What's it Like for Gays in Spokane? (Seattle, Green Acres: crime, house)

[TheGoldcoast]

I am a gay 45 year old female currently living on Long Island. My partner and I are researching a move to Spokane, but have not yet visited. I am reading so much conflicting info - I have heard from people there that the gay community is pretty much left alone and that most of the crime is drug related and in the inner city region. I have a professional position with a Fortune 500 company and would we looking at towns like Deer Park, Nine Mile, Green Acres, Mead, etc., for a house in the 275-325K range.
Can anyone give some some guidance? What is living like in those areas? Thanks.

[WendyK]

I don't think anyone is going to bother you about your living arrangements. I have some gay friends here and haven't heard of any problems specific to other people's opinion of their partner and/or friends. The outlying areas of Spokane that you mentioned are more of a rural type setting and people like to live there so they're not as caught up in city type living. Slower pace, bigger yards, that kind of thing.

[photogoddess]

Don't let the above poster put you off from the area. There are plenty of open minded people here. Come and visit and see if this might be the place for you!



mod comment: "above poster" referred to has had comments deleted.

[chris]

I'd think your biggest problem with Spokane will be finding a good paying job. Might be some culture shock also, but still a nice place to live.

[photogoddess]

very true Chris, excellent point about the job market and for sure some culture shock!

[thatguy950]

Just one thing to keep in mind about the eastern side of the Cascades is it's fairly conservative and I would classify it is a "red" area, whereas Seattle and the western side are extremelty "blue." That said I'm not sure it would be a problem per se, but you'd probably be more comfortable in Seattle than Spokane...

[LibOrg]

My partner and I are moving there next year. We have gay friends who have been living there for 5 or so years, and they have had no problems at all and find it very comfortable.

[Xenobion]

While you'll probably find no real problem in Spokane (as the city has some liberal parts to it) there was the recent scandal that has probably perked Spokanite's sexual orientation politics.

James E. West (politician) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

James West was the former, and essentially outed mayor of Spokane. While his acts were of child abuse and probably rape it another one of those stories that probably don't work so well with the locals and their views of homosexuals.

[kena]

Regarding the Jim West situation, which surprisingly feels like an old story, it should be made clear that he was not recalled for being gay (I doubt all but a very, very small percentage of people who voted to recall him did so because he was gay) but because he was using city (taxpayer) property and funds to further his pursuit of under-age and barely legal romantic partners. Had he been doing the same thing and courting under-age and barely legal females he would have also very likely lost his job. The fact that he came across as a giant hypocrite probably didn't help either.

[googie]

Having recently moved from the East Coast (New England) to Spokane, I find that the conservatism here makes me very uncomfortable. I had never seen so many fundamentalist christian churches until I moved here. I have been told by other posters here that there are areas of Spokane that are much more progressive than where I live (north side --Mead district) so perhaps a visit and careful study of the different parts of Spokane would be very helpful (something we should have put MUCH more time into). I do know that as a liberal I felt much more comfortable when we visited Portland, OR and Seattle. Best of luck!