Is Tri-Cities Better or Worse Than Similarly-Sized Cities?

Having lived in Tri-Cities for most of my life, it's easy to assume that it's just like other cities, a "my experience is the default experience" type of thinking. I don't travel much so I'm a terrible person to ask if Tri-Cities is a nice place to live. I didn't choose to move here but I did and it's home and it's nice. What about a different perspective?

How does the Tri-Cities stack up to other towns, cities, and communities of its size?

One Redditor took to the Tri-Cities subreddit to break down various aspects of life in Tri-Cities and compare it to other towns of a similar size. If you can't handle possible critiques or criticisms of Tri-Cities, you should probably turn away. Here's what u/LearnandExplore had to say about living in Tri-Cities.

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Several categories were used for comparison and while we won't touch each of them, I'd like to try to give a general overview. These are the areas where Tri-Cities is on par or better than other cities of roughly the same size:

• Highways
• Average income
• Public schools
• Shopping
• Weather
• Housing
• People

Here are some things Tri-Cities could work on:

• Walkability: I have to agree with this one. Tri-Cities has a lot of cars and parking lots but everything is too spaced out. With an overreliance on cars, it can be hard to get around without working too much if you don't have a car or vehicle.
• City center: Yep, without a downtown, it can be hard to hold big events and festivals if you don't want to default to one of the bigger parks.
• Higher education: Despite having CBC and WSU Tri-Cities, this area is not a college town. Fortunately one doesn't have to go too far away from Tri-Cities to go off to school.
• Public transportation: Ben Franklin Transit is it. While they do a great job, they can't do everything.
• Things to do: I'm going to agree with u/LearnandExplore on this one. "Sunsets and driving 3 hours to another city or activity" is not something to do. Think about it. Would it look good on a postcard?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. I think Tri-Cities is a nice place to live but I do hope and sincerely believe that our local leaders are aware of some of the concerns locals have. While we won't be able to build a whole downtown that effectively represents all of Tri-Cities, there are some things that can be done to make Tri-Cities even better.