Best area in Spokane to raise a family (Seattle, South Hill: environment, credit)

[Deena160]

Okay, Darko, it's not enough just to say you live in the Valley. You need to give us a bit more detail as to the area--North Mica...South Veradale...off Sprague...yadayadayada... I won't believe that there are those kinds of problems, especially drive by shootings, from one end of the valley to the other!

Does anyone know where I can find a crime map for Spokane Valley? I easily found one for Spokane proper and statistics that said that the Spokane crime rates fell considerably from 2005-2006. Couldn't find any 2007 info.

It makes my head spin to have one person tell me how great it is and then another freak me out telling me how horrible it is!!! Give me real stats, if you've got them, people and back up your bull! :~/ D

[WendyK]

Deena - I was wondering the same thing....where does darko live? It might be an imaginary place in his own mind I wouldn't take that info too seriously, as that was his first post on here.
As far as checking crime stats, the Spokane city police dept. website has crime maps & stats available for locations within the city limits. I just tried to pull up the Valley police dept. and I guess even though it's an incorporated city, the police dept is still through the Spokane county sheriff's dept. You might want to check each of those sites to see what kind of info you can learn about crime statistics.

[sarah j.]

Darko,
Could you please be more specific about the areas you lived/live in? Where is the Northside?
And in the valley, where do you think are not the safest areas (where you hear gunshots)? ANd where in the Valley are safer places? How about Veradale and Greenacres area?
How bout Millwood. Please advise-- I don't live in Spokane yet, but am moving there so any help would be great.

[kena]

I'm not suggesting Darko's experiences are inaccurate but I'm not aware of any neighborhood, even the worst in Spokane, that experience regular gunfire and drive by shootings. I've had friends in some of the sketchier parts of town that didn't experience that level of problems. Sure, if you live in a rough area there is a better chance of crime (not that any neighborhood anywhere is guaranteed to be safe) but Darko's experiences seem vastly different than anyone I know has experienced.

[eyerishroses]

Hi Deena,
The best place in spokane for children with mildly autistic, one cerebral palsy, elementary, middle, and high school agesis, is medical lake. Medical lake is a small town connected about 25 min. drive to Spokane. Very understanding teachers and counselors. Also hardly any head lice, for most kids there are children of stateworkers and military. So yes they have to be clean. I do not recall fund cuts or strikes from the teachers in Medical Lake. Also has a very high rate in compared to the in town spokane schools, mead and in valley. The rent is not to high. There is recreation for the whole family. Nice homes ,too.

[Deena160]

Thanks, Eyerishroses! Medical Lakes looks lovely, and it would be convenient for my husband's work. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be alot of the kinds of homes that we would need(larger ranch, handicap accessible). I also don't want to live on a big piece of land--I'm a suburban girl at heart. I don't want my neighbors close enough to touch, but at least a stone's throw away would be nice! :~) D

[Deena160]

After searching for info on Spokane Valley Crime, I finally went straight to to the source and got this reply from the Police Department:

We should have the capability to provide internet based maps by this summer. In the mean time if you have a specific area of the Spokane Valley you are interested in, I can refer you to one of our SCOPE (i.e. Sheriff's community volunteers) stations who have printed crime area maps.

Rick VanLeuven, Chief of Police
Spokane Valley Police Department
rvanleuven@spokanesheriff.org

:~) D

[gotwag]

Hi,
I am thinking of relocating to Spokane. I have a teenage daughter and 2 dogs. How are the high schools there? Is there an area where it is safe and we could have a good size yard for our dogs? What is the best area that has good schools and has a safe neighborhood?

[chiaroscuro]

Spokane Washington Crime Reports, Crime News, and Crime Statistics Has a listing of the crimes from 2005 to 2006.

I have been here my whole life and been all over this small city, frequently at night because I have always worked a night shift. Only once have I personally experienced gunshots. I was with a friend at night in his home which is located in the middle of west central (NOT a good area), it was about 11:00pm and there were some teenagers outside yelling at eachother from across the street, one of them pulled out a pistol and fired three shots in the air, then all parties involved ran away. Not quite your hardened criminals. The police came and picked up the shells and took a report. I've never heard of all this massive crime that Darko refers to, and I know people from all walks of life here in this city. I believe they would have told me "there was a drive-by shooting in my neighborhood last night!!" However nothing of the sort has occured. I drive downtown as well, again usually late night or early morning, I don't know what aggressive homeless people he is referring to but I haven't experienced anyone coming up to my car in spokane, ever, for ANY reason homeless or not. I haven't heard of a car-jacking problem or a murder problem. Gangs "Claiming" a neighborhood? It's not like this is a big city! It's not like everyone doesn't know everyone else! Again, I would have heard something along the lines of "well the Latin Kings just claimed my block, it's a major bummer man."

Innevitably, when a 'real' gang moves into town, they stand out in a really sinister way, and the police watch them very closely, since they are obviously the only 'real' gang in town. The police get an informant inside, or just monitor their activities, and the gang gets shut down. There are NO neighborhoods in spokane that the police are afraid to drive through. Gangs don't "own blocks" in spokane.

Whenever police give a list of the different gangs you see in spokane, and they show pictures of the gangs, it's always like six white high-school dropouts who like to break into cars, or cause mischief. Or they deal drugs. It's not a close-knit hardcore group of real gangsters, because again, those groups stand out big time, and whenever they start to get too busy, they get shut down. I don't think this will change either, because spokane is a "token" city, a major gang in spokane would be THE token gang. Not a lot of selection, sorry.

Darko's report must be from another city entirely, I have simply never heard of that level of crime in even the worst neighborhoods in spokane! It would have been all over the news, because it would be news to us!

Spokane is small enough that any news will appear on the ONE major newspaper, or the few local news stations. I don't think I've read of but a couple drive-by shootings in the past 10 years, and guess where they were? In the absolute worst neighborhoods, not the neighborhoods everyone recommends you live in.

Read all the threads in the Spokane group and weigh the opinions for yourself. For every 1 person who talks endlessly about the crime and terrible living conditions, there are 15 people who love it and have never had a problem with crime. Care to wager that the people who hate it lived in the absolute worst part of town, and probably had nothing going for them? Their perspective would be terribly skewed, and probably not a good indicator of the overall conditions one would encounter when moving here (unless you also lived like them).

[ktm2007]

Originally Posted by Deena160

Thanks, Eyerishroses! Medical Lakes looks lovely, and it would be convenient for my husband's work. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be alot of the kinds of homes that we would need(larger ranch, handicap accessible). I also don't want to live on a big piece of land--I'm a suburban girl at heart. I don't want my neighbors close enough to touch, but at least a stone's throw away would be nice! :~) D

Look into the Greenacres area, or Otis Orchards. I don't know how far your husband wants to commute, but it really isn't that bad of a drive (We live in Newman Lake on 20 acres...neighbors aren't right on top of us, but they are still there. It's a nice community). How many acres are you looking for? (Or lot size I suppose) That might give a better idea of which direction to point you in. (apologies if you already answered that. I havent read through all the posts)