Wenatchee residents more optimistic amid regional growth, affordability concerns

WENATCHEE — Wenatchee respondents were more optimistic about the region’s future and less inclined to consider relocating than participants across the broader region, Our Valley Our Future Executive Director Rachel Evey told the City Council Sept. 24.

Those local findings come amid wider concerns about housing affordability, rising living costs and managing growth in Chelan and Douglas counties. The organization’s latest community outreach will guide its 2027–2031 action plan, scheduled for release early next year.

Evey said Wenatchee residents participated in the community survey and stakeholder interviews at rates exceeding their share of the two-county population.

“Your residents were very strongly represented in our results,” she said.

Across the region, managing continued growth emerged as the top challenge. Participants also expressed strong support for greater collaboration among local governments, particularly on community development and land use.

Evey said residents’ understanding of change has shifted since the organization’s previous visioning effort in 2021, when pandemic-related relocation and new businesses made growth feel like a new development.

“Now our respondents told us that change feels like the new normal,” she said.

The findings build on affordability concerns Evey previously presented to the Chelan City Council and Chelan Douglas Regional Port Authority, as reported by Ward Media Sept. 9.

The survey asked whether respondents had considered moving to a more affordable region because income and wage levels had not kept pace with living costs. Nearly 60% said they had considered relocating, including roughly 20% who said they planned to move.

The survey did not establish where those respondents intended to go, so the results do not show how many planned to leave North Central Washington altogether.

At the Wenatchee presentation, Evey said local respondents had thought less about relocating than participants across the region. She also said Wenatchee respondents were more optimistic, even as the broader survey showed a less positive outlook than the organization found five and 10 years earlier.

Evey did not provide specific Wenatchee percentages during her remarks.

“Folks just want their families to be safe and supported,” she said.

Other findings showed continuity in residents’ values. The natural environment, outdoor recreation and neighborliness remained central to what people appreciate about the region.

But participants disagreed about how to accommodate growth. Some called for more housing, while others opposed additional development. Evey said understanding those competing views is part of building a shared vision.

The outreach included 701 survey responses, 269 listening-session participants and 57 stakeholder interviews. Community events reached more than 1,600 people.

Younger residents and people identifying as Latino or Hispanic were underrepresented in the survey. To bring those perspectives into the process, the organization held listening sessions at Wenatchee High School and Wenatchee Valley College and partnered with Parque Padrinos and CAFÉ.

Volunteers are now translating residents’ ideas into proposed objectives across the organization’s six focus areas. A second survey will allow residents to rank priorities, and partner organizations will be recruited to lead and support the work.

Evey also highlighted Wenatchee’s role in the current 2022–2026 action plan, which included more than 15 objectives involving the city.

Examples included downtown residential development, Confluence Parkway construction, emergency generators at key water infrastructure sites and places honoring local cultures.

Our Valley Our Future coordinates and supports that work rather than building projects itself, Evey said. Its ongoing working groups address housing solutions, early learning, wildfire resilience, industrial symbiosis and health literacy.

The organization anticipates additional reports in 2027 on regional housing, agriculture and a possible research and innovation district.

Evey asked the council to renew the city’s financial support for 2027. Mayor Mike Poirier said he had discussed with her how the organization could help city departments through surveys and research that save employee time and money. No funding vote occurred during the presentation.

Evey said the next action plan is intended to give partners achievable priorities grounded in residents’ concerns.

“We have a five-year plan, and we don’t want to just put it on the shelf,” she said. “We want to make sure it becomes reality.”

Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media