I love Washington state. I briefly grew up there, my dad was in the military. so he was stationed there. Mountainous backdrop, snow, rain, evergreen trees, fresh air, the sea shore. a nice area. i'm currently in California now, but I like Washington state much better....much more nature, and an overall purer place.
I would not recommend it at all. My wife lived in Seattle and Vanco (Ca) for many years. Low income, gangs, poor tax base. Per capita crime is top decile, or was a few years ago.
http://www.city-data.com/city/Yakima-Washington.html Looking at the data Yakima has about double the U.S. average crime. It's racial mix is heavily "hispanic" (close to 50%) which is something to consider if you don't speak the language. Wages are much lower than the rest of Washington state. It is a little too close to the Hanford nuclear site for my tastes but to each his own.
If you're white and live in an area with a concentration of blacks, hispanics, or muslims... you should move if at all possible. Read more >> Options >>
I wouldn't compare Seattle, WA and Vancouver, Canada to Yakima, WA. Not even close to each other as far as what they are like.
Good heads up info. I thank you. I was chatting with some folks who live there and they claim the gang crime is largely isolated to the east side of the city and mostly keeps to itself.
Okay once again, Seattle is not Vancouver is not Yakima. For one, Vancouver is in Canada. Yakima is a small city in the US. They are no way like each other. Seattle has been rated a top ten city about 800 times and even Yakima has been rated a top city. Check it out.
You're dense. I have never stated that Seattle is Yakima. She's from the Pacific Northwest, so ostensibly she knows of the area. She has lived in Portland (OR), Seattle, and the contiguous country to our North. She knows people, presently and formerly, from the Yakima-area -- and they unanimously say to stay away. 3/1000 on violent crime is average, nationwide, but the burglaries and vandalism is a daily occurrence on most streets, city and outlying. My wife's roommate at UCLA was from Yakima and stated that they never parked their car in the driveway as it would be broken into that night. lol top city -- top city on crime. Look at the data on crime and per capita income. It's a shithole. Tsing didn't mention why he's interested in Yakima, but i`f it's for a second home or investment, then it's a sieve, stay away. https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=yakima top city "2014 Top Cities Where People Are Terrified To Live" 2. Yakima, Wash. > Pct. feel safe at night: 51.3% > Pct. without money for shelter: 12.5% (tied for 34th highest) > Violent crime rate: 349.4 per 100,000 (172nd highest) > Poverty rate: 23.1% (29th highest) > Population: 249,564 (178th lowest) While Yakima residents often felt unsafe walking home alone at night, the area’s violent crime rate was actually lower than the national rate. Property crime, however, remains a problem. Despite Yakima County’s Crimestoppers grassroots organization, which encourages citizens to report crimes, the area had 1,217.7 burglaries per 100,000 people in 2012, and 673.2 car thefts per 100,000 people, both among the highest rates in the country. Like most metro areas in which residents do not feel safe walking alone at night, Yakima is struggling economically. Nearly one-quarter of the area’s residents had to rely on food stamps for at least part of 2012, and 23.1% of residents lived in poverty in 2012 — both among the worst rates in the country.