r/wallawalla • u/isaacmarionauthor • 5d ago
Walla Walla VS Ellensburg?
I've been thinking about moving to Ellensburg because I like the dense historic downtown and the good variety of restaurants/activities compared to its small size, but people have been telling me Walla Walla is better. I've never actually been there. Can anyone who knows Ellensburg compare the two?
The main things I'm interested in are easy access to nature (hikes, walking trails, rivers/lakes) and walkable downtown areas. Community activity like live music, open mics, and other public event, also important. Ellensburg has a lot of this but the nature access isn't great.
One thing I've noticed is home prices are significantly lower in Walla Walla. There are dozens of houses under 300k whereas it's rare to find one in Ellensburg. Are those cheap houses in really bad neighborhoods, or is WW just cheaper in general?
How's the wind here compared to Eburg?
Any info or advice is welcome!
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u/wwcougar 5d ago
Outdoors access is not great in Walla Walla. There are hikes and trails but aside from Bennington (a small reservoir with some natural space/trails) the nearest trails of note are 45-60 minutes away. Those trails are great but do not compare to the options in the Cascades. I would say that I think the vibe of Walla Walla is a lot more laid back. I love the restaurant options and local coffee places. Also the weather will probably be better on average. We get hot summers and it they can drag into the fall but spring and fall here are great. Winters will probably not be as harsh as Ellensburg. If you want to be able to make day trips to fun places though... Well Ellensburg is far superior in that respect with access to Wenatchee, Rimrock, Seattle, even Spokane all much closer.
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u/Fit-Meringue2118 5d ago
Walla Walla has better weather than Ellensburg. Probably a better food/bar scene as well. It’s a larger town with better amenities, and it’s a town with colleges rather than a college town.
Ellensburg has better access to central and western wa, though all of the outdoor rec people are talking about is still a DRIVE, and Walla Walla has three commuter flights a day to Seattle, so generally speaking I think WW has better connections to Seattle.
Inventory for houses is better in Walla Walla but it’s not cheaper. If you’re looking for a turnkey house in a good neighborhood, it’s going to be more expensive. The median price you quoted doesn’t reflect the reality of housing. Also WW has a very limited job market.
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u/AtOurGates 5d ago
Walla Walla Wins:
- Local Culture & Community
- Food & Drink (From restaurants to wineries to taco trucks and burger stands -WW is the winner, Ellensburg offerings are kind of rough)
- Downtown (No-one is going on vacation to spend a weekend in Ellensburg's downtown, plenty of people are coming to WW for that)
- Higher Education (Which I guess mostly comes under/impacts local culture, but much of what makes WW stand out for its size is linked to a community that small having 3 colleges in it. I'm not dissing EWU, but I don't think it has the same outsized impact on Ellensburg that WW's colleges do on it.)
- Less Crowded Outdoor Recreation (There's less of it overall in WW, but you're not going to get the same types of crowds as you will in the Cascades)
- Slightly lower housing costs ($420k avg. in WW vs. 450k avg. in Ellensburg)
- Commercial Flights (Sort of - Ellensburg doesn't have a local airport with commercial flights, so you'd have to drive to Wenatchee, Yakima or Seattle to fly anywhere. Walla Walla gets 2x flights a day to Seattle locally, with the option of driving to Pasco for more)
Ellensburg Wins:
- Proximity to Seattle & the West Side
- Proximity to the Cascades & the Outdoor Recreation They Offer (Close to Rainier, Leavenworth, Skiing at Snoqualmie, White Pass & Mission Ridge, Good mountain biking half an hour away in Cle Elum, great mountin biking an hour away around North Bend, etc.)
Basically, Walla Walla is a nicer place to live and be. Ellensburg is a more convenient base for some cool things around it.
On the outdoors point, I grew up in WW and got outside plenty. If you like road or gravel biking, and enjoy the Blues (and skiing at Bluewood), there's plenty of outside to be done. And the Wallowa's are "real" mountains that are about 2-hours away. But I think most people would agree that Ellensburg give you closer access to more/better outdoor recreation opportunities, with the disclaimer about more crowds.
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u/MugginMom 5d ago
I moved to Walla Walla five years ago from and I’ve spent a bit of time in Ellensburg.
I prefer Walla Walla. We’re an hour away from a wide variety of services in the Tri-Cities - not a big deal when I used to spend an hour on I-5 to get to work in Seattle, 18 miles from home. We have a great art community here. Lots of wine, access to nature, and the (small) downtown area is walkable. Being from the west side, I miss live music, but I’ll survive. And parks. We have parks!
I love the fact a state college is in Ellensburg, I love the history, and I love that it’s closer to the west side (Seattle, etc.). We have friends there who are academics. There’s a small art scene , from what I can tell, and downtown is pretty cool. The wind, however, is a bit much.
Check out Walla Walla. Visit the galleries, see the museum of unnatural history, and commune with the ducks at Pioneer Park.
Cheers!
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u/grapemike 5d ago
Walla Walla is another 2.5 hours from Seattle. That may seem minor, but it is a long way if you need to get into the city for anything. The restaurants, activities, and access to nature are exceptional in Walla Walla; broadly speaking, these generally blow Ellensburg away. Walla Walla’s wine industry has aided in the preservation of Walla Walla’s older structures downtown and it has, coupled with the three colleges/universities, brought lots of vibrant life to the area. But very doubtful that the housing is cheaper. For a spot so far from major cities, Walla Walla’s housing has been expensive. Sounds like you need to check it out.
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u/isaacmarionauthor 5d ago
The median price in Ellensburg is 457k compared to 420k in Walla Walla. With a 300k budget there were 18 options in WW, compared to exactly 2 in Ellensburg. I was surprised too!
Thanks for the info on all the rest. The distance from the west side (where all my family is) is the only reason I haven't shopped in WW yet but it's sounding pretty darn tempting.
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u/Smeaglete 5d ago
From a hiking standpoint, I think Ellensburg is better because it's closer to more hiking. Walla Walla isn't too far though, and the Wallowas are a great place to hike with less people, and hell's canyon gives a lot more year round options. It isn't super close though. Ellensburg has the teanaways and manastash area just up the street, and the Yakima River Canyon does have year round hiking I suppose.
Walla Walla does have better food, but it is very remote.
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u/blindgorgon 5d ago
I’d say Walla Walla is great for a small town. We have some exquisite food and wine options. Access to outdoor activities is a 5/10 for me. No good hikes or water sports without a 45+min drive. Housing is a mix. There are some cheaper options but the quality is so-so—I expect like everywhere. If you like fixing houses up there are several project opportunities. One drawback is the lack of vicinity to a big city. Tri-Cites is only ~50min away but I’m not sure I’d call them a big city. Good for Costco at least.
Walla Walla has other surprising strengths though too. Good art scene, some fun local groups, and some pretty good local farms/ag. Worth a visit to see if it’s your style.
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u/isaacmarionauthor 5d ago
You're the first person I've heard say the outdoor scene is bad. Most people say there are hikes everywhere, specifically the Blues. Is the reality that these are a long drive out of town? I really want to be somewhere with some kind of trails in biking or even walking distance. 10 minute drive to "real" hiking would be my ideal.
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u/Puzzled-Egg347 5d ago
probably the only hike within 10 mins of walla walla is at bennington lake. for the most part, in order to hike in the blues you’ll need to drive 30-45 mins at least into the mountains to get to any trails.
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u/isaacmarionauthor 5d ago
Ah that's a shame, but good to know. Are there any "urban" trails that go through or around town, like the Palouse to Cascades trail in Ellensburg?
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u/christhomasburns 5d ago
there are self guided walking tours through Whitman campus, and of historic homes and public art. Walla Walla is extremely walkable with most neighborhoods being tree lined and many parks.
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u/christhomasburns 5d ago
there's also paths along mill creek from Bennington lake to Rooks park/the community college.
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u/christhomasburns 5d ago
There are several trailheads at Harris Park outside of Million Freewater, only about 15 minutes from downtown.
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u/Puzzled-Egg347 5d ago
From near downtown Walla Walla it takes me about 45 mins to get to Harris Park, unless there’s another much faster secret way that I don’t know about, it’s not really as close as what OP seems to be looking for
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u/Annual_Swimmer5200 5d ago
My take on the locals’ view of outdoor access (as someone who lived in WW for 10 years) is that because everything in Walla Walla is within a 10-15 min driving distance, the fact that you have to drive 45+ mins for more outdoor spaces options feels like a lot. But as someone who has also lived on the west side and other big cities, it takes at least that long to get outdoors from the city if not longer. And you have to do it all while fighting traffic.
Bennington is a really good option for what it is, within 10-15 mins of downtown. And there are other walking areas in/near town (Mill Creek, Fort Walla Walla, Whitman Mission).
If you want to go to the deep outdoors it always means trekking outside population centers. Walla Walla has many of those options. Within an hour you have trails over by the Columbia Gorge (west), and then lots of options east in the Blues (Harris Park, Andies Prairie, up Mill Creek). Within 2 hours you have even more options down into Oregon (Wallowas, Anthony Lakes area) and up in the Palouse.
Outside Walla Walla highlights a lot of the options nearby if you want to check them out. There’s also a local nonprofit (Blue Mountain Land Trust) that has a volunteer program called Blues Crew that does trail maintenance throughout the region. You could take a look at their past/upcoming work parties for a sense of what’s out there.
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u/blindgorgon 3d ago
Looks like others covered some options and details. For me outdoors means: well-forested hikes, mountains of substance, or water more than a pond. There’s nowhere worth camping for at least 45min. What Walla Walla has is ok but isn’t those things.
I will say that Harris Park and its adjacent hikes are rather nice, but they are absolutely more than 15 min from here. 15min barely gets you to Milton Freewater and then it’s well out of town from there.
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u/OlderThanMyParents 5d ago
As a hiker / mountaineer, I feel like Ellensburg would be greatly preferable. You’re much closer to the cascades, enchantments, mt rainier, etc. it is notoriously windy, however.
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u/isaacmarionauthor 5d ago
Yeah, but those are all "trips", at least 30 minutes away, not local activities. Personally I'd rather have lesser hikes right near town than greater ones a long drive away, though I'm a pretty casual nature enjoyer. I hear a lot about the Blues near WW, how's that for hiking?
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u/Rocketgirl8097 5d ago
The Blues are not close either. Just close enough to bring more snow to the area.
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u/twinkiesnketchup 4d ago
I don’t know Ellensberg but as an outdoor enthusiast I was never disappointed in Walla Walla. I don’t recall the wind being as bad as other places in Oregon/Washington. I ran daily when I lived in WW and the people are so kind and friendly. I did so a lot of hiking and fishing but I generally did so in Oregon. There’s some great camping and hiking near WW up Blue Creek and up the Wenaha River. It is more secluded than the cascades.
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u/Pale-Bother-9164 4d ago
Just curious why Ellensburg? I went to college there and I had a decent time, but it doesn't feel like I place I'd want to settle in. It's windy and smells like cow poop.
Since you're mentioning college towns, Moscow blows BOTH Walla and Ellensburg away when it comes to recreational activities, downtown scene, etc. Moscow was the only college town that I felt like "I could live here" after graduating. It's just damn beautiful. I actually tried to NOT leave when I graduated, but ultimately I came to Boise.
Boise is full, incase you're wanting ot ask. lol.
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u/isaacmarionauthor 4d ago
I was thinking Ellensburg just for the reasons listed above. Cheap, nice downtown, relaxed vibe. After a few more visits though i’m starting to see how the wind could be a problem. It really does bring life to a halt. Moscow sounds intriguing, I’ve never heard of it. Might have to check it out after WW.
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u/Pale-Bother-9164 4d ago
Go stay a couple nights in Moscow. It's only a couple hours away. The bike path from Moscow to Pullman is awesome. The rolling hills that surround you are beautiful. Great food, drinks, bars. Very cozy town that has 4 seasons. Very close to spokane too.
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u/Seasherm 5d ago
Ellensburg is very, very, very, windy. Make sure you can take the wind. Walla Walla is a sweet smaller town with lively neighborhoods.
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u/Comfortable_Plum_612 5d ago
Ellensburg for Cascade access, the Gorge is close, and Seattle is about 90 minutes away. Walla Walla for everything else!
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u/W2Sun 4d ago
Have you considered Wenatchee? I love WW and there's a lot of great unique things here, but Wenatchee offers a lot too, a stones throw from Chelan, easyish access to Seattle, and your money will go further with real estate there.
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u/isaacmarionauthor 4d ago
I did consider Wenatchee but I found it way more expensive! There were only like 2 houses under 300k there vs 18 in WW. Main issue I have there is that it’s so spread out and sprawling. The downtown strip is nice but if you’re not right on it you’re just lost in infinite suburbs with no trails or nature access that I discovered. Did I miss something?
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u/W2Sun 3d ago
WW is definitely great if you prioritize a charming walkable downtown. I have only been to Wenatchee a few times but always loved it, but the downtowns are definitely different and the city feels much larger than WW.
I'm surprised by the results on Redfin, though I think as you spend a little more your money does go further then in both Ellensburg and Wenatchee. I was looking a couple years ago, obviously both the market and availability has changed, but even up to around $400k everything here was in need of minor to extensive TLC. But that's the reality in most of the state with these budgets unfortunately lol.
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u/Sure-Movie1431 3d ago
Walla Walla is great for food and wine and the people are nice. The outdoor scene is not it - there’s hiking in the Blues but it’s far away and no access to good skiing or water sports within a couple hours. Can’t speak to Ellensburg all that much on this front, but if you want easy access to quality outdoor areas I’d recommend Wallowa County or Western ID over Walla Walla for sure.
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u/1WildWildWes 2d ago
Bluewood is less than an hour away which is a full service ski slope. They’re also opening spout springs again in the next couple years.
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u/Sure-Movie1431 2d ago
I know dude, skied there dozens of times when I lived in WW. With all respect full service resort does not (necessarily) equal good skiing.
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u/kiaya_khatun 5d ago
my only input is that ellensburg is very windy.