Let down by Spokane (South Hill, Fairchild AFB: home, neighborhoods, buy)

[bluesfan]

Hello everyone, my girlfriend and I are both living in Saint Louis right now and looking to move out west. We researched a few cities and had high hopes for Spokane. We are both very active and love the outdoors, in our late 20's, and work in the medical field. We knew we would be going to a smaller place but the vibe and people there were not at all what we expected. Please tell me if our observations are off base.

We got there on July 4th and visited Coeur d'Alene. Very nice city, we showed up to Spokane in the afternoon and stayed two nights. I really liked Riverfront Park but the first thing we noticed was about 25 people protesting the govt and war. I feel you have every right to voice your opinion I just thought that Americas birthday was a poor choice for a bunch of gothic looking people to take away from that. Yes I am a ten year Army vet

As we walked around it we noticed a lot of young kids smoking, dressed in gothic or punk, and young pregnant girls. The crowd was not at all diverse, which we expected, but a bunch of young disrespectful people. We really enjoyed the fireworks and then on the fifth we checked out the rest of the city. It was a Saturday and the city seemed dead. Where were all the people at? We thought this would be a city of outdoorsy people. We checked out all the neighborhoods, Gonzaga, and some of the local shops and stores. People were ok, but more then one told us not to move to Spokane

So my questions.........

Is Spokane not an active city?
Where are all the regular people at?
Did we just come at a bad time? Everyone out of town?
Does the downtown area always seem dead?


Please don't take offense to his posting. Like I said we really had high hopes for Spokane but it just didnt seem to work for us. I hope people tell me I'm wrong and I just hit a bad time of year. Thanks for reading this

[WendyK]

Hey Bluesfan - Sorry to hear about your disappointing visit to Spokane. Did you happen to read the local newspaper while you were here over 4th of July? You would have seen that the majority of Spokanites don't like that group of "anarchists" either but they got their permit to gather and apparently it went over without any violence (which happened last year). I don't think this crowd represents the true values of most Spokane residents.

If you had driven out a little farther north and west, and hit some of the areas nearer the river and Riverside State Park, you would find the areas that people hike and explore. Did you find Manito Park and the neighborhoods around South Hill & High Drive? Lots of walkers, pet lovers, and nature loving folks around there.

You shoulda called me and I would have taken you on a much more enjoyable tour and exploration of the area! As has been said before, there is good and bad in every city, including Spokane. You might need more than 2 days to explore the town - it's pretty widespread with a lot of variations in scenery, housing, shops, restaurants, parks, etc.

[ArcticPhoenix]

We got there on July 4th and visited Coeur d'Alene. Very nice city, we showed up to Spokane in the afternoon and stayed two nights. I really liked Riverfront Park but the first thing we noticed was about 25 people protesting the govt and war. I feel you have every right to voice your opinion I just thought that Americas birthday was a poor choice for a bunch of gothic looking people to take away from that. Yes I am a ten year Army vet

Huh. I think that would be the perfect time to protest something that you see as detrimental to our country.

And no, I wasn't one of them. lol

Is Spokane not an active city?

I'd say it's a fairly active city.

Where are all the regular people at?

Probably "the lake".

Did we just come at a bad time? Everyone out of town?

To get a genuine feel for a place, you don't visit it during a holiday. you visit it when nothing special is going on.

Does the downtown area always seem dead?

No, though I tend to avoid the downtown area as much as possible.

There are tons of things to do. Hiking up in Mt. Spokane, biking the Centennial trail, there are tons of parks around, like Manito, and Riverfront, etc.

To really get a feel for a place, you have to live there for a while. Perhaps you should try moving to Spokane for 6 months or a year or so and that would really give you a good idea of what it's really like here. It isn't for everyone, that's true. I'm not particularly happy here, but that has more to do with home prices and, more importantly, property taxes. Well that and I don't really like the desert climate.

Like Wendy said, you need more than 2 days to explore a town. Spokane is pretty diverse, and there are dozens upon dozens of lakes in the area that people enjoy boating on, lots of rivers for fishing, mountains for hiking and biking, etc.

Next time you're here, try looking around the South Hill if you want to see some of the nicer areas of Spokane. Or, try going north up to Deer Park if you want to see some pretty awesome scenery. Up north to Deer Park or north to Mt. Spokane. There is quite a bit to do if you're into doing outdoor stuff.

Please don't take offense to his posting. Like I said we really had high hopes for Spokane but it just didnt seem to work for us. I hope people tell me I'm wrong and I just hit a bad time of year. Thanks for reading this

Again, and I want to reiterate this because it's crucial, you cannot get a genuine feel for an area during a holiday. The reason for this is because the entire atmosphere is changed for the holiday.

Another good time to visit is during Bloomsday, during the Iron Man competition (held in Coeur d'Alene), or Hoopfest (the biggest 3 on 3 basketball tourney in the country, if not the world).

[whatever]

I'll second this. We ended up in Minnesota and man was THIS a mistake. We should have rented before we bought and really got a feel for how the people were here. Now I'm stuck here for another 7 years while the boy finished school.

Wherever you decide to go, stay there for a while and travel around the area for the big picture.

[ArcticPhoenix]

Originally Posted by whatever

I'll second this. We ended up in Minnesota and man was THIS a mistake. We should have rented before we bought and really got a feel for how the people were here. Now I'm stuck here for another 7 years while the boy finished school.

Wherever you decide to go, stay there for a while and travel around the area for the big picture.

Stuck in Minnesota for 7 more years? Wow... and I thought I had it rough. I hope you buy lots and lots of coats. Heavy, heavy coats.

[darby14]

Riverfront Park on the 4th of July is the absolute high point here and the people you saw were very typical of the place. I will say no more except go with your gut, first impressions are very important.

[vette-dude]

We enjoy visiting family in the Deer Park area, 40 minutes north of Spokane, but often go to the local parks and have a good time....We were not in town on the 4th of July weekend....but there is alot to see in Spokane....The chamber of commerce has information, and there are various web pages on Spokane and it's highlights....alittle preplanning may help prior to the visit....

[Deena160]

I know there was a lot of publicity and some chat on this forum about all the protest goings-on last July 4th. Maybe most of the "normal" people decided to skip going to the park. :~/ D

[whatever]

Originally Posted by ArcticPhoenix

Stuck in Minnesota for 7 more years? Wow... and I thought I had it rough. I hope you buy lots and lots of coats. Heavy, heavy coats.

Heh... yeah, but the winter is only a secondary issue. Bugs are 100x worse than Florida and the people are robots. This'll be a good time to focus on work and try to build a business.

[kena]

bluesfan,

A couple of thoughts on your observations and questions. The 4th weekend is a bit of a skewed sample when looking at Spokane. First, Spokane is a pretty active city and people here tend to love the outdoors. As a result on summer weekends (particularly holiday weekends) a large number of people go out to one of the many area lakes, camping, fishing, take a road trip, etc. I was downtown on the 4th (before the fireworks) and it was really slow. On top of the people getting away as mentioned above you have a large number of people staying away from downtonwn/Riverfront because they don't want to deal with the crowd.

I'm not sure what parts of town you checked out on the 5th. We had a great BBQ at Manito Park (which was also less busy than normal) and there were plenty of regular people enjoying the day, kids playing, etc.

For the protestors I think it is safe to say that the vast majority do not share their opinion. At the same time, they had a permit and have the right to peacefully express their views. Put into perspective, it was a group of 25 or so people out of tens of thousands there to celebrate the 4th. The area has a pretty strong military community with Fairchild AFB being located just west of town.

I am not sure if you are planning one more round in your relocation search. If so, I'd suggest you try Spokane again and I know people who post here would be happy to provide suggestions to match up with your interests. Otherwise, I hope you find what you're looking for, even if it is somewhere other than Spokane.