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Home / Washington Business - November/December 2005 / Community Profile - Wenatchee: Washington’s Apple Capital Has Small-Town Atmosphere |
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Community Profile - Wenatchee: Washington’s Apple Capital Has Small-Town Atmosphere |
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Written On: November/December 2005 |
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Written By: by Paul Schlienz |
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Wenatchee is justifiably known as the Apple Capital of the World, but there is much more to this unique north-central Washington community.
Located at the confluence of the Wenatchee and Columbia rivers between the eastern edge of the Cascade Range and the western edge of the Columbia Plateau, Wenatchee is blessed with a stunningly beautiful setting. In the shadow of stark, arid mountain peaks, Wenatchee lies in a lush, green valley full of fruit trees. Irrigation, which began in the late 19th century, made the desert bloom and allowed the Wenatchee Valley to become a major producer of apples, cherries and pears. Today there are more than 170,000 acres of orchards in Wenatchee’s immediate vicinity.
When the Great Northern Railroad’s transcontinental line was routed through Wenatchee in 1892, the town grew by leaps and bounds into the regional distribution and commercial center it remains today. Both a switchyard and division headquarters were built in Wenatchee, ensuring its importance. Wenatchee’s railroad connection remains a major asset to the community by providing an efficient means to ship its fruit throughout the country. Even today, Wenatchee has passenger rail service provided by Amtrak’s Chicago to Seattle Empire Builder line. Additionally, Wenatchee benefits from regular intercity bus service from Trailways.
The Wenatchee Valley also has a long and colorful aviation history. In 1931, Clyde "Upside-Down" Pangborn, an aviation pioneer and barnstorming daredevil, completed the first successful, non-stop flight from Japan to the United States by landing in East Wenatchee after 41 hours and 13 minutes. Today Pangborn’s feat is remembered every October with the popular Wings and Wheels Festival.
Pangborn’s memory lives on at Pangborn Memorail Airport, which provides the area with commercial air service through Horizon. The airport is poised to increase in importance as federal funding modernizes its landing strip to allow for takeoffs and landings in inclement weather. In addition, there are plans to expand runway capacity to allow larger planes to land.
On the downside, the Wenatchee-East Wenatchee area (2000 census population 41,514) is one of Washington’s largest urban conglomerations without immediate access to the Interstate highway system (I-90 is 41 miles away). Nevertheless, Wenatchee is still at the junction of two major highways—U.S. 2 and U.S. 97—which provide a good road link to the rest of the state.
Cheap Hydropower and a Small Town Feel
One of the Wenatchee Valley’s greatest assets is cheap hydroelectric power from the Chelan County and Douglas County public utility districts. Because the area’s electric rates are much lower than most parts of the Northwest, Alcoa is able to operate an aluminum plant in Wenatchee—one of only two that are still operating in Washington.
"It’s great to have Alcoa’s 300 to 400 high-paying jobs in our neck of the woods," Craig Larsen, executive director of the Wenatchee Valley Chamber of Commerce said. "Lots of house payments are being made and lots of kids are being put through college because Alcoa is here."
Wenatchee has much to offer businesses in addition to cheap electric rates. Approximately 75 to 80 percent of Wenatchee is wired for high-speed Internet.
Thanks, in part, to Wenatchee Valley College, which is linked to degree programs at Central Washington University and Eastern Washington University, Wenatchee has a well-trained labor force. As an added bonus, the college also assists businesses if employees need new vocational or advanced educational training.
Most important of all, Wenatchee offers a great quality of life. Although Wenatchee has many urban amenities, including a wide variety of shopping and restaurants, cultural and entertainment opportunities, including a symphony orchestra and a strong K-12 school system, it also has significantly lower housing costs than the urban centers of the Puget Sound. In addition, it is mercifully free of traffic congestion.
"We still have a small town feel in Wenatchee," Larsen observed. "There’s a closeness and sense of community here that you just don’t see in the large cities. You can really feel it when you go to a high school football game and you see that the whole town is there."
Thanks to Wenatchee’s absence of traffic congestion and extensive urban sprawl, the area’s great natural beauty and abundant recreational opportunities are accessible in ways that would surprise residents of the more heavily urbanized parts of the state.
"I have friends who say, 'I’m going to take off two hours today and ski at Mission Ridge,'" Wenatchee Mayor Dennis Johnson said. "It’s just a short ride up there—only 13 miles from the heart of Wenatchee. You can have some great skiing for a couple of hours over lunch and be back at work at 2:30. It’s wonderful."
Retirees and Tourists in Wenatchee’s Future
Wenatchee’s quality of life and reasonable cost of living are also attracting retirees. Reflecting the area’s popularity as a retirement spot, non-labor income, including pensions, investments, Social Security and other sources, has been the number one area of growth in Chelan County over the past 30 years.
Wenatchee’s retirees typically come from the Puget Sound region where they sell homes at hyper-inflated prices. In Wenatchee, they then purchase excellent housing at a much lower cost, and keep a hefty profit from the sale of their original homes.
Retirees are also attracted by Wenatchee’s excellent medical services. Wenatchee Valley Medical Center boasts more than 200 specialists. Nearby Central Washington Hospital is a trauma center, and includes open heart surgery among its many services. Meanwhile, Wenatchee Valley College is beginning a $28 million expansion of its nursing program in order to remedy a shortage of nurses in the hospitals.
Thanks to Wenatchee’s lack of traffic congestion, all these services are easily accessible.
"You can actually get to your health care provider within 15 minutes," Johnson stated. "You’re in the doctor’s waiting room. You’re not having an hour commute."
Tourism is also growing in this community with a beautiful natural setting and 300 days of sunshine per year. With easy access to Leavenworth, Lake Chelan and the Mission Ridge ski area, which is undergoing major improvements for the 2005-2006 skiing season, Wenatchee is a natural for tourists.
In addition, wineries and wine tourism are now becoming a significant factor in the Wenatchee Valley.
Wenatchee itself possesses a well preserved, vital and pedestrian-friendly downtown that still has much early 20th century charm. Among downtown’s attractions are a performing arts center, a convention center and the renowned North Central Washington Museum. Adding to the district’s appeal is the “Art on the Avenues” program, which is responsible for the numerous statues that grace the sidewalks of central Wenatchee.
After many years of hiding its waterfront behind railroad tracks and warehouses, Wenatchee is rediscovering one of its greatest assets, the Columbia River. In recent years, the city has turned much of its waterfront into a lovely park with walking trails and great views of the river.
Now, Wenatchee is embarking on the next phase of waterfront development, which will include high-density residential housing, retail, and a multi-function sports and entertainment complex with seating for 5,000.
Changes, indeed, are coming to Wenatchee, but it is a good bet that even as this community grows, it will find ways to hold on to its unique and appealing character.
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