Advice for 27m moving to the area (Seattle, Yakima: apartment complex, how much)

[Mark416]

I'm moving to the area next month without having ever visited. I understand it's not the greatest place for being young and single, but life is what you make it, right? I'd like advice on apartments to look at with a younger crowd and hopefully a nice gym. How much is currently closed down due to covid? If I can't find an apartment with a nice gym are public gyms open? Also a good sports bar recommendation for watching games on Saturdays would be great. Where are the best local hangouts to meet people? I see there's a river in the middle of the area. Is it worth bringing a kayak with me? Anywhere nearby that offers kayak storage?

[M3 Mitch]

First things first, where are you working? While traffic here is not bad by Seattle standards, why sign up for more hassle? If you are in north Richland for work, I would suggest staying in Richland or maybe Benton City, if you want a more small-town atmosphere. The Columbia River does provide good boating and fishing in season. The gyms just opened, my gym has the showers shut down and the pool is restricted, but the weights and machines are available. There are a bunch of apartments on Van Giesen between George Washington Way and Jadwin. If you are in north Richland for work, actually taking the bus to work is fairly practical. If you can just jump on the bus that goes up George Washington Way, it's not much slower than a car. If you were coming here from Kennewick or Pasco, it's more involved.



I'm not really into the sports bar scene, so someone else will have to speak to that.


Yeah, the dating prospects are slim here. Typical of any engineering town. I would think online would be your best bet, and it depends on how far you want to consider.



The weather in general is good for me, a hot, dry summer conducive to driving convertibles and riding bikes, the spring and fall tend to be windy but otherwise not bad, occasional snow in winter, notwithstanding the 2016 "Snomageddon" event, which in say Denver no one would remark on. Some winters do get quite cold, but the cold does not generally last more than about a week, again "Snomageddon" was an exception, fairly heavy snow fall followed by well below freezing temps for about 2 weeks.

[pnwguy2]

Originally Posted by Mark416

I'm moving to the area next month without having ever visited. I understand it's not the greatest place for being young and single, but life is what you make it, right? I'd like advice on apartments to look at with a younger crowd and hopefully a nice gym. How much is currently closed down due to covid? If I can't find an apartment with a nice gym are public gyms open? Also a good sports bar recommendation for watching games on Saturdays would be great. Where are the best local hangouts to meet people? I see there's a river in the middle of the area. Is it worth bringing a kayak with me? Anywhere nearby that offers kayak storage?

Yeah, what Mitch said...

But I will add that it all depends of what you are looking for. If you need dance clubs or a party scene, sorry, doesn't exist here. There are a few sports bars that are decent, (Sam's, near Columbia Center is popular).

The area is slowly opening up, the gyms are open but with limited capacity. Restaurants are open for indoor seating, but again at limited capacity.

There are three rivers in the area. Tri-Cities is at the confluence of the Columbia, Snake, and Yakima rivers. That, alone creates many recreational opportunities, as well as hiking in the nearby hills. Golf is big here due to a generally good climate with tons of sunshine most of the year.

Just don't expect this to be a great place to meet other young people. Most 18-24 years olds who grow up here want to get out as soon as possible. (However, most of them end up coming back when they want to settle down and have a family).

Another trend which may be happening is those who are sick and tired of Seattle and Portland are moving here due to all the strife in those cities. I have noticed the housing boom here has not slowed any even with the pandemic.

Apartments are plentiful, but as Mitch says, no point in finding a place too far from your employment. You didn't say what area you will be working in, but if it is in the North Richland/Hanford/PNNL area, there are many choices. Rents are about $1100-$1200 for a nice 1-Bedroom, but can be cheaper for the older apartments.

But, hey you won't know till you get here, and even then it may take a few months to get a real feel. Good luck with the move. Too bad you are coming at the tail end of our good weather. But it doesn't usually get too bad in the winter, thankfully.

[Mark416]

thanks to both of you for your help. I'll be at Hanford so it sounds like North Richland is a good place to start.

[M3 Mitch]

Yeah, check out the apartments on Van Giesen between G-Way and Jadwin. Pretty good variety of price points and amenities. If you want something cheaper but maybe a bit dated, be sure to go to the very back of this area, there are some older units there that are easy to miss if you don't look for them. One apartment complex has at least some covered parking if you want that. I'm not saying this is the only game in town, it's not, but the location is convenient to work and some shopping, there are places you could get a drink without driving your car, if you care about that.



If you are going out into the Hanford site as such, I don't think there is any bus service out there anymore, and you will have to pack a lunch, I don't think the food trucks run out there anymore, what with COVID.

[M3 Mitch]

OP, did you end up moving here and where did you end up? Do you like it?

Any surprises?

[Mark416]

I did. I decided to stay in North Richland near work. Lots of surprises. The weather threw me off as when I first got here it rained a ton despite being told I was moving to a dry desert. Although now I'm starting to see what they meant by dry desert. I also didn't know how annoying wind could be until I moved here. I've found it really tough to get integrated with the community. It seems everyone here is either much older or much younger than me. There isn't much to do outside of going to bars, most of which are pretty trashy, and my work schedule prevents me from being able to get involved in rec league sports. I'm also surprised by the lack of cultural diversity. I haven't found many unique restaurants, festivals, etc. With all that said I have made some weekend drives and enjoyed the scenery in the surrounding areas. It definitely seems like a good place to raise a family, just not for someone who doesn't have one yet

[M3 Mitch]

Originally Posted by Mark416

I did. I decided to stay in North Richland near work. Lots of surprises. The weather threw me off as when I first got here it rained a ton despite being told I was moving to a dry desert. Although now I'm starting to see what they meant by dry desert. I also didn't know how annoying wind could be until I moved here. I've found it really tough to get integrated with the community. It seems everyone here is either much older or much younger than me. There isn't much to do outside of going to bars, most of which are pretty trashy, and my work schedule prevents me from being able to get involved in rec league sports. I'm also surprised by the lack of cultural diversity. I haven't found many unique restaurants, festivals, etc. With all that said I have made some weekend drives and enjoyed the scenery in the surrounding areas. It definitely seems like a good place to raise a family, just not for someone who doesn't have one yet

In no particular order, try Dovetail Joint in the Uptown Mall, Shogun over on University and the Bypass Highway, Ann's Best over at the *Richland* (General Aviation) airport, Masala over in Kennewick, really excellent Indian food and the lunch buffet is a real bargain and a chance to sample a lot of different dishes. Figure out where Fast and Curryous food truck will be and go there. Emerald of Siam, also in the Uptown Mall, has a lunch buffet and it's good as well. Atomic Ale has craft beers and good food, the potato soup is a particular favorite of mine. If you don't mind going out to Benton City, there is Mama's Diner there, also very good and I have said before if you leave hungry, you didn't eat there. All of the Mexican restaurants are at least very good. Venezia up across from PNNL is good, largely Greek and Italian food. Apollo, run by the same family, is also good.

Beyond that look at the thread on non-chain restaurants around here.