Could Yakima ever be the palm springs of Washington?
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I am familiar with both. Let's cut to the chase. Palm Springs attracts snowbirds/rainbirds and those who need to get out of L.A. for awhile. It has been that way since the 50's. Palm Springs itself has become a gay mecca, the desert area as a whole not so much. Prices are still affordable, but heading up. Crime is low, except, as mentioned above, not so in a few areas. P.S. is unbearable from June through September. You will wish you were back in the NW, even Yakima. Real Estate is forever changing, a lot of condos on the market, many trying to get more now that the recesssion has turned around.
Bottom line, Palm Springs has a nice, lively downtown, gay-oriented, but also a day trip from L.A. Real Estate is still reasonable, but growing. Is there a place similar in WA? No, not really. I would agree The Tri-Cities fits the bill better than anywhere else. But it is not particularly gay-friendly, and it does have a winter, not a lot of snow, but definitely cold. However, it is probably the closest representation of Palm Springs in Washington by climate and general feel. I think the Tri-Cities might use Palm Springs as a model of what it could become, especially South Richland and West Kennewick. A ways to go, though.
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.
Although I agree with your premise that the fruit industry was the reason that the Hispanic gang problem took root in Yakima, your implication that the tree fruit industry needs to be "outpaced" is completely ridiculous.
Yakima is the single-largest apple producing area in Washington, and Washington is the single-largest apple producing state in the country, and third-largest fruit producing state overall.
Do you really think that the solution is as simple as bringing more tech-type jobs while phasing out the agriculture industry?
First question - how would that solve the current gang problems? In this day-and-age, a large percentage of the Hispanic community (and presumably, the gang members that follow it) is no longer transient, and no longer completely reliant on the fruit industry. So how many would just up-and-leave if the fruit industry dried up?
Second question - what impact would phasing-out the fruit industry have on the US population? Would we buy the majority of our apples from China? Or would we just stop eating apples? Big, faceless tech corporations can set-up shop anywhere, but apples require an ideal climate for mass-production.
Maybe I'm just old and cranky, but some people talk as if computers/technology will save the world. But in reality, what is essential for life - food/agriculture, or surfing the internet?
The closest that the area has to Palm Springs is Chelan, especially with every productive apple orchard they convert to vanity wineries, golf courses, and resorts.
I agree with YakTown there is much more to eastern Washington than agriculture. Yet, they drive the political agenda and both parties will bend over backwards to accomodate their needs since it lets them say they support eastern Washington.
Then the Olympia actively fights any new economic initiatives that would help eastern Washington compete with the west side of the state.
Here in the Chelan County there ONLY orchardists at the county commissioner and PUD board. They are not bad commissioners, but clearly focused on one part of the counties economy. Last election, we even had a guy run saying that he was running because we needed diversity in Chelan County....i.e. He was NOT an orchardist.
I agree with YakTown there is much more to eastern Washington than agriculture. Yet, they drive the political agenda and both parties will bend over backwards to accomodate their needs since it lets them say they support eastern Washington.
Then the Olympia actively fights any new economic initiatives that would help eastern Washington compete with the west side of the state.
Here in the Chelan County there ONLY orchardists at the county commissioner and PUD board. They are not bad commissioners, but clearly focused on one part of the counties economy. Last election, we even had a guy run saying that he was running because we needed diversity in Chelan County....i.e. He was NOT an orchardist.
Again, I just don't see the problem here. Wenatchee's and Yakima's main economic industry, even today, is the tree fruit industry.
You don't move to Orlando and then complain that the commissioners only focus on tourism. You don't move to Nashville and then whine about all the attention on country music. So, why would you move to a town whose lifeline is fruit, and then complain that fruit is a focus of attention?
There are plenty of areas to move to, if you would rather live in a tech-town. Seattle and (as Yaktown said) Boise are both within driving distance.
Wenatchee is fine as a high tech town. We have had fiber for over a decade now. Our daughter comes back from Seattle so she can use our high-speed internet.
There is nothing wrong with ag communities. Maybe Silicon Valley would have been better off if it had remained an orchard community like it was in my youth!! Seattle should have stayed with strip logging their hillsides and dumping them into Puget Sound to create more land for development.
However, ag communities are a dead end. Just ask the folks on the plains. Eastern Washington is going way past ag. Grant County wages in manufacturing are now equal to those in ag. In a few years, ag will be surpassed by manufacturing in Grant County.
The Wenatchee Valley is so past ag. Even my friends in ag, say that the only way Wenatchee will remain part of the ag community is as an administrative area. None of those high paid ag administrators want to live in the basin or Yakima. Government, Health Care, and Construction (have to provide housing for all those poor people moving in from the coast!!) are more important than ag in the Wenatchee Valley. AG IS JUST MORE VISIBLE WHEN YOU DRIVE THROUGH TOWN.
Wenatchee is interesting. My realtor estimates that 25% of the residents are working from home. Knowing how economic statistics are generated, these folks show up elsewhere in many statistic. A rocket engineer that I know works from her house....I suspect her economic statistics end up as Seattle. A designer for Ford probably shows up as Michigan. Since the head office files the statistics.
With high speed fiber in Chelan, Douglas and Grant counties the trend will just continue into the future. At some point, all those self-employed individuals in King County will realize if they want access to high speed fiber they will have to move east of the Cascade divide.
Ag is very visible in Wenatchee, but really part of its history not the future.
Someday those folks in Olympia will realize the best educated and paid workforce is in Richland, not Seattle.
Have you seen this document? Lots of neat stuff, well buried in the statistics. Fun document to browse.
Wenatchee is fine as a high tech town. We have had fiber for over a decade now. Our daughter comes back from Seattle so she can use our high-speed internet.
There is nothing wrong with ag communities. Maybe Silicon Valley would have been better off if it had remained an orchard community like it was in my youth!! Seattle should have stayed with strip logging their hillsides and dumping them into Puget Sound to create more land for development.
However, ag communities are a dead end. Just ask the folks on the plains. Eastern Washington is going way past ag. Grant County wages in manufacturing are now equal to those in ag. In a few years, ag will be surpassed by manufacturing in Grant County.
The Wenatchee Valley is so past ag. Even my friends in ag, say that the only way Wenatchee will remain part of the ag community is as an administrative area. None of those high paid ag administrators want to live in the basin or Yakima. Government, Health Care, and Construction (have to provide housing for all those poor people moving in from the coast!!) are more important than ag in the Wenatchee Valley. AG IS JUST MORE VISIBLE WHEN YOU DRIVE THROUGH TOWN.
Wenatchee is interesting. My realtor estimates that 25% of the residents are working from home. Knowing how economic statistics are generated, these folks show up elsewhere in many statistic. A rocket engineer that I know works from her house....I suspect her economic statistics end up as Seattle. A designer for Ford probably shows up as Michigan. Since the head office files the statistics.
With high speed fiber in Chelan, Douglas and Grant counties the trend will just continue into the future. At some point, all those self-employed individuals in King County will realize if they want access to high speed fiber they will have to move east of the Cascade divide.
Ag is very visible in Wenatchee, but really part of its history not the future.
Someday those folks in Olympia will realize the best educated and paid workforce is in Richland, not Seattle.
Have you seen this document? Lots of neat stuff, well buried in the statistics. Fun document to browse.
You are clearly posting from the tech-orientied point of view. You talk about how "Wenatchee is so past ag", but then complain that all the elected county commissioners are orchardists. If everyone is town thinks that the tree fruit industry is a dead end - then why, by your own comments, do those people still have all the power?
Maybe it's not as past ag as you think quite yet...
I not a high tech fan. I am a fan of high tech infrastructure with fiber, wi-fi and good cell connections.
Through out my career in natural resources it was all about bandwidth. Large files are difficult to process and send on copper lines!! Engineering and natural resource firms, hospitals, doctors, etc. etc. The list keeps growing about companies that need and depend on a high tech infrastructure.
That rocket scientist living and working in Wenatchee for a company in Seattle cannot do that without fiber. That Ford designer can live in Wenatchee because she can upload large files quickly and efficiently. Otherwise she would still be living in Detroit.
As for the county commissioners, the orchardists realized they were losing political power, particularly with the Dept. of Ecology. It is a community in transition. They will be transitioning OUT soon enough. Not that they have done a bad job for the community. They have done a good job there, but a great job protecting their interests.
If you go to the Washington state Fact Book you will notice that manufacturing wages in Grant County are almost equal to farm wages paid in the county. The Wenatchee Valley does not have a land base for large scale manufacturing, but it does have the quality of life that mobile professionals appreciate and the high-tech infrastructure they need for their profession. At some point, ag will become a treasured artifact of the past....hopefully we will not totally ingnore our past like they did in Silicon Valley.
I not a high tech fan. I am a fan of high tech infrastructure with fiber, wi-fi and good cell connections.
Through out my career in natural resources it was all about bandwidth. Large files are difficult to process and send on copper lines!! Engineering and natural resource firms, hospitals, doctors, etc. etc. The list keeps growing about companies that need and depend on a high tech infrastructure.
That rocket scientist living and working in Wenatchee for a company in Seattle cannot do that without fiber. That Ford designer can live in Wenatchee because she can upload large files quickly and efficiently. Otherwise she would still be living in Detroit.
As for the county commissioners, the orchardists realized they were losing political power, particularly with the Dept. of Ecology. It is a community in transition. They will be transitioning OUT soon enough. Not that they have done a bad job for the community. They have done a good job there, but a great job protecting their interests.
If you go to the Washington state Fact Book you will notice that manufacturing wages in Grant County are almost equal to farm wages paid in the county. The Wenatchee Valley does not have a land base for large scale manufacturing, but it does have the quality of life that mobile professionals appreciate and the high-tech infrastructure they need for their profession. At some point, ag will become a treasured artifact of the past....hopefully we will not totally ingnore our past like they did in Silicon Valley.
Well, we are getting completely off-topic here, but I guess my disdain for this "high tech infrastructure"
comes from the potential demise of the small-town community. Sure, your rocket scientist friend may be making a difference by working from home for some faceless Seattle tech corporation, but what is that person contributing to Wenatchee?
I knew many of the smaller orchardists fairly well when I lived in Wenatchee, and many of them are upstanding members of that small community - by contributing and being involved in the schools, rotary clubs, etc, rather than being holed-up in their homes, producing some kind of tech-based information for a distant conglomerate.
I think that is one reason that many of Wenatchee's elected officials are orchardists. I know I would vote for a person whose business and family are part of the community, rather than someone who just happens to own a house here.
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