CharlieM

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.

I went to college in Spokane, got my first real job in the area and lived here for 6 years. Many of friends still live in Spokane, and if it wasn’t for a job opportunity near Seattle, I think I would still be living here.


About the city: Spokane get all 4 seasons, it gets hotter than Seattle in the summer, and most housing will have air conditioning, unlike most houses in Western Washington. Spokane also gets a fair amount of snow, but it can be hit or miss. The city will usually have 1-2 big snow storms per winter, with snow staying on the ground for some time. My first winter in Spokane was a record breaker, and we had snow on the ground for 6 months!

Interstate 90 cuts through the city east to west and Highway 395 heads north/south. The state/city is in the process of actually making Highway 395 a true divided highway, right now most of it is actually busy multilane city streets. This makes navigating north/south a stop-and-go grind, especially during rush-hour.

Spokane is mostly spread out north/south with new areas being on the extreme north end, and older historic neighborhoods the south end, closer to I-90. The air force base, hospital, colleges (Gonzaga, Eastern, Whitman), and Indian casino are the main drivers of business.


Living in Spokane: Housing in Spokane is very affordable. Especially if you compare it Western Washington and even the Tri-Cities. Rent is much lower and real estate prices are very reasonable, making buying a house a reality even for nonprofessionals.

One of my favorite things about Spokane is the geographical area. There are rivers, parks, and mountains all very close. My family is very active, we ski, hike, and ride bikes and Spokane is a very active community. There are 5 ski areas within a 2 hour drive, and Mt. Spokane is actually only 45 minutes from downtown.


Downsides to living in Spokane: Personally the biggest downside to Spokane was the lack of career opportunities, which ultimately lead to my family relocating to the Seattle area. Another downside is traffic, without divided highways everyone has to commute through major arterial streets in slow stop-and-go traffic.