By Melissa O'Neil Herald staff writer For almost four years, I've written stories on the positive changes in the Mid-Columbia's economy. And each week I've wondered when the other shoe would drop, when the statistics I collect will turn south. Call me a Pollyanna, but it never happened. Population is up. School enrollments are up.
Housing starts are up.
Taxable retail sales are up. Unemployment is down. I joined the newspaper in August 1991, freshly graduated from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma after growing up in the Portland area. I dried out fast in the Tri-City sunshine but never expected to stay beyond 1993. Now married and a homeowner, with dreams of raising children here, I have a vested interest in making sure the Tri-Cities doesn't falter.