Questions about Spokane (Vancouver, South Hill, Orchards: condo, townhouse, established neighborhood)

[WendyK]

Wow! Three great new posts today on the Spokane thread! And I'm getting a warm fuzzy feeling from all of them. I have to confess that I drive an Audi AND live in the sometimes redneckish area of Nine Mile Falls. Just asked my 13 yr. old son what he thinks about living in this area and he said that it is a little white trashy in Spokane but he always feels comfortable and safe. One difference I've really noticed with my teens is that they don't feel the pressure to "keep up" with fashion trends and that sort of thing...I think the weather here contributes to that, but normal teen attire is jeans, t-shirt, sweatshirts, baseball hats, sometimes ski caps. My sister in Orlando says that her teens are always wanting new expensive designer type clothes to match their friends. Not like that here....It's pretty rare to see kids dressed up at all for school, unless they go to private school.
My son says he might like to live in Seattle if he wasn't living here.
SPokane has a lot of really wealthy people but they don't flaunt it except for their homes. There are also a lot of very poor people but I have learned that this community is extremely generous and I remember hearing a statistic that we are one of the biggest donators to charities, etc. for having one of the lower avg. incomes. Big hearts and small wallets!
I am very fond of the Garland area, D'yer and agree that it's a little "funky" but relatively inexpensive and within walking distance to some great shops & restaurants. Wall St. Diner is one of my faves...and I love to look in the window at Tiger Tattoo and see what's going on in there.
Today was beautiful - warmed up to about 36 and very sunny. Nearly spring like! And the full moon tonight was spectacular until the fog set in. Spokane rocks!

[D'yer Mak'er]

The term "White Trash" is not what I'd have used as a descriptor, it's more something that I saw come up frequently and felt I should address. It's certainly not Detroit, or even Pasco . From my perspective, I would say some areas lack "pride of ownership," but that might even be just the rentals. I've seen lovely big houses that have unfortunately been divided into apartments/four-plexes, and those are the same sort that are run-down looking and in need of a paint job and some yard work. On the flip-flop, I've also seen a lot of work being done on the older homes around town, so my impression is that home-owners are definitely doing their part to bring the city up to date.

It seems the term "white trash" is perhaps being used to describe the industrial areas, too, which are dirty looking. Some of these ex-industrial buildings are being converted into very swanky condos, though, so it seems to be on the up and up. If you can visit the area in May, I believe they have a little downtown happening ("Up With Spokane"' or something like that) where you can actually tour some of these rennovated buildings, and I have heard very good things about what's happening in the city. I would say there are plenty of decent neighborhoods, not just on the South Hill; I haven't seen any cars up on blocks around here (Garland/Corbin). Someone called the Corbin Park area "White Trash", so going by that as a standard you could certainly do worse.

For the record, I meant "funky" when describing the Garland District as a definite compliment! And I think Wendy illustrates my point; the Audi-drivers around here aren't in your face about it or judgemental of those who drive less desirable vehicles. To me that is refreshing. That's probably the mentality carried over into the youth, being less picky about clothing and such than they might be in other areas of the country. I would think being a kid here would be great: fun times in the outdoors, sports, shopping, parks ... it seems like a good family town to me.

I remember visiting Spokane in high school (mid-90's) and thinking it was a bit ghetto (keep in mind I was coming from Montana, where we don't have much for cities, so I wasn't used to seeing a city-scape); present-day Spokane is leaps beyond what I remember and has really come up since then. While there are areas that could use some cleaning up, there are also many beautiful places within the city. The whole town looked stunning the other day with its frosty fresh snow layer. In terms of that "white trash"/"ghetto"/<insert your negative descriptor here> I would rate Spokane ABOVE Great Falls and Billings, MT, Pocatello and Idaho Falls, ID, and the Tri-Cities in WA.

Oh and I love the Nine Mile area. I think about anyone can find a niche in Spokane, there are so many different neighborhoods and suburbs to choose from. You just have to explore and find what fits for you. The diversity makes it fun to visit other parts of town.

[mes3fils]

Hi,
I seem to have the same type questions as Dan. We live in S. Fl and have our share of negatives here...illegal immigrants-Haiti, Cuba, Mexico, Guatamala etc. Not that we have a problem with diversity per se, but you kwim. Also lots of 'rude' retirees that move here from up north, a big turn off.

Anyway, good Q Dan. How would a teen like the area? I have a 14yo boy (as well as two babies) and wonder what he will think of the area when we visit there in early April? Any insight?

Yes, someone please do clarify the 'white trash' that has come up on this thread a few times. There is 'trash' everywhere of course...we just need some clarification here.

From what we know of Spokane, from this thread and from our research and from what our friend that lives in L. Lake tells us-we will like it. But, our trip in April will tell us volumes in terms of 'is it the place for us' to raise our two little boys. We are so tired of S. FL and are definitely going to move 'somewhere' when my husband retires in Jan 2011.

[Michiganmom]

I am glad the "white trash" comments were clarified a little. I admit that I have used the term before in describing people, but I find it hard to describe a whole town that way. And if a neighborhood just happens to have a few old homes in it, I hardly call that "white trash". I tend to think of it as a previous poster, cars on blocks, junk in the yard, police over all the time. Just having a run down home hardly makes someone fall in that category. There are plenty of good people that live in old homes or neighborhoods.

The town I live in now is beautiful, on a bay on Lake Michigan, there are million dollar mansions minutes away from trailer parks. I think no matter where you live there will be a wide variety of homes.

Also wanted to add...in our state, I think Grand Rapids may be close to what Spokane is. And 10 years ago, you would never walk downtown, everything was abandoned and old. The DeVos' (Amway) has put lots of money into downtown and it is awesome now. A big arena for events, huge buildings with condos/office space/etc. in them, etc. it has been transformed. I am thinking that this may be the way Spokane may be headed as well. Projects like Kendall Yards may get some skeptism, but in the long run it really does a lot to revitalize.

My hubby is out there right now working, but all he has seen so far is the hotel and his office. I am hoping he gets some sightseeing in soon!

[WendyK]

Michiganmom you summed it up perfectly. You can't describe a whole town as being just one category, and Spokane has got many different types of neighborhoods, and many different types of homes within those neighborhoods. As you said, there are some people who can afford to keep up their homes better than others but it doesn't make them bad people.

Our lake properties here are like you say on Lake Michigan - some million dollar mansions and other folks living in trailers (with great views!). It depends on when they acquired the lake property because 10+ yrs.ago, it was easy to find cheap lakefront property. But in the past few years, prices have doubled and tripled for waterfront homes/land.

Our downtown is revitalizing since the rehab of the Davenport Hotel and the building of Riverpark Square. And the newly expanded convention center next to the opera house offers lots of entertainment/convention possibilities. It's been really exciting to see how many buildings are converting into downtown condos & lofts for people to live right in the heart of town. I'm excited to see what Kendall Yards does for the west central neighborhood, because the area's homes are architecturally gorgeous and with some refurbishing, it could become as desirable as some of the South Hill neighborhoods.

[Spokanian]

Originally Posted by Dan6200alt

D'yer Mak'er, great insight. Thanks for your point of view, very useful and appreciated.

The issue of 'white trash' comes up fairly often on this thread and that concerns me a bit. Is it because it has been talked about here that you (and others) mention it? Is it like "since you brought it up, white trash is here..." or is it more like, "wow, white trash is really obvious and a problem here and it needs to be mentioned"? What I mean is how bad is it? I'm starting to feel its more than just a minor irritation. I can deal with seeing some of it, (and a bit less of the 'Audi' crowd thats here in Denver too), but I don't want to be surrounded by wife beaters and cameros up on blocks everywhere except South Hill.

It is very prominent.

And that Audi comment caught me... I don't know if it's my luck or something, but I see very few new/expensive cars on Spokane's roads. Rarely more than once or twice a day I recognize something as a model (new or old) that costs more than 30k. 99% of the population here drive older cars. And if you cruise around the most upscale areas of South Hill, you'll see a lot of old cheap beaters in the driveways. The last time I went to the area near Comstock park (Lincoln Rd, I think), that was all I've seen there - 1000$ cars near 1000000$ houses.

Oh... I don't remember if it was mentioned here, but regardless of trashiness of the town, people are mostly friendly here. That's a plus.

[andred]

I lived in Spokane for two years and would like to throw in my 2 cents. The first thing I noticed was the blue collar economy. Health care is the biggest employer in Spokane. Other than that there is not a great supply of professional jobs to choose from. The winter was just too long. Days were extremly short and dark in the winter months. You have to find an outlet in the winter or you will lose your mind. There are plenty of places to ski within driving distance(thank god). I lived and worked on the South Hill. During winter months I could literally stand and look outside from a window at Sacred Heart Hospital and watch people slide off the road and into each other. Summers were amazing. There is virtually no humidity. I remember hiking 8 miles without breaking a sweat. Mountain biking is popular. I wouldn't recommend biking downtown if you value your life(tried it just once). My favorite thing about the Spokane was being able to drive 10 minutes outside the city and be in the middle of nowhere. I met my now wife in Spokane. She had lived in (what she called) "Spo-can't" or "Spo-Compton" for 12 years and was ready to leave. So, alas, I had to bid Spokane farewell.

[quelsen]

I am concidering moving to the spokane area in the near future and I just spent a week there. I guess i agree with all the negative comments I have read here in this thread and I have several questions/ comments

darnit I was hoping to be shown wrong about the food and the shopping,

According to the census there are only 4000 blacks in the city, and i noted a comment about white supremacy. shoudl I be really concerned about making the population 4001?

Are there any organic grociers other than Huckleberries? I am from Lexington KY and we have 4 or 5 in the same population and also have one in most smaller towns

I noticed there was little franchise stuff, does anyone see that changing in the furture?

I work in the IT feild, I get the feeling that I need to focus on a remote work arrangement with my current employer.

to clarify. Is north spokane south of whitworth college or is mead school distrcit concidered the white trash area you guys are speaking of?

[D'yer Mak'er]

To clarify, I see numerous vehicles in the $30K+ price range here in Spokane on a daily basis, and there are many in my neighborhood. On my street, the vast majority of cars are newer Suburus (those seem pretty trendy), but there are also new BMW's, Saabs, Passats, etc. This is in a neighborhood that has been described in this thread as one of the "white trash" areas, so I'd imagine the better neighborhoods have nicer cars. To give an idea of what people are describing as "white trash," here are links to Corbin Park and Summit Boulevard (both have been dismissed as "white trash" areas in this thread) that contain good representative pics:

Summit Blvd: http://inlandtour.debut.net/northside/summit.html
Corbin Park District: http://inlandtour.debut.net/northside/corbin-p.html

My point was that the people here who do drive Audis and such are not, in general, as apt to hold their "status" over those of us who are content with less prestigious vehicles, and seem to be less judgemental than what I encountered in other cities. This is not to say I drive a "beater" or that everyone in Spokane drives a beater. I wasn't intending to use car-status as a means of proving or disproving the "white trash" argument, I was using it more as a way of describing the people, who I would describe as very kind and down-to-earth as a whole. Obviously there are a few people here who do view cars as a status-symbol, as evident in this thread, but in general I have met more people with the "to each their own attitude" who have treated me as an equal despite the fact that I have a penchant for old Ford trucks.

As I've said, I've found plenty of positives about Spokane, but perhaps I just haven't lived here long enough to be as jaded as some of the residents. I can say, I haven't been anywhere else where the population was as down on their own town as Spokane, Washington. I find that to be one of the unfortunate and more negative things about living here, but my friendly neighbors and the great geography make up for that.

[WendyK]

Originally Posted by quelsen

I am concidering moving to the spokane area in the near future and I just spent a week there. I guess i agree with all the negative comments I have read here in this thread and I have several questions/ comments

darnit I was hoping to be shown wrong about the food and the shopping,

According to the census there are only 4000 blacks in the city, and i noted a comment about white supremacy. shoudl I be really concerned about making the population 4001?

Are there any organic grociers other than Huckleberries? I am from Lexington KY and we have 4 or 5 in the same population and also have one in most smaller towns

I noticed there was little franchise stuff, does anyone see that changing in the furture?

I work in the IT feild, I get the feeling that I need to focus on a remote work arrangement with my current employer.

to clarify. Is north spokane south of whitworth college or is mead school distrcit concidered the white trash area you guys are speaking of?

Can't answer all your questions but have comments on a few...Huckleberries is the biggest organic grocery store, but Albertson's and some of the other grocery stores have organic sections. Also in good weather months, there are nice farmer's markets with organic goods for sale

Not sure what you mean about franchises - are they a good thing?? There are plenty of franchise fast food places, stores, etc, but those aren't what bring character to a city. It's the smaller mom-and-pop stores, eclectic type places that lend individuality to a town.

Technically north Spokane is anywhere north of Sprague. Mead school district is about 90+ blocks north of Sprague, which is how the city is measured. All blocks are numbered for how many blocks N or S of Sprague and E or W of Division. Makes it really convenient and easy to find your way around town...
I don't think I'd consider the Mead school district a trashy area, although the actual town of Mead has some lower income housing areas...As in all of Spokane, you will find a few less well kept homes/neighborhoods in pretty much ALL areas.
As far as diversity, I would say that all people are welcome here. The only way for the city to become more diverse, is for more people of different nationalities/races to move here and establish their homes and families here.

Another note on a lot of the negative comments you read on here - I would say that most of the negativity comes from people who have never lived anywhere else and think that their lives are so terrible here...THe people I meet who come from other places and see what Spokane has to offer are the ones who are most appreciative of all the benefits of the natural beauty and other opportunities that Spokane has to offer. You know the saying about whether the glass is half full or half empty...it's all in how you look at it.