Tell me about Kennewick WA

[Ike Witt]

I just found out about potential employment in Kennewick. What can Dopers tell me about the city (or is it a town)? Its location in WA seems to miss out on much of the natural beauty of the state, or am I wrong? Is there any skiing nearby? Is there good outdoor activities? What are the winters like? The Summers?

As you can see, I am sorely in need of some information.

Thanks.

[Duckster]

Kennewick, Washington

[Fish]

I have been a few times to the Richland/Kennewick/Pasco area (what in Washington State is called the Tri-Cities).

It was generally dry and hot on the east side of the Cascades in the summer (say 90F), but based on what I see on the weather reports it can get very cold in the winter (15F). The landscape in the area is wrinkly and rugged, without much greenery apart from irrigated agriculture, but as that can also be beautiful, I'll reserve judgement on that.

However, you're about as far from good skiing areas as I am here in Olympia. Kennewick to White Pass is only about 120 miles — maybe 2 hours by car. From Kennewick to Mt. Rainier might be another hour, perhaps; although there's no formal ski lift area on the mountain any more, there are places one can cross-country ski.

It's right along a bend in the Columbia River, so there's likely some good fishing in the area as well. Don't know about the local residents of Kennewick, but nearby Yakima has a lot of migrant workers who tend to the orchards and farms in that area. I presume Kennewick is similar.

[racer72]

I have relatives in the Kennewick area and get there every few years. It is the middle sized city of the Tri-Cities, Richland is a bit bigger, Pasco is a bit smaller. Much of the area seems to revolve around the nearby nuclear reservation. The winters there can be cold and dreary, not a lot of local activities. Being on a very large river, boating is huge in the summer. A couple of my cousins are into hiking and love the nearby Blue Mountains. Oregon is only 45 minutes away along with tax free shopping. For an area of about 100,000 people, it has everything that you would find anywhere else in the US for that population.

[Waterman]

I moved to the Tri-Cities in March 2004 from Chicago and here are my thoughts/comments:

• It is in the midst of a desert. The main plant life is tumbleweeds unless the ground is irrigated.
• It gets 300 days per year of sunshine
• It routinely reaches over 100 degrees during July and August but it is dry (humidity less than 30% and usually well below that in summer)
• The area is characterized by what I call brown mountains ranging from 1500 to a max of 4000 feet. The Tri-Cities is bordered on the south by the Horse Heaven Hills
• The Tri-Cities are where the Yakima (west side) and the Snake (east side) discharge into the Columbia River
• It is 215 miles from either Portland or Seattle
• It is approximately 110 miles from the eastern edge of the Cascade mountains
• It is smack in the middle of Washington wine country
• The winters are incredibly milder than Illinois or Wisconsin (where I was for 15 years before Chicago)
• It is a visually beautiful and striking area with the Cascades to the west and the Blue's (Mountains) to the east.

I'm quite happy here and I haven't had occasion to use a scarf or gloves all winter and all but three days I have used a light jacket. Golf is played here every month of the year.

[stretch]

As others have said, Kennewick is part of the Tri-Cities (really Quad-Cities now if you include West Richland).

How close you are to recreational activities depends on your idea of close. There are mountains within a few hours of Kennewick.

We live in a semi-arid steppes environment, as my geologist boss likes to remind everybody. The area has its own kind of beauty--you can see for miles and you really get to watch the seasons because unlike wetter (western) Washington, there are four seasons on the eastside of the Cascades. Unfortunately, we don't get as much snow as when I was a kid and the summers are hotter now. If you like to grow vegetables--we have a long growing season.

I love it here for the lack of people. The eastern side of Washington is not really densely populated except in the cities. It doesn't take long to get to Seattle--the longest part of the trip always seems to be from North Bend into the city, which is the last 30 miles of the not-to-arduous journey. The worst trip you'd ever make is from anywhere to Spokane--it sucks extra bad to drive I-90 to Spokane cuz it's so boring.

I like it here.

[Ike Witt]

Thanks for the responses. The place doesn't sound bad at all. Other than a smaller population, it seems fairly similar to Austin. I don't know anymore about the job yet, and I hope to hear something within the next 2 weeks.

[Soylent Gene]

Originally Posted by adam yax

Thanks for the responses. The place doesn't sound bad at all. Other than a smaller population, it seems fairly similar to Austin. I don't know anymore about the job yet, and I hope to hear something within the next 2 weeks.

Are you comparing it to Austin TX? I've never been to Austin, but Tri-Cities have no large colleges and are pretty limited culturally. I almost moved there a few years ago.

Sone thoughts:

It's very brown. No Trees. Lots of tumbleweed.
Hot in Summer, very nice in Spring.

Its very conservative. They love Dubya out there.

Good fishing, horseback riding. Skiing too far.

Nice small town atmosphere.

Compared to Seattle, houses are cheap.
Compared to the midwest, houses are expensive.

LOTS of new houses on little teeny lots. The new Vitrification Plant at Hanford needs about 10,000 builders and operators. However, the ecomnomy is tied heavily to the Hanford cleanup. When the fed cuts $$$, houses get real cheap.

[Trunk]

I just heard from a guy the other day that the tri-cities there is one of the fastest growing areas in the country. (Or he said, it was set to surpass Tacoma in population, or was faster growing than Seattle. Something like that.) When you get there, buy real estate!

I've been through (driving from Corvallis, OR to Sandpoint, ID or to Canada, or something) but didn't do anything more than stop for Wendy's. It had an ugly strip-mall-ish look to it as I recall.

[Missy2U]

Sigh - this sounds like exactly the type of place my husband and I want to go to - only a few more years, I hope...

[Ike Witt]

How close to Hanford is this town? I think that I have been exposed to as much radiation as I'd like.

[picunurse]

Have you ever been to Kansas? Then you know what the weather in like in the Tri-Cities.

[Trunk]

Originally Posted by Missy2U

Sigh - this sounds like exactly the type of place my husband and I want to go to - only a few more years, I hope...

Wow. I had the complete opposite reaction.

I'm hearing: brown, hot, nuclear, strip mall, no culture, no seasons, and Republican.

To each their own.

[Waterman]

Originally Posted by picunurse

Have you ever been to Kansas? Then you know what the weather in like in the Tri-Cities.

Couldn't disagree with you more. I lived for many years in the Midwest and the climate of eastern Washington is most decidedly not "Midwestern". This area, as already stated, is a semi-arid desert, that is one of the premier agricultural areas with the use of irrigation and the 300+ days of sunshine.

[Waterman]

Originally Posted by adam yax

How close to Hanford is this town? I think that I have been exposed to as much radiation as I'd like.

The Hanford vit plant is approximately 10-15 miles north of downtown Richland. The Hanford area is huge and covers much of the area north and slightly west of Richland and extends along the western bank of the Columbia River. It is my understanding that all plutonium production at Hanford has stopped and the only work being done there is related to cleanup.

[Waterman]

Originally Posted by Soylent Gene

...Compared to Seattle, houses are cheap.
Compared to the midwest, houses are expensive.

LOTS of new houses on little teeny lots. The new Vitrification Plant at Hanford needs about 10,000 builders and operators. However, the ecomnomy is tied heavily to the Hanford cleanup. When the fed cuts $$$, houses get real cheap.

Not sure what the housing market is like where you're from but having moved here from the Chicago area, housing is cheap. Lot sizes are actually larger than those in the Chicago metro area.

As an example, there are lots of nice 2-4 bedroom homes with 1800 to 2400 square feet of living area that sell in the $175,000 to $225,000 range. Homes here tend to all be built with a 4-foot crawl space (no basement) with extensive use of high ceilings. In terms of the quality of the homes themselves, they are very much superior to what I saw, and lived in, in either the Chicago or Madison areas.

Yes, the economy is tied to Hanford funding but it is not as bad as you state. The Tri-Cities (or as another poster has pointed out, the Quad Cities - with West Richland now having surpassed 10,000 on its own) has become a very popular place for retiree's from California.

While the area is conservative, the label has more to do with the old definition of conservatism, namely less interference from the government the better and very fiscally responsible government - neither of which have been hallmarks of Dubya's tenure.

[Soylent Gene]

Originally Posted by Waterman

While the area is conservative, the label has more to do with the old definition of conservatism, namely less interference from the government the better and very fiscally responsible government - neither of which have been hallmarks of Dubya's tenure.

I always thought it interesting how this brand of conservatism (as you call it fiscally responsible and less interferent government) is present in an area so dependent on HUGE government programs and regulations.

Anyways, I kind of liked the Richland area and almost moved there. The people were all very nice.