’10 Best Places in Washington to Raise a Kid’ List Doesn’t Include Eastern Washington!

Maybe it's because of the name of the website!

The folks at nerdwallet.com have compiled a list of allegedly the 'best' cities or towns in our state to raise a child.   Cities over 10,000 in population were considered.  The criteria used by the website were:

• Does the town have good schools?
• How affordable are the homes?
• Is the town growing and prospering?

Safe to say the Tri-Cities and surrounding areas are doing just that.  Unlike much of the country and the rest of the West Side,  we didn't have the real estate bust,  we have one of the highest average incomes per-capita for each family, and our weather speaks for itself. Academically, we stand with any area in the West, and our kids can enjoy nationally-recognized sports programs in everything from baseball to football, softball to soccer.

But apparently we didn't make it.  According to the website, the list was as follows (with editorial comments added):

• 10. Lynden (5 miles south of Canadian border-nice winter weather?)
• 9. Mukilteo  (smells like fish)
• 8. Newcastle (never heard of it, but it's apparently part of the financially looaaaddded Lake Washington area near Seattle)
• 7.  Redmond (the website considers it to be Washington's "Silicon Valley"-Microsoft).
• 6. Lake Forest Park (see Newcastle)
• 5. Bainbridge Island (your kids will love living in a place where it takes a 35 minute ferry ride just to get out of the community)
• 4. Tumwater (it's the water, and a lot more.   The home of Olympia Beer brewery)
• 3. Issaquah   (see Microsoft)
• 2. Woodinville (20 miles from Seattle, home of Chateau St. Michelle winery)
• 1. Maple Valley  (a small community of about 22,000).

Then again,  if you enjoy a couple of hundred days of rain out of the year, maybe the West side IS for you!