Richland

Richland, along with the rest of “Tri-Cities” is the fasted growing area of Washington State. With solid opportunities for engineering, science, and bio-tech jobs, warm weather, and affordable housing it’s a unique place – if you don’t mind its short comings.

I grew up Richland and my folks now live in West Richland, so I am very familiar with the area and often visit several times per year.
Local Economy: The growth in the area is astounding! While Seattle is growing higher with new skyscrapers, Richland and the Tri-Cities are spreading outward. Older parts are somewhat forgotten while the area is focused on building new strip malls and shopping centers outward on the surrounding hills.
The main driver of the economy in the Richland is the nuclear plant, Hanford, which produces nuclear power and disposes of nuclear waste (which is brought in from all over the country). Hanford is famous for the Manhattan Project which is responsible for developing the first nuclear bomb for World War 2, which the city is very proud of, in fact Richland High School’s mascot is the ‘Bombers’.

Living Here: Housing in the area is very affordable. There are older areas in town that feature original WW2 government housing, which are designated with letter names, the alphabet names are grouped together in style. Entire blocks will have the exact same style house but with flipped floorplans. Newer outlying areas have modern homes, and are much bigger in size. Home square footage is much bigger than houses in Western Washington.
The weather in Richland is very dry and hot in the summer, with temperatures reaching triple digits. Winters are cold, with long stretches bellow freezing, but with little snow. The area is VERY windy, so windy that the surrounding hills don’t having any trees growing on them!

Raising a family here: Richland has great school system with two high schools and junior highs and several elementary schools, there is also one Catholic school. The area has very little crime and is very safe. I would say Richland is a great place to raise a family – the area is very tight knit. There are a lot family activities and family sporting events to keep kids busy.

The downsides: I would say that downsides are lack of culture in the community. Also outside of engineering and science there is little career opportunity. While the city and surrounding area is growing fast, it is growing with cookie-cutter housing and chain restaurants, again not much culture and diversity.