What ‘Urban Dictionary’ Has to Say About Tri-Cities

We're big fans of Urban Dictionary and we found out that people have entered descriptions of real places! So we decided to find out what people had to say about Pasco, Richland and Kennewick. Check it out at their website.

A lot of the descriptions are judgmental -- if not flat out racist. But the descriptions do capture how a lot of people perceive our community. I think a lot of the "problems" in the Tri-Cities comes from our diversity.

I lived in one place that was 98% homogeneous. Everyone's houses looked the same. Everyone at school dressed the same. The businesses were all cookie cutter if not chains. The parks were all designed for baseball-softball with an occasional basketball court or sand volleyball net. They were boring, empty stretches of homogeneous grass.

I also lived two years in a place where every block boasted AT LEAST there nationalities from AT LEAST two continents. You know what? People were HORRIBLE drivers. There was always litter in the streets, sidewalks and parks. A lot of people didn't take care of their yards. The schools had problems. But you had a MILLION options for lunch that were all delicious, fast and cheap. There was a rainbow of options for fashion -- whatever your style or budget was. People were generally kind to one another in public and very tolerant. Walking down the street you'd hear every type of music coming out of shops, homes and cars. I really like living there.

So let's embrace our diversity and work to improve our schools, clean up our parks, and support our police in making drivers obey the law. It will be worth it in the long run. No one wants to color with a box of crayons all the same color.