is the Spokane area a "safe move"? (Cheney: rentals, crime)

[wantingtorelocate]

Hello! My husband, I and three small kids (4, 2, 7mo.) live in Louisville Colorado, located by Boulder and are from Iowa, we moved here about 2 years ago and absolutly hate it!! There are so many people, illegals and the cost of living is through the roof! We are looking to relocate and saw a possible job in Spokane, we are looking for a nice, affordable, quiet little town where "everyone knows your name" As that is what we are used to in Iowa. I'd like to be near a larger town to shop and do things in but not necessarily live there. With 3 small kids, we are all about our kids and always looking for kid friendly things to do and other families to do those things with also with small children. Good schools are high on the list of importance, pre-school included so any information in that area is greatly appreciated. Also, I'm very curious on the crime rate. From looking at the population, Spokane is just too large for us, I think?! We would like to live no more than 30 miles away in any direction....any ideas?? Thanks so much for your help!

[WendyK]

Other outlying towns to consider would be Valleyford, Medical Lake, Cheney, Deer Park, Nine Mile Falls, Elk, Colbert, Chattaroy, Newport, Newman Lake, Fairfield, Reardan. All these are smaller towns within 10-30 miles of downtown Spokane. Most of these towns are still located in Spokane County, but you could also look at western Lincoln County, southern Stevens County and southern Pend Oreille county (Newport) that would still be driveable but less populated. Crime varies from place to place - most is concentrated within the city limits and gets much better as you get to the outlying areas.

[orygun]

Coeur d'Alene, ID would be a good place for you to look. Doesn't seem as expensive as Spokane at least in terms of rentals. It's much smaller and you wouldn't have an illegal problem there. You won't have that problem much either in Spokane. You could still commute which I am sure lots of people do.