Beautiful place--if you like massive wheat farms, onions, cowboys and state penitentaries. Chamber of commerce types refer to WW as "Van Gogh country", only if you look past the mobile homes surrounded by farm-related junkpiles. Lots of neat old houses in town, and good restaurants too. Town vs. gown relationships are somewhat dreadful. Great well-endowed SLAC, now commanded by a former UW(Washington) Education Dean. There are lots of very bright and entitled students, mostly from California(Stanford wannabes). Teaching loads are astronomical, and like lots of small institutions you will be expected to interact with students in non-class situations. Summer funds are available, as is free(or low-cost) childcare for faculty. Tenure is like the proverbial meat grinder, you can expect to be used up and cast aside when the time comes. The community college has a world-class farm equipment program bankrolled by John Deere, in case you need to consider a new line of work.
Most of this is entirely untrue!
Walla Walla is a rural town, so there is rural poverty, but there is also a really vibrant downtown and some really beautiful neighborhoods filled with big, old, well maintained houses.
Most of the students are from Portland and Seattle, with a much smaller number coming from CA and AK, as well as other places. They tend to be well prepared and enthusiastic. Many are privileged, many are not.
Teaching load is 3-2.
There is not free (or almost free) childcare.
Tenure and promotion are done by a personnel committee rather than by departments. There have been some dubious decisions in recent years, but I can't think of anyone who is a good teacher with a reasonable research profile who hasn't gotten tenure.
