About Tri Cities

Thinking of moving to Tri-Cities? Want to know more about Tri Cities Washington, including area history, demographics, where to find a job, and more? Well, read on!

Tri-Cities Photo Gallery

Resources for the Tri-Cities Washington Region

If you are considering relocating to Tri Cities Washington, and moving to any of the cities within the Tri Cities area ( Kennewick, Pasco, and Richland), then this is the place to learn all about each city and what makes them unique to the Tri Cities area.

Even if you are already a local Tri Cities resident, this page is a good resource for finding information on Tri Cities schools, parks, recreation, and the history and demographics of our area.

Community Profiles:

Richland
West Richland
Pasco (coming soon)
Kennewick (coming soon)

Tri Cities Schools and Colleges

Tri City Washington Parks

Tri-Cities Hotels and Motels

Post your Questions on The Message Board

Coming soon:

Tri City Washington Arts & Entertainment

Tri City Washington Wine Country

Tri City Washington Employment Resources

Relocating to Tri-Cities

Read Below to Learn Even More about Tri Cities

Information below provided by Wikipedia.com, under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.

About Tri-City, WA

The Tri-Cities in the state of Washington are Richland, Pasco and Kennewick. They are located at the confluence of the Yakima, Snake and Columbia Rivers in southeastern Washington. Pasco is on the north side of the Columbia, Kennewick and Richland are south of it (Kennewick is directly east of Richland). According to the 2000 census, the combined population of the Tri-Cities is 125,467, though 2005 census estimates put the population at closer to 160,000. The Tri-Cities Airport located in Pasco provides the region with commercial and private air service. Columbia Basin College is a two-year college in Pasco (with facilities in Richland), and Washington State University has a branch campus in Richland. Pasco is the seat of Franklin County, while Kennewick and Richland are located in Benton County.

Climate and geography

The Tri-Cities are in a desert climate, receiving on average of 7 - 8 inches (175 - 200 mm) of rain every year. Winds periodically exceed 30 mph (48 km/h) when Chinook wind conditions exist. There are over 300 days of sunshine every year. Temperatures range from as low as 10 degrees F (-12 degrees C) in the winter to as high as 110 (43 degrees C) in the summer.

The region receives occasional snow most years. Due to the desert climate and subsequent large amounts of sand, a perpetual annoyance to residents is the amount of dust blown about by the frequent winds.

Thanks to the aforementioned rivers, a large amount of cheap irrigation is available. Washington is the most northwest of the lower 48 states; subsequently, the area is in the Pacific Standard Time Zone. The Tri-Cities makes up the largest metropolitan area in the southeastern quadrant of Washington. The large Cascade Mountain Range to the west contributes to the desert climate, which is far drier than the famously wet western side of the state.

Industry

The Tri-Cities economy has historically been based on farming and the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. From Pasco's incorporation in 1891 on, the Tri-Cities have had a large degree of farming thanks to the excellent soil. Irrigation is made easy by the three nearby rivers. Wheat is easily the most commonly grown product; however, large amounts of apples and grapes are also grown, along with potatoes and other products. The area is well known for its fine wines.

Since the 1940s, Hanford has become the area's number one employer. The United States government decided to build a top-secret facility to produce nuclear weapons, and decided on an area just west of then-tiny Richland. The city had an overnight population explosion, which spread to Kennewick and (to a lesser extent) Pasco. Despite the huge boom, virtually no one knew what the purpose of Hanford was until the destruction of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945 by a Hanford-produced weapon. After the war, Hanford continued work on creating nuclear weapons.
After the Cold War ended, Hanford switched gears and began attempting to contain the waste.

Other major corporations that have facilities in (or are based in) the Tri-Cities include:
Amazon.com
Areva
Battelle Memorial Institute (operates Pacific Northwest National Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science)
Lockheed Martin
Tyson Foods

Sports Teams

The Tri-Cities are home to three professional sports teams: the defending National Indoor Football League champion Tri-Cities Fever, the Tri-City Americans of the Western Hockey League, and the Tri-City Dust Devils, an affiliate of the Colorado Rockies in the short-season class A Northwest League baseball. The Fever and Americans play at the Toyota Center in Kennewick, while the Dust Devils play in Pasco.

Media

Print Media

Tri-City Herald

Television

KEPR - 2 - (CBS)
KVEW 4 (ABC)
KNDU - 6 - (NBC)
KCTS - 9 - (PBS)
KTNW - 10 - (PBS)
KFFX - 11 - (Fox)
KWYP - 14 - (WB)
ISATP - 17 - (i), formerly PAX

History

Founding

Pasco was the first of the Tri-Cities to be incorporated, in 1891. Kennewick was incorporated in 1904, and Richland followed in 1910. West Richland was founded by dissatisfied residents of Richland after the arrival of Hanford. Despite attempts by Richland to annex the community, they remained separate and eventually became incorporated in 1955.

Early history

Pasco was the largest city in the Tri-Cities until the founding of Hanford, mostly thanks to its railroad station. It also had the most land for easy irrigation.

As noted above, farming was the basis of almost everything in the early years. As a result, many Hispanics were drawn up every autumn to harvest apples, giving the cities a temporary surge in population and employment. This surge still occurs today, but its effect is less noticeable. Because of their constant arrival, and the weather's similarity to many Latin American countries, the Tri-Cities acquired a sizable Hispanic population, which remains to this day (over half of Pasco is Hispanic as of the 2000 census). Once Hanford arrived, the area immediately became different.

1940s - 1970s

Richland became the largest city, followed by Kennewick, over this time period. Richland High School adopted "Bombers" as its mascot (replete with mushroom cloud). In 1970, Kamiakin High School was founded in response to the continued influx of people. The economy continued to grow, but not without some turbulence. Every time the federal government cut funding at Hanford, thousands of talented, credentialed people would suddenly become jobless and quickly leave for other jobs. During this time, other employers slowly made their way into the area, but they too would often be forced to cut back jobs in the bad times. During the 1970s, Kennewick overtook Richland as the biggest city of the three and has not surrendered the title since.

1980s - present

Completion of the Interstate 182 bridge in 1984 made Pasco much more accessible, fueling the growth of that city.[1] With the end of the Cold War, many in the area feared a shutdown of Hanford, followed by the Tri-Cities quickly becoming a ghost town. These fears were allayed after the United States Department of Energy switched the facility's purpose from the creation of nuclear weapons to the effective sealing and disposal of radioactive waste.

During the 90's, many major corporations entered the Tri-Cities, diversifying the economy. In 1995, Southridge High School was founded. In 2005, Census Bureau figures placed Kennewick's population at over 60,000, Richland's at over 40,000, and Pasco's at almost 45,000, which marked the first time since pre-Hanford days that Pasco was more populous than Richland. According to those figures, if the Tri-Cities were to be counted as one city (along with West Richland's 10,000-plus citizens), that city would be the fourth-biggest city in Washington, following Seattle, Spokane, and Tacoma, with a population of roughly 160,000.

Transportation

Airports

Tri-Cities Airport in Pasco. (IATA PSC, ICAO: KPSC)

Richland Airport (General Aviation) in Richland. (IATA RLD ICAO: KRLD)

Vista Field (General Aviation) in Kennewick. (IATA S98)

Interstates and major highways

Interstate 82 runs along the southern edge of Kennewick.

Interstate 182 follows the Yakima River through Richland, crosses the Columbia River, and continues through Pasco to its terminus with U.S. Highway 395

US 395 runs through Pasco, crosses the Columbia River and continues through Kennewick where it joins Interstate 82

US 12 is cosigned with Interstate 182 through the

Tri-Cities and continues past U.S. Highway 395 across the Snake River towards Burbank

Local Transit

The Ben Franklin Transit provides public bus service throughout the Tri-Cities.

Passenger Rail

Amtrak

Staying "The Tri-Cities"

Over the years, there has been a push to bring all four cities into one united incorporated area (or at least combining the three cities on the south side of the river - Kennewick, Richland, and West Richland). Motions that would make this happen have repeatedly failed.

Residents of West Richland and newcomers to the area often suggest that the area rename itself, since there are obviously four cities in the Tri-Cities. This suggestion is usually considered ridiculous by residents of the other cities, for the simple reason that Quad-Cities doesn't sound as good (as well as the fact that West Richland really doesn't measure up to the level of the three major cities). The name Three Rivers has recently come to be used more for the area from the Columbia, Snake and Yakima Rivers, yet is rarely mentioned beyond professional settings.

West Richland has begun to consider renaming itself to Red Mountain in an attempt to distinguish itself from Richland - this may provide further reason to change the region's name.