Five things I hate about Ellensburg
February 23, 2022
Ellensburg is a beautiful place to live. We have beautiful rolling hills, picturesque downtown and CWU’s campus full of historic brick buildings.
However, these positives do not hide the underbelly of flaws. They draw students and residents into this town with its sense of community and small-town living. Then once they’re here, the facade starts to slip.
Closed Mondays and Sundays.
The most irritating thing is when I want to go out to eat on Sundays or Mondays and the store is closed. It is 3 p.m. on a Sunday, this is the perfect time to eat lunch. Why are all of these places closed on Sundays and Mondays? Because they are closed, I wind up at Taco Bell. According to a quick Google search, Ellensburg Pasta Company, Lunchbox Cafe and Fidelina’s Taqueria are all closed on Sundays. The Red Pickle, Crazy Wok, Sugar Thai and Young T and Tea are closed on Mondays. In bigger cities, this would not be an issue because there would be more options.
Parking Problems
The parking has always been bad here. Either I drive to campus and someone has parked in two stalls or I go into town and it is impossible to park at my destination during peak hours. Everything is parallel parking or down one-way roads three blocks down. On the bright side, I have gotten superb at parallel parking.
Expensive Movie Theater Tickets
Now, this is the worst thing I could have imagined. Grand Cinema Theater has raised its prices. What once was a $12.50 for a 7 p.m. show is now a whopping $14. This was my favorite pastime, but it now costs more than my Disney+ and HBO Max subscription combined. I will continue to go to support a small business, but I won’t be happy about it.
Slowest Town
Everyone has said this before, but why are some of these roads 25 miles per hour? After passing CWU, Alder Street and Airport Road should be 35 mph. Side streets can be 25 mph, that is fine with me. The main roads should not be.
Lacking Stores
Sometimes people need a bit of retail therapy, but it is impossible in this town. The clothing options are lacking. The small businesses that sell clothes don’t necessarily have everyone in this college town’s style and are expensive on a college person’s budget. Fred Meyer has the worst selection and even worse prices. Buying clothes online can be a hassle, so a drive to Yakima is the best way to get clothes.
Ellensburg needs to figure out their flaws and fix them…or else.
Areina • Sep 10, 2023 at 7:24 am
I’ve lived in medium-large cities, sizable suburbs, and small towns. I’ve lived in or spent significant time in three different countries outside of the US that have varrying degrees of modern amenities and accessibility.
I detested Ellensburg. The first couple of days had me want to drive off a bridge with how boring and lacking in basic modern essentials it is. Its genuinelya depressing place, and extraordinarily overpriced.
Locals will get defensive, because no one likes their hometown to be spat on, but it is truly boring beyond all belief and frustrating to boot. The layout is also horrid. I get it evolved from a little hodunk town to the slightly larger hodunk town it is now, but the planning for those expansions was truly subpar. Oh, and a very large segment of the town is extremely bigoted to boot. Though I suppose that’s just central washington in general, and not an ellensburg special.
I wouldn’t wish for my worst enemy to be stuck living in Eburg, let alone any halfway decent human being. Outside of the university, I doubt many young people will choose to stick around when there are significantly better options out there.
J L • Feb 28, 2022 at 9:33 pm
As a CWU alum, former Observer Editor-in-chief, and someone who just moved from a suburb on the Westside to home on acreage in Upper Kittitas County 18 months ago, I agree with a lot of what you said! I am also frustrated with closed restaurants on Sundays and Mondays. C5 Cafe was a favorite of mine when we moved here, and as of a few months ago their hours were so unpredictable! I gave up and haven’t looked to see if they are better. Fred Meyer clothing and shoes is definitely overpriced.
I would like to add to your list… The lack of things to do for families, racism, poor healthcare options, and the overall fear of progress/change.
The best part about living here is the views and knowing Issaquah is only about an hour from my house.
Jessica • Feb 28, 2022 at 6:59 pm
If you come to a small town and don’t like the lack of restaurants (or those being open 7 days a week) or shopping centers, don’t come live in one. These opinions are the exact reasons full time residents prefer it. And this town has actually gotten too big, in my opinion.
Lynn • Feb 28, 2022 at 6:28 pm
This is embarrassing. This whole article clearly demonstrates the attitude of someone who’s never actually lived anywhere else as an adult. I live in a moderately sized city (150,000) and the movie theater tickets are $17, there’s never any parking, stores that do sell a diversity of clothing options are expensive, and most of the restaurants are closed on an unusual week day (because of COVID). Try living literally anywhere else with a college in it and you will have every single one of these “problems” still.
Sam • Feb 28, 2022 at 5:17 pm
Parallel and congested parking is the norm on almost all college campuses and downtowns. And the reason the roads are so slow is because people live there, it’s a pedestrian-heavy town, and low speed limits save lives. I agree on the movie theater though, but the obvious reason for that has nothing to do with the rest of the town. Grand Cinema has had a monopoly on movies for the past several years.
I was actually just talking about this problem the other day with a friend. The reason so many locals/townies don’t care for college students, or give them shoddy service, is because so many students treat the town like a disposable “scenic locale” that exists primarily for them, rather than a place that exists for the families who live there as much as anyone.
Ellensburg DOES have problems. Racism, a frustrating tendency to exalt rodeo even at the expense of the farm and ranch workers who make the town’s continued existence possible, and at times, staggeringly confusing and insular social support services. It would be super great if these were considered a higher priority to students than, uh, poor selection in the middle of a supply chain crisis and tail end of a global pandemic.
Also . . . or else what, exactly?
Student & Community Member • Feb 28, 2022 at 4:16 pm
This article is so unfortunate. The amount of support that Ellensburg gives to their college students is second to none. The community involvement both on campus and off creates an environment where everyone can thrive. As a student and resident of Ellenburg, some of the “Things I hate” are exactly what people are looking for when they move to this town. Have you ever considered using public transit or walking downtown? How about enjoying the hidden gems found throughout this community on “off-days” such as the miles of walking trails or parks or even First Friday Art Walks? I hope that Ellensburg does not turn into a consumer-centric community, which obviously this author wants to see. Let’s continue to support our small businesses and create the public spaces that make Ellensburg such a great place to live and go to school.
Kyle • Feb 27, 2022 at 10:23 am
Move back to the city. You and your arbitrary opinion are not wanted.
M • Feb 25, 2022 at 8:39 am
4 of these are first world problems
Carrie • Feb 25, 2022 at 5:38 am
Wait you really ended it in “or else”? What are you threatening here? Ellensburg has actually grown substantially and thrived over the past 20+ years. There are so many more options and places to shop and eat than in the past!
Ashley • Feb 24, 2022 at 7:23 pm
Why is something negative about the town you go to school in even being published for the community to see?
You’re not wrong in your points but those factors ARE in fact the reason people choose to live in a small town.
None ya • Feb 24, 2022 at 4:01 pm
Wow you sure are entitled! I think it’s you that needs to do some reflection.