Tri Cities Ranked No. 1 …

According to the Eighth Annual Farmers Insurance Group study, the Tri Cities is ranked the No. 1 most-secure place to live in the United States among mid-sized cities.  Factors considered in the study were extreme weather, risk of natural disasters, housing depreciation, foreclosures, air quality, environment hazards, terrorist threats, life expectancy and job loss numbers.  The study included 127 U.S. metropolitan areas with populations between 150,000 and 500,000.  This marks the 2nd time the Tri Cities has captured this position; it was also No. 1 in 2005 and has appeared in the top 20 six times.  Other Washington State cities included were Olympia at No. 4, Bellingham at No. 7, Bremerton-Silverdale at No. 13, Yakima No. 14 and Spokane at No. 20.