Hi Bryan I lived in the Tri-Cities, from the early '60s until 2000. Oddly enough, after I'd completed a year of college, (retraining because of an industrial accident), I had a mock interview, which was presided over by a rep from Bechtel. Later I applied for work as an office clerk at Bechtel. I was 59 at the time, and other than the college training, inexperienced in anything but construction work, so I feel I was passed over for work because of my age, 59, and my inexperience. The Tri-Cities is one of the few areas in the U.S. that is still booming. The place has grown remarkably so, even in the past 6 years since I moved to my new home, some 60 miles S.E. of the Tri-Cities. There is a huge variety of people living there, with the three cities, kind of representing a different type of people in each city. Kennewick used to be considered the "bedroom" of the community so to speak. They all have grown to the point that their separate identities are not so evident now. If you enjoy boating and fishing, the Tri-cities has a lot to offer with the Columbia River wandering through the middle of the burg. There are several good golf courses in the area if golfing is your bag. It seems that every contractor has moved to the area to build houses, apartment buildings and condominiums. Unless things change, the Witnesses use the Tri-cities as one of the District Assembly sites in the summer. There will probably be at least 3, more likely 4 assemblies there during the summer. The last one I went to was with my father and siblings. I sat in the stands above the main concourse, sweltering as the temps outside were in the 90s-100s, and looked down at my used to be in-laws looking up at me. LOL... The Tri-cities can fool you. The area was semi-desert and arid, where once upon a time the climate in the summertime was very dry. Because of the huge amount of irrigated land that's being watered from damns built along the Columbia, the humidity can sometimes be similar to cities on the Gulf Coast. All in all, I'd say the Tri-Cities is a good place to consider living and working. The clean up work at the Atomic Energy Reservation, (Hanford) will go on for many years, although the clean up is going well according to the news. You probably are aware that one of the two atomic bombs dropped on Japan was built at Hanford. Hanford High school, (Richland) is proud of that heritage, even their logo is the Hanford Bombers. Hope this helps.
