yakima; where not to live (Seattle, Wapato: home, neighborhoods, middle school)

[luffy_chan_19]

yeah i lived in yakima 6 or 7 years ago, andd got out because of the gang violence. i have been wanting to go back because i need to visit my family, but since they live on south naches i dont realy feel safe at my grammas house. they get shootings in the area all the time. i had been jumped several times walking a block away from my house. if you are going to live anywhere neer south naches, or the fair grounds you will learn fast to wear "neutral colors".

[70Ford]

Originally Posted by skinem

My folks moved to Selah they year after I graduated high school and they and my younger siblings lived there and in West Valley and out Nob Hill for over 20 years and none of them had a problem ever anywhere.
I don't know anyone there who has. Obviously that's anecdotal, and there are some rougher parts of town, but again, I've never had issues in any of them either.

I think some people tend to equate poor with bad...they do not necessarily go hand in hand.

Plum Ln, Yakima, Washington 98908 next to peachtree lane -

was where I lived when I lived in Yakima. I checked around and heard that area was pretty safe. It was pricey, but it was well lit at night, too. I moved to Seattle shortly after moving there. Same comppany, same posistion, different job site.
plum street yakima - Google Maps

[freddie123]

Yakima is a fine place to live in.People are warm, friendly and polite.The city is clean, peaceful and quiet.My observation is that there is a certain complex in the city and people here use Seattle as their reference city.This makes services overpriced for this small city.I have lived in New York city.Apart from accomodation, New York city is a lot cheaper than Yakima. Food is cheaper, Clothings cheaper, transportation cheaper, utilities also cheaper.There is more competition in New York and this keeps prices in check unlike in Yakima, where there is little competition and people take advantage of this to hike the cost of their services. Unlike, New York where crime is very palpable, here in Yakima I only hear of crime in Yakima when I visit neighbouring cities.People outside of Yakima, dread and loathe it and its people.They consider Yakima residents arrogant and aloof,there might be some truth I have not experienced it or it could be city jealousy. Yakima has not been as frighteninig as I hear.And I pray and hope that the city's crime does not come near to me nor to my family.In New York, you see, smell and feel crime.Not so here in Yakima.

[texasmover]

Hi all, I'm moving to yakima with my husband for work in two months and I'm having a difficult time finding affordable apartments in safe areas. Any suggestions? I've heard west valley but it's out of our price range. I found one on N Naches but heard it was unsafe. We have no children and no flashy valuables or cars and we're pretty low key. Any suggestions? Thank you!

[skinem]

Check Selah, Gleed areas. Selah has (or at least had) a variety of housing at different price ranges and is a pretty quiet place.

Good luck!

[edithm24]

Davis isn't a bad place to go to school at. In fact I believe kids here are actually polite, unlike other school and I won't mention them. The only reason "missyM" doesn't like Davis, would be that she, herself is a RACIST individual and probably shouldn't be subbing. Davis prides itself school on diversity and accepting everyone, no matter where they come from. Kudos to Selah for having less competition? If Colleges/Universities were comparing a Davis student to a Selah student, they would most likely choose the Davis student. Question, when was the last time you heard Davis getting shot up or kids stabbing one another? Lock downs are mandatory in every school.

[ohst001]

My family and I recently spent some time in Yakima. We stopped for a walk on the paved trail along the Naches river. The trail and the river were beautiful but, it was amazing and disgusting how much broken glass covers the sides of the trail. The region should be embarrassed at how this makes the entire community appear to an outsider. Its also very unsafe for children and animals. The county should take some of the locked up gang bangers down there and clean it up. Since they are the punks who probably did it anyway.

[peep6543]

I just read this entire thread and felt compelled to register and respond. I am a recent college graduate from the Seattle area who has been working in Yakima for about a year now. Without knowing the area I rented an apartment on S. Naches Ave near downtown and all of my coworkers immediately told me to get a gun.

Now, I do read the newspaper, watch the news, etc. and after moving from Seattle to a smaller area its easier to follow what goes on in a town this size. I don't have a gun, never been robbed and never had a run-in with the gangs. That said, what others have mentioned on here about the gang violence is certainly true. I do hear a few shots a month out my window and is a reality. The honest truth is there are lots of young ignorant citizens here who feel the gangster lifestyle and itsquick money and accolades are worth the price of life. So for those reading this who are petrified to live here the fact is there are problems in this town, but where are there not any? And for those who said Yakima is a candyland of trails and waterfalls and chocolate covered bunny rabbits with rainbow smiles, get real.

After a year of living in what many people have said is the single worst street in the entire city, I'm still alive and have all my belongings still and no holes in my body. I'm not going to tell people to stay away and pretend Yakima doesn't exist, but I'm also not going to sell you on how wonderful of an area it is. It is both. There are plenty of activities, great parks for kids, schools, amenities of all sorts and I can certainly see how raising a family here would be easy. the cost of living is low and the weather is great. But the truth is we do have a large gang problem and unfortunately it doesn't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. Hope that helps clear up both sides.

[skinem]

Originally Posted by peep6543

I'm not going to tell people to stay away and pretend Yakima doesn't exist, but I'm also not going to sell you on how wonderful of an area it is. It is both. There are plenty of activities, great parks for kids, schools, amenities of all sorts and I can certainly see how raising a family here would be easy. the cost of living is low and the weather is great. But the truth is we do have a large gang problem and unfortunately it doesn't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. Hope that helps clear up both sides.

Bingo.

One CD trait I've noticed is that many opinions expressed tend toward extremes...a place is either perfect or hell on earth. No place is that. As you've said about Yakima, most places have some of both.

It's often what you are looking for or expect to see...

Good first post, peep, welcome.

[warrenpeace24]

One thing bad about Yakima is that we have the 3rd highest rate of auto theft per capita in the nation. Which means only Chicago and Los Angelas are higher. Yakima also has the highest rate of drug trafficking of any city north of Mexico. However I lived in yakima for 20 years and have had no problems. I lived in Wapato (just south of yakima) for a couple years and couldn't believe what people would do in public, walk around drunk, do drugs, sell drugs, wave a gun around, flip gang signs at everybody. There were 4 homicides in my area alone in the 2 years I lived there. I now moved to Selah (just north of Yakima) and love it. It really has the small town attitude, with all the big city comforts. People in selah even let there kids walk to the park alone. That rarely happens in yakima and never in wapato. I even live in the low income part of selah and have yet to even see a problem other than the neighbor being loud. A big upside to selah if you are in the military is that it is only a 2 minute drive to the base. I work on the base as a COB/Op-4 and live on the other side of selah and can get up and get to work in less than 15 minutes if I have to.