Pros and Cons of Yakima

[downnice]

Yakima is Tacoma in the 80's

[M3 Mitch]

Originally Posted by 333elizabeth

Ok peeps, just read this thread and I must say my decision to move to Ellensburg/Yakima is wavering.
Is there any Organic market for food? I read about the famers markets. I am a vegatarian and will I feel like a oddball in this area? Anywhere to buy a glass of carrot juice?

I am kind of weary to hear there is no arts, music, cultural scene outside of wineries. hummm.
I already live in an unenlightened place and moving to Yakima does not sound very progressive?

Is cle elm better?
Where would you go in the area for a more progressive enviroment?

thank you!

E-burg and Yakima are quite different, with E-burg being more of a college town. Yakima does have the Capital Theater. You would more easily find fresh carrot juice in E-burg.

That said, where are you going to work? I wouldn't want to commute between them in winter.

[flubber69696]

It may be true that Yakima is getting to be a big issue about Gangs,Drugs, and Murders ect ect. But Its getting worse over in the West side of yakima In the last 2 Months there has been A robbery not to far from WVMS and Wide hollow. there was also a guy that went crazy kidnapped her in west valley and had the whole road of 72nd blocked due to the fact that he was armed and ready to kill they had swats pull up and snipers up his A$$ they had a shoot out and such an such an it ended how all things end bad guys loses good guy wins. But Dont say west valley is a good place to live as in right now the Gangs have been moving up to the west side of Yakima and they have gotten alot bigger just gotta open your eyes and youll relize Yakima is begining to be a **** hole To be honest. The Bad Rep is True ill recommend to be near this area till this dies down.

[Buzzword190]

What's been said about Yakima is true. Both the good and the bad .As an outsider, I can say you'll either fall in love with it or hate it. There's no in between. If you're thinking of moving here, do your homework. Be inquisitive. Find out as much as you can about the city and the area. Make an informed decision. Come to your own conclusion.

[SCD2014]

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.

[zlickfold]

Been living here in Yakima Washington for 4 months now. The town seems like a good place to live. Like any other town in the United States, i noticed there are people who are not attentative drivers. I was almost hit twice by 2 different mini vans just pulling out from a convenient store. And i drove by someone when a guy was driving while texting. For such a small town it seems the people are confident drivers that like to rush pass you without a blinker on and to turn while the yield sign is yellow by just misisng a car by seconds. I thought i was about to witness a car accident but the person driving in the truck missed the car by seconds. I think there are driving issues here for sure in Yakima. I hope this town can raise awareness to save someones life in the future.

Yakima is outdated in the appliances, Carpeting, and outside painting. Looks like the 80's.

I had struggled to find a rental that was home friendly for a baby. Some rentals smelled of mold and had old windows, carpeting and old bath tubs that look a little groce. I last checked that we live in 2018 and not in the 80's. Im hoping most or all owners can do something about the updating the home itself and maybe a few updated appliances. There are some remodeled but not enough for the rest of the available houses and apartments in Yakima and the general area of Yakima like Selah, Union Gap etc. I hope this last part doesnt make me sound spoiled, im not, just am used to clean and good condition things that many deserve. I dont think its fair for someone to rent out a place that smells of mold. I think that is a health hazard. Would be nice to see a change by next year!

[zlickfold]

Yakima does need updated buildings and a remodel of rentals with updated appliances. Would love to see a change soon. Thanks!

[ukiyo-e]

I have only driven through Yakima so I have no personal experience living there, but I will say that the photo of the "YAKIMA - THE PALM SPRINGS OF WASHINGTON" billboard on the edge of town got tons of "Haha" reactions when I posted it on Facebook.