Living In Yakima 7 Months Later. Have I Changed My Mind?

In March of this year, I had to the opportunity to come to a new place to start a new life. I had just been through a divorce after a 20 year marriage. I had recently lost my job at a very large media company due to a mass layoff and had some decisions to make.

I had a new partner (Lisa) and was ready to start fresh. When we visited Yakima during the interview process, we found everyone warm and friendly. Our visit was very brief. 24 hours. Not a lot of time to get the feel of a town and the people in it.

After the interview, we flew home with the discussion of “Are the people there really that nice? Or was it a put on? We’re we imagining it because we needed that to be the case?”

All good questions. None of which we could answer as we had so little time to explore them.

We took a chance and packed up all we knew from California and made the journey to Yakima.

I started March 9^th with The Bull. I was excited. I was scared. I was unsure of what to expect. I just wanted to work hard, get to know people and get to know my new home town and the people in it.

Two weeks later, Rona devastated the nation. Everything shut down. We were in a hotel and looking for a new place. It was a strange time.

Over the months, my limited interaction with others made it hard to get to know anyone. Over time, as things started to open up, my notions and gut were proven right – Yakima, is home.

I have written about how nice, genuine and real Yakimans are. Every town has it’s share of negatives. Some more than others. Some knock Yakima, which I find puzzling. Great weather, a chilled laid back vibe. Good food. GREAT BEER. Great people. Why are you knocking it?

When living in California, my experience leaned negative for so many reasons that are not present in Yakima. If you don’t have the experience or reference of living elsewhere, then take my word for it – Yakima is a great place to live.