Tri-City Area and Real Estate Blog

Creating an environment of cooperation among the 4 cities that encompass the Tri-Cities is the theme that local officials want to encourage, as they addressed the group that attended the 8th annual State of the Cities meeting on Wednesday, at the Tri City Regional Chamber of Commerce offices. Growth of the cities has put our area on the map, so to speak and each individual city has outlined the projects that they feel will add to the growth while benefiting it’s citizenry.

Richland has plans of widening Keene Road from Queensgate to West Richland, and adding a spray park to the Badger Mountain Community Park along Keene. They will also work in cooperation with Kennewick to reconstruct Steptoe Street and make a decision about the future location of the Hanford Reach Interpretive Center, among other projects.

Pasco, Kennewick and Richland will work in partnership on the studying the best location for the next bridge crossing the Columbia River.

Pasco officials and the Port of Pasco are looking into the development of the river shoreline east of the cable bridge, additional infrastructure as a support of future growth and industrialization, a $9 million water treatment facility, and the creation of a new overpass at Lewis Street.

Kennewick officials are looking for increased private development of the Vista Entertainment District and to the development of the Southridge area, which they expect will include 60% of the cities future growth.  The city is planning the Bridge-to-Bridge, River-to-Rail effort with the Port of Kennewick, which consists of a major overhaul of the property that lies between the blue and cable bridges.

West Richland is looking to expand the economic base and expand infrastructure between Red and Badger Mountains, and invest in tourism with regards to the wine industry as a way to add to the regional vision, and increase growth in that community.

In a time when costs to each municipality are increasing, funding from the state faces cuts, and the residents want more metropolitan projects, the officials in each city are optimistic about continued growth.  Let’s be optimistic along with them – Time will tell……..

March 4, 2010:  2010 Mid-Columbia Literary Festival, 7:00 pm HUB Main Stage, Columbia Basin College in Pasco. Featuring Jess Walter and Pete Fromm.  (509) 542-5531 for more info

March 9 & 23, 2010:  Wine Tasting – Monterosso’s Italian Restaurant, 5:00 pm, 1026 Lee Blvd, Richland.  (509) 946-4525 for more info.

March 10, 2010:  Quattrocelli – Community Concerts of the Tri-Cities present an ensemble of 4 cellists. 7:30 pm at 1800 N Rd 72, Pasco. (509) 547-6243 for more info.

March 11, 2010: Wayman Chapman, jazz and blues performance, 6 pm – 9 pm, Bookwalter Winery, 894 Tulip Lane, Richland. (509) 927-5000 for more info.

March 13, 2010: Romagossa Blu:  6 pm – 9 pm, Bookwalter Winery, 894 Tulip Lane, Richland. (509) 927-5000 for more info.

March 18, 2010:  Eleanor Roosevelt-No Ordinary Woman: 7pm CBC HUB Main Stage, Pasco. (509) 542-5531 for more info

March 20, 2010:  Mid-Columbia Symphony Concert exhibition, 8 p.m. Three Rivers Convention Center, Kennewick (509) 732-3722 for more info.

March 26, 2010:  27th Annual Quilt Show & Merchant Mall, 10 am – 6 pm, Three Rivers Convention Center, Kennewick, (509) 539-0422 for more info.

March 26-27, 2010:  Custer’s Spring Arts & Craft Show 2010, TRAC facility in Pasco, starts at 10 am each day. (509) 924-0588 for more info.

When most people think about wines and where they come from, folks mostly think California or France, but here among the Wine Country of Eastern Washington sits our beautiful community of the Tri Cities.  We boast over 300 days of sunshine a year, wonderful wineries & tasting rooms, world class golf courses, diverse recreational opportunities and river activities on our three rivers.

Our “community” consists of Kennewick, Pasco, Richland, West Richland, Benton City, Burbank, Finley and surrounding areas, which makes our population in the range of 256,000. Each city has it’s own personality yet we come together as a region that is always seeking to improve and grow. This family friendly community boasts excellent schools, both public and private, and a low crime rate which is constantly under the watchful eye of our local officials and vigilant citizenry.

The Tri-Cities is a wonderful place to live and we’d like to invite you to come visit and take a look at all the Tri Cities can offer you, including affordable housing and plentiful jobs.

We all know how hot it can get here in the summertime, and now the Badger Mountain Community Park on Keene Road in Richland will have a fun new place for kids to keep cool!  19 different water features and an almost 6,000 sq foot water splash area will provide hours of fun for the whole family, this in addition to the soccer and baseball fields already in use at the park.  Other spray areas are in use in Kennewick and Pasco parks and have been packed during the really hot summer days we have in the Tri Cities.  Cool fun in the Summertime!

Wow!! today was a beautiful day in the Tri Cities and because the sun was shining so incredibly this afternoon, this writer couldn’t help herself and just had to take some pictures from our office! Enjoy this small taste of February in Kennewick, Pasco, and Richland, Washington. Not only was the sun shining brightly, but it was 50 degrees – yeah, this is my kind of winter! This is a great place to live and work and we’d love to have you come join our community! www.distinctiveprop.com

Pasco’s YMCA Martin Luther King Jr Center has a blank wall, and the Tri Cities has many gifted artists, so it seems logical that they should come together to create something spectacular for the young people who attend the center to enjoy. The theme that has been chosen by the YMCA and the Leadership Tri Cities Class XV is title Three Rivers, Four Cities, One Heart: Inspiring Leadership Through Art.

Students, artists, and the leadership class attendees will come together to paint the 75×10 mural. If you are an artist, there will be an informational meeting Wednesday Feb 10 at 4pm at 205 S. Wehe, which is the MLK Jr Center.  The selected artist can receive up to a $10,000 commission.