yakima; where not to live

[M3 Mitch]

Mimsy:

I think the thugs that are in Yakima don't use the library that much...if you stick to the better parts of town you should be fine. I visit Yakima several times per year, and so far have never had any problems at all.

Assuming you have a car, you may want to consider living outside the city limits proper, in general it seems to me that Yakima is not that well run for a city. Look at Selah, unincorporated areas just outside town.

If you have never been in this part of the state, particularly in summer you will get more what you would expect from inland California than Washington.

We are getting a very rainy January this year, but in general this area can be considered a high desert climate.

[PS90]

Originally Posted by Jay F

For a place that never rains, it rains quite a bit here (but mostly in the winter). It is raining right now as I type. Last winter was unusual but it rained almost every day and never snowed. We had a lot of snow earlier this winter but lately it's been rain or a rain/snow mix.

It's actually raining right now in my corner of Eastern Washington too.

My point was that a lot of people from the East Coast and even people from California, et al, assume that everyone from Washington has webbed feet and lives on a houseboat so the floods don't sweep us all away.

So, compared to Seattle (which apparently, as I'm learning, is the "outsider's" idea of Washington's weather) which averages 40 inches of rain per year, Yakima's 8.5 inches per year is fairly minuscule.

[SCD2014]

Originally Posted by cobwebsdream

hi I will be moving to yakima at the end of august and was wondering what part(s) of town not to live in. I really dont want to end up in a neighborhood like im in now ( old neighbor sold crack, two doors down deals lord only knows, and the uh-hem friends that you buy on the corner) so..cant get much worse i guess. Found a place on neches that sounds ok but not seeing the are is making this hard. Any help will be awsome.

Thanks

Live in West Valley, Selah, or Naches. Naches can be a little bit of a drive to downtown Yakima. Don't live in East Valley (Terrace Heights or Moxee), or the lower valley (Zillah, Sunnyside, Wapato, Toppenish...).

[SCD2014]

Originally Posted by cobwebsdream

hi I will be moving to yakima at the end of august and was wondering what part(s) of town not to live in. I really dont want to end up in a neighborhood like im in now ( old neighbor sold crack, two doors down deals lord only knows, and the uh-hem friends that you buy on the corner) so..cant get much worse i guess. Found a place on neches that sounds ok but not seeing the are is making this hard. Any help will be awsome.

Thanks

My experience: I am almost 30 and have lived in Yakima most of my life. Following college I moved to several large cities all over WA and the US, then back to Yakima for the past 5 years.

Demographics: Yakima's demographics are about 60% Hispanic, 30% Caucasian, and 10% other. Statistics may say otherwise, but its not accounting for the large amount of undocumented people we have here. Plus the seasonal fluctuation of migrant workers. Yakima also has a high amount of homelessness, predominantly downtown near the mission on 1st Street.

Things to do: Yakima is 30+ minutes from White Pass/Chinook Pass, that offer plenty of mountain outdoor activities. Over the last 5 years I have seen a large increase in restaurants and retail stores, which is great for the community members. There are A LOT of wineries and breweries in Yakima and the lower valley. The City of Yakima has started "Downtown Summer Nights" on Thursdays with free concerts, beer gardens and food. There is also free concerts in the park on Fridays at Franklin. The City is currently planning a downtown plaza, which will bring lots of family events downtown if that goes through. The City has been working hard to clean-up the downtown area, refreshing buildings, sidewalks, décor, and cleaning up homeless. Yakima has a beautiful greenway along the river; however, it has a lot of homeless on it, so I wouldn't personally use it alone or at night.

Crime: Yakima has high crime rates, particularly in the lower valley (Yakima County area), and east side of Yakima. We have really high volumes of drug trafficking and gangs in the Yakima County. We also have high car insurance rates, since there are a lot of break-ins, car thefts, and uninsured motorists.

Housing: A newly constructed standard home will cost you $200-350k. Its hard to find a home for less than that unless you are willing to live in an older home or in a less desirable neighborhood. Terrace Heights and Moxee have newly constructed cheaper homes and are predominantly Hispanic towns. The West Valley, Selah, and Naches areas are predominantly Caucasian with higher housing costs. Do your homework on where you want to live, personally I wouldn't live east of 40th in Yakima.

Employment: Yakima is predominantly made up of agriculture, service, and retail. These are mostly low paying jobs, with the exception of orchard management and owners. Higher paying fields in Yakima include mostly medical, public safety, and local and state government jobs. There are others, but not high volumes of jobs.

[Tac-Sea]

Originally Posted by kasstev

Thanks for this information. My husband is military and we are moving to the area (Have no choice). NOW I have to say I am extremely scared to move to this place and I am sure my daughter will now be terrified also. I guess when we get there we should stay in our home with doors locked and never go anywhere, doesnt sound like anywhere in this area is going to be safe.

I'm not from Yakima, I live near Seattle, but from what I've read online about Yakima, you couldn't pay me to go live there.

[PS90]

Originally Posted by Tac-Sea

I'm not from Yakima, I live near Seattle, but from what I've read online about Yakima, you couldn't pay me to go live there.

That's funny. I would say the exact same thing about Seattle.