Should the Tri-Cities (plus West Richland) become Onebigcity?

By in Tri-Cities, WA with 2 Comments
Published on February 3, 2009 / Last updated on February 3, 2009

It’s a great question that seems to rear its head every so often.  However, last year they formed a taskforce to investigate further and the taskforce just released their findings – and guess what they think?  According to the Tri-City Herald article

The task force recommends having an independent study done to address the questions, challenges and opportunities identified in the report, which lists pros and cons of consolidation for improving municipal and county government.

O-K, so no real answer, just the conclusion that it’s a HUGE decision to make.  There are several factors to consider – financial implications and the political clout we, as a larger city, might wield among them.

The issue has been brought before the voters before, but recent changes to our area have made the issue something we might want to explore anew.  The taskforce’s report noted these items in particular –

  • A statewide 1 percent property tax growth cap, which is forcing more efficiencies in government.
  • Greater public interest in regional facilities such as an aquatic center, another Columbia River bridge and a performing arts center.
  • A teetering national financial system.

The cities already work together well on several fronts, so we’ve proved that it can be done, at least on a limited scale.

So, readers, what do YOU think?

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About The Author
Cari McGee

My husband and I came to the Tri-Cities in 1994, and we thought it would be a temporary stop on our way to larger cities. He was a television sports anchor at the time, and we planned to go wherever the "next step up" took us. Twenty-plus years later, we're still here and we've loved every minute of it! We have two children now, and we've found the Tri-Cities area is a wonderful place to raise a family. It's a great place to do outdoorsy things -- I like to hike Badger Mountain or run along the river path. I also love reading ... by a cozy fire in the winter or a beautiful picture window in the summer (with the A/C on!). I've been a licensed Realtor since 2004. I earned my managing broker's license in 2016, which means I can run my own brokerage, or create a team of real estate agents and supervise them, which is exactly what I did when I formed the Cari McGee Real Estate Team in 2018! We have administrative and marketing personnel, as well as additional agents to serve you. I became a director of the Tri-Cities Association of Realtors Board of Directors in 2016, became Secretary/Treasurer of the organization, and was elected to Vice President in 2019. Want to talk about real estate? Click here to schedule a meeting with me!

2 Comments

  1. Bob says:

    I vote ‘Yes!’
    Call the one big city “Columbia”. A single large city makes sense now that the individual cities have run over all boundaries between the old city lines.

  2. Cari McGee says:

    Cool idea for a name, Bob! I’m still a little torn, though. I really like the idea of being able to take advantage of the benefits of a big city, but I’d hate it if each of the exisiting cities lost its unique personality.

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