Kennewick Real Estate Blog

Assuming KEPR-TV has their info correct, the city of Kennewick is planning to add a left-turn lane right outside Kamiakin High School — at Edison and Metaline. From Twitter:

We used to live right in that area, back when we first moved to the Tri-Cities. And it was always pretty scary (especially turning from Metaline left onto Edison). But whichever way you’re going, it was always the worst during busy morning/afternoon school transportation hours with all the buses going in and out.

Good move to add a turn lane there. Much needed.

There are quite a few things in this world that I don’t like/don’t understand -

• why my husband bites his nails
• why my son nibbles on paper
• why Jo married Professor Bhaer instead of Laurie, like she should have
• why people include raspberry in chocolate-based desserts

but the big one, and the subject of this post, is the Kennewick Lighthouse -

They say this is the first lighthouse built in the U.S. since 1962. That’s right, the first in almost half a century. Gee, could it be because there is no reason to build one?

(photo taken earlier this month)

Okay, this is kinda geeky … but also pretty cool. The city has recently added a “Virtual Kennewick” mapping tool to the city web site. You can access it here.

The tool presents information from a GIS database, and users can see a variety of city data online — often the kind of stuff you’d have to visit the city offices and spend a lot of time researching in person. You can see community resources (like government offices, theaters, USPS, libraries, etc.), zoning designations across the city, the locations of various city utilities (sewer system, water, etc.), and here’s a screenshot that shows the city’s land use plan (red is Commercial, for example).

The city explains the tool’s benefits this way:

The GIS database is a spatial model of City facilities in the “real” world. Complex data relationships can be presented using geographical representations, or maps. Maps provide a “picture” of those relationships that is easier to understand. Better understanding of the complex data presented in running a City allows for improved decision making, provides more efficient work efforts, and establishes cost savings for the City and it’s constituents.

On top of all that, it’s just kinda fun to check out.

Hey folks, this is just a heads up about a new page we’ve added on the blog:

Kennewick Coupons

If you’re shopping in Kennewick, or going out to eat, be sure to check that page to see what local merchants are offering deals and discounts. You can move the map around, zoom in, zoom out, you name it. Enjoy!

The Kennewick School Board met this evening and choosing a name for the district’s new elementary school was on the agenda. The choice, as you can see from the district’s Twitter announcement, is Cottonwood Elementary.