Could Yakima ever be the palm springs of Washington? (Seattle: real estate, condos)

[jm31828]

Originally Posted by David Aguilar

IMO Yakima is more like the Modesto of Washington.

In order to be Palm Springs, it would need
-blazing hot weather 9 months a year
-casinos
-vacant vacation homes
-almost no precipitation
-Native Americans
-a thriving gay population
-a bunch more old people and snowbirds
-more golf courses
-high-end boutiques

I too, think the Tri-Cities have more potential in this regard.

And one big thing it needs to be like Palm Springs- to not be freezing cold with snow in the winter!

[dcisive]

First they'd have to load all the gangbangers and indigents onto buses and ship them elsewhere. Then completely gut and remodel the downtown with new designer buildings. Yeah sure if THAT happens it could be quite the town. Will it happen? Not in this or several other lifetimes I'm sorry to say.

[509]

They actually tried doing that in the late 1980's.

However, when you have the FEDERAL and STATE governments fighting you every step of the way. Your probably gonna lose!

[Count David]

Originally Posted by jm31828

And one big thing it needs to be like Palm Springs- to not be freezing cold with snow in the winter!

I can't believe I forgot to mention that.

Originally Posted by dcisive

First they'd have to load all the gangbangers and indigents onto buses and ship them elsewhere.

The Coachella Valley has those too.

[MamaRed]

Some of you may want to double check PS stats. //www.city-data.com/city/Palm-S...alifornia.html

The NW definition of "blazing hot," and the PS definition are very different. "Blazing hot" to PS residents is over 110. That's more like 3 months of the year - the 3 months that are also high in humidity. I've learned that NWers tend to consider anything over 80 to be blazing hot, so that's more like 10 months out of the year.

January and February can get below freezing at night, even causing snow twice in the past 40 years. Riding my bike to work at 5 am, the temp would be in the high 20s in November and December, reaching 60-70 during the day.

The PS downtown area has been being "redeveloped" for, gosh, 10-15 years now. As of right now, there isn't much downtown to speak of.

They also have their fair share of gangs and drugs. Admittedly, the gangs tend to hang out in 2-3 specific neighborhoods, and don't mess with anybody unless they accidentally wander onto the wrong street.

Retirees already come to WA for the summer. The difference is, they identify WA as their primary residence, so they don't stand out so much up here. The snowbirds from WA and OR seem to almost double the population of the Coachella Valley September-May.

I grew up in PS, and only moved to WA this May. PS is a great place to live, and I am absolutely loving WA, so this isn't intended to be a "which is better" post. I think before asking if a place in WA could be like PS, there needs to be a more realistic view of what PS is.

[DevanXL]

Originally Posted by MamaRed

Some of you may want to double check PS stats. //www.city-data.com/city/Palm-S...alifornia.html

The NW definition of "blazing hot," and the PS definition are very different. "Blazing hot" to PS residents is over 110. That's more like 3 months of the year - the 3 months that are also high in humidity. I've learned that NWers tend to consider anything over 80 to be blazing hot, so that's more like 10 months out of the year.

January and February can get below freezing at night, even causing snow twice in the past 40 years. Riding my bike to work at 5 am, the temp would be in the high 20s in November and December, reaching 60-70 during the day.

The PS downtown area has been being "redeveloped" for, gosh, 10-15 years now. As of right now, there isn't much downtown to speak of.

They also have their fair share of gangs and drugs. Admittedly, the gangs tend to hang out in 2-3 specific neighborhoods, and don't mess with anybody unless they accidentally wander onto the wrong street.

Retirees already come to WA for the summer. The difference is, they identify WA as their primary residence, so they don't stand out so much up here. The snowbirds from WA and OR seem to almost double the population of the Coachella Valley September-May.

I grew up in PS, and only moved to WA this May. PS is a great place to live, and I am absolutely loving WA, so this isn't intended to be a "which is better" post. I think before asking if a place in WA could be like PS, there needs to be a more realistic view of what PS is.

Ive never met anyone to call 80 blazing hot. It's anything over 90 is blazing hot well 80 is hot and 70 is moderate.

[Count David]

I complained when it reached 79F in Western WA.

[Jay F]

I once lived in Fresno and have recently moved to Yakima. Yakima VERY much reminds me of Fresno. A smaller Northern version of it. I have visited Palm Springs and Yakima seems nothing like it.

[KAILANI]

Moses Lake is my version of Palm Springs. I take my family out there, from Port Angeles, a couple times every summer. If I could go more often, I would! I love the water, the sun and playing in the dunes. There are a multiple of other things to do there as well. The town in cute and clean. The people are very friendly.
Seems like there is a boom in new housing and business construction.

[Yaktown]

The issue with the valley is a direct result of the industry it finds itself slaved to. The industry's strangle hold on the valley results in a domino effect that will continue the valley's poor quality of life. The domino's are:

1) Lack of Adequate Money Supply: The great amount of low-cost labor required by the industry results in a much reduced monetary fund in the valley -- driven by the low average discretionary income a typical Yakima residence. The impact from little discretionary income means that there is very little money around Yakima to support small businesses, a key source of employment for young adults and other white-collar jobs and investment into the community.

2) Very high representation of Hispanics with ties to crime: Because the industry has relied on Hispanics for labor, the valley has become an attractive destination for Hispanic gangs. Yakima has the 2nd densest population of gangs outside of Los Angeles county in California. Yakima County has approximately 60 gangs operating with membership close to 2,500. The Nortenos and Surenos make up the majority of Yakima's gang membership. In fact, in 2011 a man who Mexican authorities say is a leader in a violent drug cartel responsible for the deaths of more than 200 people once lived in Yakima County. The gang territory in Yakima takes up almost 50% of the land within the city limits.

3) Fruit industry actually drives away other economic investment. Imagine you are one of the many with personal ties to the fruit industry...either an grower, a distributor, local bank, insurer, trucker, etc. If the revenue from the fruit industry falters, than your personal net worth is impacted. Now, imagine the impact on the fruit industry if the average wage in the valley rose significantly because an outside company began hiring workers to work in their new manufacturing facility. This is a worse case scenario for those holding the reigns of the fruit industry. They do anything within their power to keep out significant economic investment that would increase payroll expenses and subsequently their profit.

Unfortunately, the problems faced in the Yakima valley will not be resolved until the local agricultural economic community is outpaced by other industries. JR Simplot's vision with Boise, Idaho is a great example of what will be required. In the 80's other companies such as HP, MK, Micron, Albertsons began to become the predominate employers. JR Simplot (a Idaho agricultural billionaire) was not afraid he would lose his wealth. He embraced and helped paved the path for new businesses in Boise. JR put the communities needs ahead of his agricultural communities needs and as a result helped Boise blossom in the 70's and 80's into the strong economic valley it is today.