my life and never heard of a town called Livermore, and I can't find it by Internet search. Did you mean Leavenworth, which is actually a nice small town just west of Wenatchee?
Re Hanford, yes it is where they built the first atomic bombs, and is the most polluted nuclear site in the Western Hemisphere, leaking radioactive waste into the groundwater.

Originally Posted by NCDavid

De gustibus non est disuptandum.
Lots of nice things about small and medium-size cities. I recently moved to Vancouver, WA, just over 100K but 20 minutes from Portland, OR. I get the best of both worlds, since I'm retired and don't have to commute.
I've lived in smaller communities (Renton, which also gave me the best of small town living near a big city) and (Kennewick, which felt like the middle of nowhere and required a long drive even to get to Yakima) and (Asheville NC, size of Yakima and also the middle of nowhere) to name a few.
If my choice were that of the OP, I'd take Wenatchee, then Yakima, and stay the heck away from the Tri-Cities. Walla Walla would be a much better choice than TCs.
To each his/her own.

Sorry, to be "that guy" - but you can't really have lived in Washington state all your life, if you've also lived in Asheville, NC.