Spokane...need some details! (Seattle, South Hill: best neighborhoods, apartment, hotels)

[facebookgamer1234]

I'm 30 years old, married, settled, no kids but maybe soon. Have a job offer in Spokane, but I don't wanna live right in the city. I will commute, but from where?? My perfect dream would be about 80,000 population where you get great activities and food, but no crime, traffic, ect. OR smaller town within 15 minutes of a bigger area. The job pays well so we will be able to afford a great neighborhood. Also must have beauty around: river, mountains, parks ect.

1. Whats the best smaller town outside Spokane? Best neighborhoods?

2. Do the people, businesses, activites, show creativity? chain restaurants vs family restaurants? art classes? tea and coffee shops vs mcdonalds drive thru? great breakfast vs dennys? book stores vs apple computer stores?

please help me find a great area!

[facebookgamer1234]

(..oh, and i've never been to washington. We haven't accepted the job yet and we have 6 months to decide whether we want to move there or not.)

[OGTSO]

Based on the zip code in your profile you are moving here from Florida. You will find numerous people on this forum who have plenty to say about Spokane both positive and negative. The first consideration is the weather. My wife and I had never lived in a four season climate prior to this move and the snow and ice are very difficult to deal with for at least six months out of every year. We bought a house outside of town (just North of the city of Spokane but still within Spokane County) on 10 acres and love the area. I am 15 miles from my work which was the reason we moved here. My commute varies from 20 minutes to 45 minutes based on road conditions. My wife has not been able to find a job since we moved here. There is very little traffic here. There is no State Income tax here. We renewed our vehicle tabs and were reminded how cheap it is to renew your tabs. Gasoline is cheaper here, but slightly more than Idaho which is nearby. Do not move too far out of Spokane if your job is in Spokane. When there is snow and ice your commute times will increase quickly. You need to evaluate what you are looking for before you make a decision to move here. We decided to move here so we could get a large lot (2 acres or more) and live in a more country atmosphere with a lower cost of living. You should realize there is a price to pay for more land and a lower cost of living. If you do have a good job offer and you are willing to pay the price of sometimes difficult weather and a slightly depressed local economy then Spokane might be right for you.

[Count David]

Originally Posted by facebookgamer1234

I'm 30 years old, married, settled, no kids but maybe soon. Have a job offer in Spokane, but I don't wanna live right in the city. I will commute, but from where?? My perfect dream would be about 80,000 population where you get great activities and food, but no crime, traffic, ect. OR smaller town within 15 minutes of a bigger area. The job pays well so we will be able to afford a great neighborhood. Also must have beauty around: river, mountains, parks ect.

1. Whats the best smaller town outside Spokane? Best neighborhoods?

2. Do the people, businesses, activites, show creativity? chain restaurants vs family restaurants? art classes? tea and coffee shops vs mcdonalds drive thru? great breakfast vs dennys? book stores vs apple computer stores?

please help me find a great area!

IMO Spokane isn't big enough to avoid because "it's so big", if that's the reason for not wanting to live in it.

Nearby areas include Spokane Valley, Liberty Lake, and even Post Falls and Coeur d'Alene in Idaho. Coeur d'Alene fits what you described, but IMO it's too far of a commute to do daily (45 minutes minimum, in good weather). Every town of size in the area has some element of traffic and crime. There will be plenty of trees in every area around Spokane save for the Palouse to the south, and the plains to the west.

I don't think there's a "best smaller town", or a best neighborhood, I could be happy in most areas around there.

#2 will be your problem, because any sort of non-suburban, more intellectual fare will be found in Spokane itself.

If it's possible, I would suggest taking a trip out to the area, so you can get a feel for things. What you might be expecting may be quite a bit different from the reality.

[WendyK]

You don't need to go too far away from downtown to have the suburban neighborhoods and quieter life you're looking for. As David pointed out, Spokane Valley and Liberty Lake have their own areas as well as north Spokane - the Wandermere area, Five Mile area, Mead, Colbert, Indian Trail - lots of possibilities to give you a little "space" from the city center. Because Spokane is so spread out, it doesn't feel like a hustle bustle city at all. I always say you can get from one side of the county to the other in 30 minutes or less. This morning I had an 8:30 appt. in downtown Spokane. I left my house at 7:30 because I had to make a stop first that took about 10 minutes. I still made it to downtown by 8:05 and was way early for the appointment.

[NWbyNW]

There are many great areas around Spokane, and you can feel very safe in nearly everyone of them. Liberty Lake is a nice up and coming area, with a new planned town center.

Neighborhoods around Spokane that have real nice areas are Town and Country, Manito, and the more rural Five Mile Prairie.

You won't find a suburb (town) around Spokane with 80,000, unless you move to the Spokane Valley which has about 88,000. There is a shopping mall there. It is mostly urban sprawl, but has all the shopping and services you need, and a quick jaunt to downtown Spokane.

[Mounty]

Just avoid ghetto area that I circled...

[Count David]

i lol'd

[CoreLysium]

Originally Posted by David Aguilar

i lol'd

Ditto.

(literally loled, not just saying I did)

[joejoe509]

Lol. Mounty's got it mostly right, but there are pockets of good and bad all over the place. There are always gray areas and exceptions especially toward the edges of his "areas to avoid". I'm not so sure it's as easy as using his map. Just so you know, I'm severly biased toward the Valley. But for good reason!

One thing that quickly becomes obvious about the Spokane area is that it's literally made up of many clusters, or small towns/communities. Everything is pretty well self-contained so you really don't need to venture too far out of your area except for perhaps for your commute or a specific restaurant. People on the South Hill have no idea how to navigate the Valley except for maybe the area directly around the Mall. Same goes for the Northside and those out West. And vise-versa for those living in the Valley. Everything I need is within 5-10 minutes and I have no reason to go anywhere else. This mantra is very consistent all over Spokane's many districts and communities. What this does is it creates a sense of community within each area and each community retains a small-town feel. We don't always feel like part of a large town because the Valley, downtown, the South Hill, etc. might as well be seperate cities even though the are really only a couple miles away from each other.

The main reason my vote will always be with the Valley is because it's probably the most self-contained of all the area communites including Liberty Lake, Coeur d'Alene, the South Hill, and such. The Northside and downtown are the only other areas that offer similar services, but with MUCH more traffic and crime. Even better is when you do need to venture out, the I-90 freeway and Bigelow Gulch/Argonne provide excellent access to literally anywhere in Spokane within 30 minutes. I have a pretty long commute by Spokane standards which takes me from Greenacres all the way to NW Spokane. It takes me 25 or so minutes to go 19 Miles. This would take you at least an hour in Seattle.

The Valley follows a slightly slower beat than some of the other areas in Spokane. It still retains its rural history and it shows. Farm lands are not far from the center of all things commercial. Spokane Valley really is a big slice of typical American small town. But things are quickly changing...

The Valley is among the fastest growing areas in Washington. New neighborhoods are popping up seemingly everywhere. Spokane Valley itself is the 10th largest city in Washington with over 89,000 people. By comparison, Spokane City Limits has a population of 208,000 so we're nearly half the size. I'm no expert, but I bet Spokane Valley will surpass 100,000 in the next 5-7 years. I see Greenacres as its biggest area of expansion as we get closer and closer to linking directly with Libery Lake.

My biggest gripe with the Valley is that it's VERY service industry oriented. It's pretty commercial/suburban and we don't have a whole lot of varying industries. Most people who live in the Valley commute elsewhere in Spokane. Looking for a unique restaurant? There aren't many. The Valley is famous for having an abundance of chain restaurants. Commercial hubs, hotels and apartment communites are plentiful near the freeway like a fertile river. Some areas are less than desirable, but that should be painfully obvious even with some quick Street View research. As a general rule I would stay away from anything too close to Sprague Ave, Pines/I-90 area, or Trent Ave. There are very very few areas in the Valley that are actually dangerous. Even the worst areas are no comparison to the worst areas in Spokane. I'm not a fan of Millwood or Northwood despite the nice houses and mansions. The nicer areas tend to be South of Sprague and in the newer eastern towns like Greenacres or Otis Orchards. These used to be farming towns that are converting to subdivisions and parks. I also really like the Dishman/Mica/Chester area south of Argonne. It shouldn't be hard to find a decent chunk of acreage in any of these areas. There are many beautiful parks and recreation areas in Spokane Valley with views of mountains and hills from anywhere on the Valley floor. You can access the river and the Centennial Trail (look it up) from several locations.

Concerning #2 of your original post: Spokane has a pretty vivid sense of pride for the area and it has a growing artsy side. We get influences from Seattle and Portland and tend to follow their lead in regard to arts and such. Spokane offers many events such as Bloomsday and Hoopfest. Spokane is very food oriented and there are plenty of small unique restaurants/shops especially on the South Hill and downtown. I could make a list of great restaurants and such, but that's another post for another day. By the way, sorry this post is so long. I'm really passionate about my city! :-)