Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We are a South African family living in Phoenix AZ but tired of the heat as well as the education system. We were interested in either moving to Salt Lake city Utah or Spokane in Washington. My husband was very eager about investigating Spokane but people here in Phoenix have told me how horrible it is! I ws told that the crime is the worst in the country and that there are no good schools and that half the population in Spokane is lower income. Please keep in mind that we know Noting about many of the states in the US, and will appreciate if somebody who actually lives in spokane and has kids can reply to my post.
Between the two options I would go with Salt Lake City. But if you live outside of Spokane then Coeur d'Alene, ID is a very nice option. Its about an hour from spokane though. May I ask what sparked your interest in those 2 cities?
We know absolutely NOTHING about them. I have googled them and that is all I know. We do not want to be in the city center. We are looking for a middle class neighborhood. We would also like to be close to good public schools. You might laugh at what I a going to say next but I was told the Seattle area is overdue for a huge earthquake. I googled this and found some truth in what people were telling me. I was looking at something about an hour or two away from Seattle...spokane seems so lonely and far away. I tried to google what it is like in Spokane and came up with a very high crime and a lot of house breaking. I also googled Bellingham and came up with a very lonely city where nothing happens. As you can see, I am completely clueless and would appreciate some guidance.
We are a South African family living in Phoenix AZ but tired of the heat as well as the education system. We were interested in either moving to Salt Lake city Utah or Spokane in Washington. My husband was very eager about investigating Spokane but people here in Phoenix have told me how horrible it is! I ws told that the crime is the worst in the country and that there are no good schools and that half the population in Spokane is lower income. Please keep in mind that we know Noting about many of the states in the US, and will appreciate if somebody who actually lives in spokane and has kids can reply to my post.
I live an hour outside of Spokane, and have a kid.
Whoever told you Spokane has the highest crime rate in the country was talking out of their neck. Crime is definitely bad in certain parts of the city (just like any other city), and there's a pretty serious meth problem... but Spokane is no more crime-ridden than Phoenix is. Also, whoever is claiming that Spokane is some kind of poverty-ridden "mini-Detroit" is definitely exaggerating. Spokane has a very low COL considering what state and what region it's in. There definitely aren't a bunch of millionaires, but your dollar goes a lot further in Spokane than it does in most Western U.S. cities, and the poverty is not as extreme as it is in many other cities. Spokane is more middle class than anything.
That said, SLC is definitely a more wealthy city with a much better economy than Spokane. It's also a much bigger metro. Spokane metro is barely over 400K, whereas SLC metro is roughly 1.2 million, with a CSA of over 2 million. I'm guessing SLC has a lower crime rate as well. It's probably the better choice of the two, for your needs.
Still, Spokane is nowhere near as bad as whoever told you it was claimed.
Between the two options I would go with Salt Lake City. But if you live outside of Spokane then Coeur d'Alene, ID is a very nice option. Its about an hour from spokane though. May I ask what sparked your interest in those 2 cities?
CDA is actually only about 20-30 min from Spokane.
Salt Lake and more so the surrounding metro has problems with gangs and crime. Just Google for the information. Spokane has its problems but are on a smaller scale compared to SLC. Just throwing this out there, but the Spokane area is much more green and beautiful imo. It is hard to beat the beauty of Coeur d'Alene and the lake and really all of North Idaho/NE Washington.
Salt Lake and more so the surrounding metro has problems with gangs and crime. Just Google for the information. Spokane has its problems but are on a smaller scale compared to SLC. Just throwing this out there, but the Spokane area is much more green and beautiful imo. It is hard to beat the beauty of Coeur d'Alene and the lake and really all of North Idaho/NE Washington.
But there's probably more crime in SLC because it's larger. Spokane's crime rate is pretty astounding for it's size.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
