Spokane: Deer Park (Fairchild AFB: homes, live in, vs)

[Cherylrogers]

Hello all,
I'm new to the forum, so pardon me if my questions are a bit vague. I'm a desert rat, lived in Phoenix Arizona all my life of 32 years! We are considering moving to the Spokane area in the Spring of 2008. I'm tired of the city life and want lots of trees, wildlife, land and perhaps a white Christmas someday!
I was curious what the Deer Park area is like. From some of the photos I've seen it looks very pretty. (Of course anything is prettier than a dirt, rocks and a dead shrub)
I understsand it's considered an outlying area and am guessing about 20 miles north of town. What is the typical commute time into town. I'm used to an hour to work and 1-1/2hrs home, and I live and work in Phoenix! I know it rains everwhere in the U.S except Arizona, but how bad is the fog and snow?
Also, is there growth in the Health Care industry as I'm a Radiology Tech. What about automotive/transmissions. My step-son is a Transmission Specialist/Master Tech for a local dealership here. Not that he has to work for a dealership, but is there a need for techs in the automotive industry?

Your replies are appreciated!

[WendyK]

Hi There - Deer Park is about a 30 minute drive into the northern parts of Spokane where there are lots of car dealerships. In 45 minutes he could be closer into downtown where there are more businesses. There are some really nice parts of Deer Park with views, land, nature and trees. It's a little higher elevation than Spokane, so gets a little more snow, but very small town and country feel. Please write back if you'd like to know more about the area.

[Cherylrogers]

Thank you WendyK,
I'm definattely interested in knowing as much as I can about different areas. Are there any Hopitals or Medical Clinics toward the northern end of town? I've also seen some pretty nice properties in Elk, Chattaroy, Nine Mile Falls, Mead and Chaney. Could you give me some insight about those places as well? Ultimately, I would perfer to be closer to the trees and wouldn't mind driving. In regards to snow, is Deer Park or Chattaroy so far out that they close the roads due to the snow fall? Is so, I may have to reconsider those particular locations. Your information is like gold! Thanks so much!

[WendyK]

Cheryl - Spokane has lots of great medical facilities, too. Deer Park has its own hospital (a friend of mine is in the ER there), and then there's Holy Family Hospital on the north side as well as several independent medical offices. We don't get snow here that bad that roads get closed. I live in the Nine Mile area and my kids have been waiting for a snow day for the past 8 years and haven't missed a day yet! Some of the outlying areas of Chattaroy have kind of winding gravel roads that might be a little remote...it depends on what you're looking for as far as a home and property. Did you visit my website? Oh, and there are trees in most parts of Spokane County except for the Five Mile area, which is a prairie. Some parts of Deer Park are farmland but the views are beautiful of rolling wheat fields against the hills & trees.

[Cherylrogers]

Wendy-
I'm glad to hear Deer Park gets snow, but don't have to dig out of it. Theres a difference I hear from getting some snow vs so much that you can't move in it! I'm sorry to hear about your friend. I did vitis the Deer Park Hospital website but was unable to find a link for job postings. It sounds to me like its a small non-profit "county" hospital, please correct me if I'm misunderstanding. I did also visit your website; you have some very beautiful properties listed. I'm very greatful for you time and information; you'been a terrific help!

[RodFarlee]

Originally Posted by Cherylrogers

...how bad is the fog and snow?

This question stood out for me, because one thing about Spokane is the surprising frequency of dark, grey, sometimes icy winter ground fog it suffers from... surprising for generally dry eastern Washington, anyway. I looked it up:
http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/htmlfiles/westcomp.fog.html
and it says it averages 48 days per year! So it's not just my impression.
The worst area is downtown, west (airport and Fairchild AFB) and northwest (down the Spokane River valley). Deer Park and Coeur d'Alene get fog much less frequently. Even the south hill and north Spokane are often clear but overcast when it's cold and foggy downtown.

[WendyK]

Rod you are right about the fog in Spokane. I have seen some mornings where you can't see 20 feet in front of you. It does vary with elevation and usually goes away by late morning. I remember the first winter my husband and I visited Spokane to see if this was where we wanted to be...we stayed on base at Fairchild and could not see anything! We wanted to find the PX and didn't realize until the 3rd day of our visit (after the fog lifted) that it was right next to the overnight housing place where we were staying! But I think that was the extreme of the fog - most foggy days are more misty than the impenetrable type of fog.

[johnlvs2run]

I'm looking to build a passive solar home on 5 acres or more.

What areas north of Spokane have more sunshine in the winters and also places to run?

[RodFarlee]

Originally Posted by johnlvs2run

I'm looking to build a passive solar home on 5 acres or more.
What areas north of Spokane have more sunshine in the winters and also places to run?

I don't think other areas of eastern WA get significantly more winter sunshine. Most winter overcasts are large-scale, regional phenomena. To get significantly more winter sun, you'd have to go south to at least Boise. Within WA, passive solar might be adequate more of the winter in the Tri-Cities; it's only slightly sunnier, but it is a few degrees warmer there.

Lots of homes here used passive/active stored solar energy for heat, though. We passively store up the solar year-round for 20 to 50 years using photosynthesis, then actively cut, split, stack and toss it into the wood stove! It works, even on an overcast night!

[johnlvs2run]

Originally Posted by RodFarlee

We passively store up the solar year-round for 20 to 50 years using photosynthesis, then actively cut, split, stack and toss it into the wood stove! It works, even on an overcast night!

I love having a nice hot wood stove in the winters!