Best area in Spokane to raise a family (Seattle, South Hill: apartments, sex offenders)

[Deena160]

Yeah, we've started going off track in a "lousy" direction!
Sorry, couldn't resist. The suspected problem we had when we lived in a poorer area was that alot of people didn't use clothes or hair dryers that kill/damage the little buggers--alot of Russian/Asian immigrants who were very clean, but not up on modern conveniences.
Thanks for the info, between what you lot have told me, my various relatives, and the city-data stuff I feel much better armed. We drove over last week for an overnight stay. We put 270 miles on the car just driving all over Spokane and the valley. Liked Town and Country area and west against the bluff, but the access to the airport area where my husband would be working is all through the city or side-streets. There were some nice areas Southridge'ish that would be very accessible, but I really loved the Green Acres area in the east valley. The rolling hills and pine trees kind of reminded me of the Bitterroot Valley. Also lots of ramblers on decent sized lots which is what we'd be looking for for handicap accessibility. It'd be 30 minutes or so from work, but it's all freeway.
All in all I was impressed. The houses seemed well kept and the streets were lovely and wide and hardly any cars parked on them. I guess people actually use their garages for cars there. Not like here. Our neighborhood, which is middle-class nice, has cars parked all over the place because people use their garages for all of their junk! There were lots of duplexes though which seemed really odd. It made it easy to tell where you didn't want to live.
I'm still gathering information about the school districts. I have heard the same as a previous comment about Mead--it's great if you have go-getter kids, not so much if they've got problems. Unfortunately, our family belongs to the latter group.
Good thing I'm a praying woman because that's what it's going to come down to! :~) D

[scottishbloom]

Alaskanmax - why on earth would you want to leave Alaska? I have many friends in the area where you live and it's like 'a piece of heaven'. In fact when we retire (USAF) in 2-3 yrs we're heading NORTH TO ALASKA

[alaskanmax]

Scottishbloom,

Don't get me wrong. We love Alaska and it will be hard to leave. Housing is quite expensive and so are property taxes. On the good side, there is no state tax and currently no sales tax (at least in Anchorage borough). The one thing we won't miss is the LONG cold winters. I enjoy 4 seasons, but 5 months of snow and cold and shoveling can get old after awhile. The darkness doesn't bother me, just being cold and having to wear a coat for most of the year. Do you know how you can tell if the temperature is below zero? You nose hair will freeze when you breath Eventually it would be great to have a summer place here in AK and snowbird in the winter. Also, my husband is hoping to get back into hydropower at a dam. Don't have those in AK
Too bad you aren't moving sooner, you could buy our house. We will be selling in the summer 2008.

[Roses999]

We moved to Spokane 6 years ago from Puyallup (South of Seattle.) It was supposed to be temporary, but we stayed. We didn't know a soul when we moved here, we had visited for a weekend to look for apartments. We have lived in the Valley, Northside and now the South Hill. We love the South Hill. In the future if we move, we will stay on the South Hill. The schools up here are great. The parks are great. We have made a lot of friends here and the boys have a lot of friends too. We plan on staying in Spokane for a long time I think. I'm really glad we moved here, and we have a lot of our family wanting to move here as well (from the West side of the state.) We love having 4 distinct seasons and camping in Idaho. We love going to neighborhood restaurants with the kids. Anyways, whatever you decide, good luck. We're glad we ended up in Spokane (which only happened because I told my husband no way did I want to be a stay at home Mom in Pullman! I thought I'd go crazy with nothing to do, so we came to Spokane instead,lol.)

We contemplated moving back to the other side of the state a few years ago, but we have a much nicer house here in a good neighborhood that we couldn't get for the price on the West side! We get a lot more for the money here, as far as purchasing a home.

[martina26]

Winters are amazing in Spokane. You will get four distinct seasons, unlike in Seattle. Winter starts in November and it gets very cold and it will start to snow. The snow will last until February. I lived in Spokane for five years loved it and would love to move back. It didnt take long at all to learn to drive in snow and you will notice nobody makes any kind of deal about snow like they do in Seattle. Its a very laid back, friendly, safe city. I suggest you live on the South Hill or in the Spokane Valley or in the north end of Spokane. Avoid Hillyard and the neighborhoods around Division Street.

[Deena160]

Roses999, do you or anyone you know have any experience with Special Education in your area of South Hill? What worries me most about moving is that I have one child with autism and another with cerebral palsy and I'm terrified about getting in a school district that doesn't deal well with special needs kids. What school district are you in? 81 is supposed to be pretty progressive, but I haven't really heard about any of the others. :~) D

[WendyK]

Deena - I was just talking with someone yesterday who told me that the Deer Park school district has some of the best programs available for special needs children. I had not been aware of this - you can visit the district website at http://dpsd.org

[ranchoparque]

My wife and I will be visiting Spokane and I wanted to locate some of the areas mentioned in this thread. Can someone give me the zip code (or major intersections) of the South Hill neighborhood? Also names and zips of any other areas that have interesting homes, restaurants, shops. And any must see parks or other attractions. We passed through once on the way to the airport so we have already seen the Davenport hotel.

Thanks!:

[WendyK]

The zip codes for South Hill are 99203 and 99223. You will want to see ALL the parks that are part of Manito Park - the rose gardens, Japanese gardens, Duncan Gardens and the perennial gardens. Major streets on South Hill are Grand Blvd., High Dr. and Bernard St. (all run N/S) and 14th, 21st, 29th, & 37th (run E/W).

You might also want to stop at the Bowl & Pitcher section of Riverside State Park on the NW side of Spokane - there are trails that run along the river with picturesque views of the river and surrounding territory. You could also drive out to Mt. Spokane State Park and hike the trails up there. You can see for miles in all directions from the top of the mountain. You'll also pass some of the Greenbluff area farms that offer fresh produce & fruit, depending on the season you visit.

[ranchoparque]

Thanks Wendy, for your helpful reply. I did a quick google search of Manito Park and came up with this site with great pix.

Manito Park, Spokane Washington