Any reasons why Franklin County, WA is growing so fast ?
Oil/Gas ?
Spillover.
Richland and Kennewick, two of the Tri-Cities are in Benton County on the south bank of the Columbia River. Pasco is the third, and in Franklin County on the north bank.
The Hanford Site northwest of Richland was created to produce plutonium during WWII. It was chosen in part because it was remote from population. Richland was originally a company town for the workers (its population increased from 247 in 1940 to 21,809 in 1950). Hanford no longer produces plutonium, but there are 9000 workers involved in environmental cleanup.
The area is also attractive to retirees, because it is drier than Seattle or Portland.
In 1980 the respective populations of Benton and Franklin were 112K and 37K; by 2000, 142K and 49K; in 2012, 182K and 85K. So while they have had similar numeric growth (both 7K since 2010), the relative growth has been much greater in Franklin County. There were two highway bridges, including one on I-82 that have facilitated growth of the north bank.
