Which city is best for small children? (Kennewick, Richland: apartments, rental market)

[hydrogenase]

Hi! My husband has just gotten a job at PNNL and we will be moving to the Tri-Cities area from Salt Lake City sometime in June. We have a three year old and a one year old and I am looking for a apartment or house to rent that is relatively close to PNNL, in a safe area, and hopefully around 1K a month. It seems like Richland, West Pasco, the western part of Kennewick might fit our needs. Is any one of these places better than the others? Thanks for your help.

[j_k_k]

Originally Posted by hydrogenase

Hi! My husband has just gotten a job at PNNL and we will be moving to the Tri-Cities area from Salt Lake City sometime in June. We have a three year old and a one year old and I am looking for a apartment or house to rent that is relatively close to PNNL, in a safe area, and hopefully around 1K a month. It seems like Richland, West Pasco, the western part of Kennewick might fit our needs. Is any one of these places better than the others? Thanks for your help.

West Kennewick and south Richland are closest to the LDS temple, if that matters. Really, there aren't any worries; all those areas are safe. I'd rather have my kids, if I had any, in the Richland SD than Kennewick (which I believe is wastefully run) or Pasco. Richland has a lot of duplexes and fourplexes as well as some newer apartments out along the bypass highway.

[KayteeRN]

I'll be anxious to see what everyone else replies. We have children that same age and are currently looking at West Richland and South Kennewick (the Badger Mountain area). It seems like all the schools are pretty well rated in the area - we've only been told to stay away from Pasco and East Kennewick.

[ChappyWhiteGuy]

West Pasco, South Kennewick, and South Richland seem to be the best areas. Lots of houses and new apartments for rent. East Kennewick, East Pasco are the trouble spots. I'd look in South Richland if I wanted to be close to PNNL and have decent schools. West Pasco would be cheaper though, with not much traffic to PNNL. Schools aren't as good as Richland though, but they are building several new ones.

[hydrogenase]

Originally Posted by j_k_k

West Kennewick and south Richland are closest to the LDS temple, if that matters. Really, there aren't any worries; all those areas are safe. I'd rather have my kids, if I had any, in the Richland SD than Kennewick (which I believe is wastefully run) or Pasco. Richland has a lot of duplexes and fourplexes as well as some newer apartments out along the bypass highway.

Thank you, I appreciate the tip on knowing where to look for housing. It was kind of you to think of the temple. However, as we are Catholic, would you happen to know anything about the Catholic churches in the area?

Also, might I ask what sort of things the Kennewick SD does that are wasteful? I have been teaching high school chemistry in Utah for the past 8 years. I know we do things differently in Utah (like 35-40+ students per class), and I am curious what 'waste'might look like. Please don't think I am implying there is no waste in UT schools,... but there is some extreme thrift when it comes to class sizes! Thank you for your help.

[j_k_k]

Originally Posted by hydrogenase

Thank you, I appreciate the tip on knowing where to look for housing. It was kind of you to think of the temple. However, as we are Catholic, would you happen to know anything about the Catholic churches in the area?

Also, might I ask what sort of things the Kennewick SD does that are wasteful? I have been teaching high school chemistry in Utah for the past 8 years. I know we do things differently in Utah (like 35-40+ students per class), and I am curious what 'waste'might look like. Please don't think I am implying there is no waste in UT schools,... but there is some extreme thrift when it comes to class sizes! Thank you for your help.

There's one in west Kennewick, one in east Kennewick, and at least one in Richland (evidently unaware of the comedy, they sponsor the Christ the King Sausage Fest every year, with signs all over town). I don't have a read on what they're like to attend, at all.

To me, 'waste' is a school district that I don't think is a good steward of my tax money. I remember when I had several hundred copies of age-appropriatedly edited _Call of the Wild_, given me by the publisher to just give away to my local school district. I tried. They made perfectly clear that I would have to jump through so many hoops that they really didn't want them. Then there was the massive school bond to fix a couple of schools (pretty necessary in and of itself), but also to buy an old grocery store and renovate it into a spacious new office building. It failed. Evidently confident that the voters would not even remember how much the first one was, they just sent the same bond measure out again, same amount. Incredibly, it passed; evidently I was the only one who considered his intelligence insulted. My whole read of Kennewick schools is the attitude of 'just give us the money and don't get too inquisitive.' I have very good friends and neighbors who work in the district, but one net result of my eleven years here has been to get me to stop voting for the local schools, for which I used to be a rubber stamp, and which I would normally support almost by reflex on principle. That's the dark side of the Tri-Cities, local governmental functions totally unaccustomed to being questioned in any way, and deeply annoyed when some obvious transplant who doesn't know the score has the temerity to object to anything. It's the Hanford mentality, which essentially permeates the area in ways that lifetime locals don't even notice--but you probably will.

[M3 Mitch]

There are several decent apartment blocks between George Washington Way and Jadwin just north of the strip mall where the Safeway is. Consider this area because commuting to work by bus is very do-able from this part of north Richland, goes right up G-way, not much more time than to drive in your own car. The apartment blocks are varied, some more upscale than others. Consider that you go to church 1 or 2X per week, but to work 5X. Even if you drive most of the time, having the option to take the bus without spending an extra 40 minutes vs driving can be useful, for example when a car needs service.

If I were going to live in town, I would live in Richland, working at PNNL. What serves for traffic here is the flow of people from Kennewick and Pasco out to Hanford and to PNNL. I don't see that the rents are much lower or the environment that much better to make the longer drive worth it.

The rental market is a bit tight around Tri-Cities, so you may have to spend a bit more than you want if you want a nicer apartment.

[Couggirl03]

I attend Christ the King in Richland and think it's great! My 5 year old attends religious ed during mass and I keep my 3 year old in the "baby cry room" with me. Next year, she will be able to attend religious ed. We've lived in the area for about 7 months and I've felt really comfortable attending church here.
We currently rent a nice house in West Pasco for $1100 a month (somehow we got very lucky). It's 1400 square feet and 3 bedrooms with a decent yard for the kids. However, we have begun house hunting and are looking in the West Richland area. Everyone has said the schools are so much better in Richland compared to Pasco. So Richland or West Richland it will be! My 5 year old will begin kindergarten in the fall so we hope to buy a place by then.

[hydrogenase]

Originally Posted by M3 Mitch

There are several decent apartment blocks between George Washington Way and Jadwin just north of the strip mall where the Safeway is. Consider this area because commuting to work by bus is very do-able from this part of north Richland, goes right up G-way, not much more time than to drive in your own car. The apartment blocks are varied, some more upscale than others. Consider that you go to church 1 or 2X per week, but to work 5X. Even if you drive most of the time, having the option to take the bus without spending an extra 40 minutes vs driving can be useful, for example when a car needs service.

If I were going to live in town, I would live in Richland, working at PNNL. What serves for traffic here is the flow of people from Kennewick and Pasco out to Hanford and to PNNL. I don't see that the rents are much lower or the environment that much better to make the longer drive worth it.

The rental market is a bit tight around Tri-Cities, so you may have to spend a bit more than you want if you want a nicer apartment.

Thank you, you bring up a good point about the bus. How reliable is the bus system? In SLC busses can be 15 minutes off the scheduled time, making transfers a pain. The light rail system is much better, within a minute or two of the scheduled time.

[hydrogenase]

Originally Posted by Couggirl03

I attend Christ the King in Richland and think it's great! My 5 year old attends religious ed during mass and I keep my 3 year old in the "baby cry room" with me. Next year, she will be able to attend religious ed. We've lived in the area for about 7 months and I've felt really comfortable attending church here.
We currently rent a nice house in West Pasco for $1100 a month (somehow we got very lucky). It's 1400 square feet and 3 bedrooms with a decent yard for the kids. However, we have begun house hunting and are looking in the West Richland area. Everyone has said the schools are so much better in Richland compared to Pasco. So Richland or West Richland it will be! My 5 year old will begin kindergarten in the fall so we hope to buy a place by then.

Thank you! It is good to know about the cry room. I have visited a few churches without one, making mass far more challenging. It is my understanding that Pasco and Richland are in different diocese. Is it a big deal to live in one diocese and attend church in another?