Trending News
Washington State Zoning Atlas
Building Smarter in Walla Walla
There's a lot that goes into planning a city, and zoning laws play a major role in the process. Zoning laws dictate much of the layout of a city by separating it into chunks and deciding what can be done in those chunks. One of the biggest uses for this information is...
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Measles Vaccination Rates in the US
Walla Walla is Well Defended
In a post-COVID world, our relationship with vaccination is much different to how it was pre-pandemic. Unlike the very recent COVID-19 pandemic, measles is a disease humanity has struggled with for...
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Global Emigration Rates
Where are People Moving?
The organization Our World in Data contains information on a variety of topics, ranging everywhere from life expectancy to poverty and carbon emissions. One that stands out is their tool tracking migration in nearly every...
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Housing Affordability Appears to Have Stabilized, but County Housing is Still Not Affordable
Watching housing prices has become an American pastime. Websites like Zillow and Realtor.com offer often irresistible temptations to check the latest estimate of our and our neighbors’ houses. I doubt that Walla Walla homeowners are immune to this urge...
Read MoreGovernment continues to lead top five employing sectors — consistency is key!
Understanding the structure of the local economy and how it changes over time is important for promoting long-term economic growth in a region. And while it is true that having a dynamic economy, one that can respond to external shocks, is desirable, there is also much to be said for stability that comes with a steady distribution of jobs...
Read MoreWalla Walla County’s Property Tax Roll Has Climbed Recently, Faster than Personal Income
There is nothing more certain that death and taxes. But what about the certainty that taxes always go up? The graph of the property tax roll of all jurisdictions in Walla Walla County would certainly lend credence to the second claim. That is, except for pandemic outbreak year 2020, when property taxes actually declined in the county. Note that this...
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Moon Alvarez
Hometown: Wapato, WA
Major: Accounting and Human Resources
Expected Graduation Date: Spring 2028
Post-graduations plans: Follow the job opportunities, whether here or elsewhere!
After a few months of working on the Trends project, my favorite thing so far: My favorite thing so far is updating the indicators! I've always been a big numbers person. Updating indicators and seeing the way everything has changed over time is extremely interesting.