Best area in Spokane to raise a family (South Hill, Veradale: trip , work)

[Balco9]

I personally think stainless steel sell's better than traditional white or black, plus it looks better...
It's what everyone wants in thier kitchen's now...stainless & granite.
The price difference is not that big, so i would shoot for stainless.
Just my two cent.

[sarah j.]

Hi Roses999,
Your blurb was really helpful. Could you tell me more about the differences between the South Hill, the valley, and Northside. I have heard good things about certain parts of the valley and also good things about South Hill. How do they differ? How is Veradale area in the Valley?
Also, when you say going to "local restaurants", are you talking about ones downtown or are there actually little places like that in the South Hill?

[sarah j.]

Hi, when you say "north end", where are you referring to? North of downtown?
What do you feel the differences are between the valley and the south hill and north end?
Thanks for any help!

[sarah j.]

Hi Poppygrl,
WHat area do you live in that you need to take your daughter clear accross town?
and what might be better, affordable areas to live in?
THanks!

[sarah j.]

Where are the local music places? Are they all downtown or are there some in the Valley too?

[kena]

sarah j,

Although your questions were directed to others hopefully you don't mind if I chip in and try to help answer some of your questions.

When it comes to differences b/w the south hill, north side and valley it is true that those tend to be the three large classifications for areas in Spokane. There are some generalities or stereotypes of each but all three encompass large amounts of the city and all have quite a bit of variation from neighborhood to neighborhood. What are your top priorities in a neighborhood? To be very, very general, the south hill is generally considered a more affluent part of the city with generally strong schools. The northside has more economic diversity although the far north side is probably equally as affluent as the south hill and also has good schools. I'm not as much help in the valley but it too has a mix of nice neighborhoods (some lots are quite large and have nice views) but it does tend to feel a bit more auto-centric in my opinion.

The south hill does have some nice local restaurants, for example, okane, vin rouge, twiggs (also northside and downtown), maggies, luna, picabu, 1228 tapas, (plus some good thai, chinese, etc.) as well as your standard fast food type places. Most of the places I listed have websites that you can find with a google search.

Music places are concentrated downtown but there are other venues throughout the city. Here are the two weekly papers, both with info on the music scene: 7 • Music

This link has a list of just about every venue in town: Music Scene - Local Venues

[WendyK]

Sarahj - I sent you a message, too, with more info about the different parts of town. You can look in your direct message box by clicking in the top right hand corner of the page. Kena is right on with her descriptions and restaurant recommendations. We're going downtown tonight to Niko's for Greek food. It's really good!

[Deena160]

Okay, I know we were talking before about Zillow.com being for laymen, but here's the info that this laymen got from them about the different areas I was specifically interested in. Of course, there is going to be alot of variables, but this gives the top three picks of who lives in each area probably based on stuff like the census, and then gives each group a catchy little name.
Also, the City-Data has a wealth of information if you do your research. You can learn all sorts of interesting stuff. Just type in Spokane on the home page. :~) D
Who lives in...
...Moran Prairie, 99203/South Hill?
1. Suburban Empty Nesters-Older suburban couples with grown-up children.
2. Wide Open Foyers-Suburban families living in large houses.
3. Country Clubbers-Wealthy married couples with children.

...Comstock, 99203/South Hill?
1. Urban Power Families-High income couples with children.
2. Corpororate Climbers-High income, high expense urban singles.
3. Golden years-Seniors over 65 who live in the city.

...North Indian Trail, 99208?
1. Urban Power Families-High income couples with children.
2. Scrappy Homeowners-Homeowning urban singles with low income.
3. Urban Empty Nesters-Mature families with grown children.

...Spokane Valley, Opportunity/Veradale/99212, 99206, 99037, 99216?
1. Lower scale suburban singles
2. Leave It to Beaver-Middle to upper income suburban families.
3. Bringin' Home the Bacon-Middle income suburban couples without children.

...Northwest, 99205
1. Home of the Brave-military veterans, people who have served in the armed forces.
2. Wise Old Urbanites-Older home owning city dwellers in older buildings.
3. Working class-Urban families drawing a mid scale income.

[Deena160]

Talked to someone today who used to live in Spokane. She said South Hill totally closes down when it snows. True or False?

[WendyK]

Originally Posted by Deena160

Talked to someone today who used to live in Spokane. She said South Hill totally closes down when it snows. True or False?

I wouldn't say it closes down but it can become very dangerous driving on north & south running streets. This winter has been the heaviest snow we've had in many years. I don't live on the South Hill but I do occasionally have to work in the area. In the past couple weeks I've tried to show homes on the South Hill and the streets are still a mess - this is well after the snow has stopped and some has begun to melt. There are icy mounds in the streets that make driving like a bumper car ride! I saw many vehicles on the sides of the roads just buried in snow with no sign of having been driven in a while. The Spokane public schools had about a full week of snow days, and this has not happened in several years.
The good news is that the temps have been in the high 30's and low 40's over the past week, the snow & ice mounds are shrinking daily -- the sun has been shining and I even saw a robin yesterday!