Kennewick Real Estate Blog

Kennewick’s wonderful Canyon Lakes Golf Course will host a benefit golf tournament this Friday (May 2). It’s the Tri-Cities Sunrise Rotary’s annual scholarship tourney, and tee time is 1:00 pm. (Registration begins at 11:30 am.)

The tournament raises money for scholarships at a bunch of Tri-Cities area schools: Connell, Jubilee Youth Ranch, Kahlotus, Kingspoint Christian School, Kiona-Benton City, River View, Tri-Cities Prep, Columbia-Burbank, and Pasco High.

I gave up golf many years ago, so I won’t be going to this, but it sounds like a fun time and obviously is for a good cause. And Canyon Lakes Golf Course is one of the best places to golf anywhere in Washington.

(Do they even call it the Columbia Cup anymore? Seems like the Tri-City Water Follies might be the safer name to use.)

ANYWAY … when it comes to Unlimited Hydroplane Racing, you never know what you’re gonna get year-in and year-out when the boats arrive in Kennewick for their annual late-July weekend race. Wonder no more, because the ABRA announced this week that 11 boats will be racing this season at all six races in the series. Says ABRA Chairman Sam Cole:

“It is really exciting to see that we will have 11 national boats running in 2008. We have seen increased participation in each of the ABRA’s previous seasons and it is because of the strong support we get from this group of owners that Unlimited Hydroplane racing’s resurgence continues.

The Columbia Cup, or whatever it’s being called this year, is scheduled for July 25-27, 2008. The boat races are always one of the super-popular things to do in the Tri-Cities, and attract huge crowds to both sides (Kennewick and Pasco) of the Columbia River.

You can read the full release on the ABRA web site.

We had a super-warm weekend here in the Tri-Cities. I think we hit 80 degrees on Sunday, or real close to it. (Of course, the temp was down by about 20 degrees on Monday, but that’s spring for you.)

Anyway, as we get closer to the warm weather of summer, one of Kennewick’s hot spots will — as always — be the Playground of Dreams in Columbia Park. In addition to the traditional playground stuff for kids to do, like climbing, swinging, digging, etc., one of my favorite things is the big water park. Here’s a picture of my daughter (light blue shirt) and I all the way back in 2004:

I’m sure there’s an official name for it, but I just call it the water park. It sprays water on and off constantly, and when the Kennewick weather gets hot, this is the place to be. I’m hoping we’ll go back again this summer. It’s one of the best things to do in Kennewick, no doubt about it!

[where:99336]

Always good to hear about new businesses starting up in Kennewick, WA. Here are two grand openings coming soon:

• RSC Equipment Rental will celebrate the opening of its new store at 9510 W. Clearwater Ave. in Kennewick on Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. There’s a free barbecue lunch, plus product demonstrations and door prizes.
• Wendy & Friends, a wedding and event decor company located inside Homeshow America, is having its grand opening Saturday at 2905 W. Kennewick Ave.

Now you know! Get out there and support local businesses.

There are lots of reasons to live in Kennewick: the weather, the schools, the shopping, the sports and recreation, and much more. Someday we’ll do a big post here on the Kennewick Real Estate Blog about all the reasons why living in Kennewick is so great.

But at the moment, probably the No. 1 reason is … the economy. I’ve done a lot of traveling this year, and friends always seem to ask how things are going in our area. And the answer is always the same: The economy is solid, the housing market is chugging along, and we’re not seeing the same things that are happening elsewhere.

Our local newspaper talked about this in an article two days ago about how we’re bucking employment trends in the Tri-Cities:

Even if there’s a national recession, the Tri-Cities won’t be affected too much, Schau said. With agriculture booming, the local food processing sector will do well, and work on Hanford’s vitrification plant can be expected to generate more construction jobs as long as the federal budget remains solid, Schau said.

So, I’d say that’s the main reason why it’s great to live in Kennewick, WA, at the moment. No guarantee it’ll always be good like this, but we’ve been fortunate so far in the Tri-Cities to avoid a lot of slowdown issues that are hurting other communities.