Anyone from Yakima?

I am in the Army and f I get accepted for some schooling I applied for, I will likely be assigned to Yakima. The school and the assignment, barring some unexpected change, are tightly tied together.

With that in mind:

I know YTC is tiny and only supports a small group of permanently assigned people; mostly NG/Reserves and a relatively-sizeable civilian force. I know the PX is really a shoppette just like what are at the training sides of NTC or JRTC. I know there's no on-post housing or on-post medical facilities. No commissary? What else?

For the surrounding area: I would assume this will be a great place to be for homebrewing, especially because of the hops that are grown locally. I've seen from a quick search there are 2 microbrews/brewpubs in the immediate area. What else? My wife is a professional photographer and my 3 kids are 12 and under. What's in the area for us as a family?

I've seen that Selah is a pretty good alternative to Yakima proper because of proximity to both YTC and Yakima. Anything else would be helpful. Oh, and I've posted this same basic question on every other forum I belong to and based on some of the early answers I've already gotten:

1) Don't tell me to avoid it. I didn't piss anyone off and I'm not being punished with this assignment. It's just one of the very few places I can go and do the job that I applied for. With the new schooling I want and my past experience and the time that I can PCS, my assignment opportunities get pretty limited.

2) Any assignment is only going to be as good or bad as my family and I allow it to be. We were at Ft. Drum for over 4 years and we loved it. I don't want to know that it's all peaches-and-cream, but I don't want to only hear that it's the armpit of Washington. I got it: it's not a preferred assignment for most people, but realistic expectations are better than Debbie Downer comments.

I am from Yakima. The brew supply shops are limited (the best place I have found is in the corner of an Ace Hardware). There is at least one brew club but I don't know much about them. There is plenty to do here if you like outdoors activities (hike, fish, hunt, etc).

I JUST saw this. I figured there would be more of an active homebrewing culture there with the abundance of hops grown right there.

Anyway, since posting this, I've learned that there is a 1/4mi NHRA-sanctioned drag strip just outside of town. I was able to pick up a 1974 Chevy Nova SS over here in Korea--so you can be sure that i'll find my way to the strip not long after I get the dishes unpacked, haha!

Since you mentioned hunting, what is Washington State like in terms of gun owners? NY State is the absolute worst, I wasn't allowed to bring anything over to Korea, so what's it like there? It doesn't look like it's too bad when looking around on Google, but give me the "local's perspective".

If you are a resident, gun laws are actually really good. It is an open carry state, concealed carry is like $60. No constraints on mag size, automatic weapons with class 3. The only downside is the cost of AR-15s. YTC is ok, the PX is a shopette. I may be stationed there for WAARNG. Are you thinking of going to Central Was Univ?

As for brewing, there is a little bit of supplies at ACE Hardware, not terrible but not amazing. Their pricing on grain/yeast/hops is pretty good. As for brewerys, I checked out Bale Breaker and its a great facility. Yakima is awesome if you like the smell of hops. Oh the hops! I fight the urge to walk up and pick them lol. Over 75%of america hop production is in yakima.