Spokane, what's it like? (Seattle, Bellevue: skyscrapers, hotel, work)

[MMullin]

Originally Posted by jl nerli

What is the illegal drug scene like out there? I currently live in Northern California where marijuana permeates and dominates every aspect of our community. i see that Washington also has "medical marijuana"....is it the same as California...ie, just a way to make a ton of money illeagally?

You've got to be kidding! What N. Cal community are you from? I was born and raised in N Cal and illegal drugs never permeated any community. The only ones that come to mind (perception, not reality) is Santa Cruz and maybe Humboldt.

I've not seen any drug scene in Spokane nor read about it in the newspaper. Before I moved here all I saw in these posts were comments about the meth problem - I honeslty expected to see daily news articles in the paper once I moved here about drug raids. While I am sure there has been at least one article about a drug arrest I honestly can't remember seeing any - and I read the paper daily.

I'm sure you can find the drugs if you look - but I wouldn't know where to start.

[fy10fyr]

Originally Posted by pirate_lafitte

BTW, does anyone know anything about lavendar plants growing in the area? I have heard of lavendar growing in eastern WA.

Grows quite well, almost too well for some of us. It's one of those shrubs that you plant, and suddenly you have more than you need.

Kind of like Zucchini.

[Deena160]

I think it all depends on the variety--spanish, english, french...there's something for just about any moderate climate (as opposed to frozen tundra or desert). Wikipedia says there are 25-30 varieties. One would hope that your local nursery would offer the ones that do best in the area. I have lavender planted by my front doorstep. LOVE IT! All I have to do is hack it back in the wintertime to keep it under control, but that's this side of the mountains.
Now, what I would really like is an out of control lilac hedge like the sort I remember in my grandparent's garden in the Bitterroot. Lilacs do okay over here, but they don't propagate like they do there. :~) D

[popswatch]

Than is my kind of subject,flowers.It brings a smile to my face and the memory of a wonderful scent that is supposed to relax the body and soul.

[Taylor99]

Hi.
I have lived in Big Bear my entire life and my boyfriend and I are planning to move out to Spokane at the end of the year. We're visiting in June. I've never visited so I don't know what to expect.
If it's possible, can someone please tell me the positive and negatives of Spokane and what there is to do, etc etc.
I'd really appreciate it.


Thank you.

[kena]

Originally Posted by Taylor99

Hi.
I have lived in Big Bear my entire life and my boyfriend and I are planning to move out to Spokane at the end of the year. We're visiting in June. I've never visited so I don't know what to expect.
If it's possible, can someone please tell me the positive and negatives of Spokane and what there is to do, etc etc.
I'd really appreciate it.


Thank you.

If you've been following the Spokane threads I'm sure you've seen quite a few opinions to date . I'll take a stab at giving you my thoughts. For positives, and this is a non-exhaustive off the top of my head response: four season climate, little traffic, friendly people, big enough to have some good restaurants/bars/etc. as well as some entertainment options (concerts, sports, symphony, broadway etc.), family friendly, classic neighborhoods, a nice downtown, an airport with decent flights and but easy to get in and out of, easy access to nature, still relatively affordable. For negatives: salaries are generally lower than comparable areas, sometimes has an insider's club feel in certain areas (though this seems to be changing a little), the streets are not in great shape, too car dependent, could be more diverse.

For activities it depends on what you're into but there is a pretty good variety of things here. Spokane does community events well. For example, there is Bloomsday (a road race with around 50,000 runners; Hoopfest a basketball tournament downtown with over 25,000 players and over 100,000 people total); the get-lit literary festival which is a multiple day literary festival which is arguably the best in Washington, a small but nice film festival, pig out in the park (think most cities bite of ...). There is almost every kind of outdoor activity you could want, from skiing to fishing to hiking to camping. There is a decent local symphony, touring concerts, broadway shows, etc. There is a good and getting better restaurant scene. There are college and minor league sports (washington state university and gonzaga as well as minor league baseball, football and hockey). There are several local wineries and a few more seem to pop up every year. You won't find the depth and breadth of certain activities that you will find in larger northwest cities like Seattle and Portland but those cities are significantly larger so that is probably to be expected. Seattle, Portland and Vancouver, B.C. usually serve most people's larger cities fix since they are each pretty close via flight and Seattle is not a bad drive.

If you have specific things you're looking for in terms of qualities or activities, most people here will try and point you in the right direction.

Good luck with your move.

[Deena160]

Well, we've come back from our 4 day trip to Spokane. We used our sky-miles and flew in from SeaTac. What a difference. The Spokane airport was neat and clean and easy to get around in--nothing to be embarassed about if you had family flying in.
Once again, we drove all over the place, by ourselves and with a realtor. We fell out of love with Greenacres. It's still lovely, but the drive from the freeway(Barker exit?) isn't very nice. My husband is a bit more area/house proud then I am, but I had to agree with him this time.
We thought the drive up to North Indian Trail was lovely and we even found a house that wasn't too bad there, but it seemed so far away from everything. I can imagine it would be hard if my teenager was looking for part time work because there weren't many retailers around.
Did find a house that we really liked in the southern part of the Valley. It was in a lovely area of very well kept homes. Talked to one of the neighbors and she was so nice. She went on and on about how great the neighborhood was and she told me about nearly every house that we could see from her front porch. She said that most everyone comes out and visits and the kids come out and play together. It may be Pollyanna of me, but she said everything I wanted to hear, including how they had moved from the mid-west 5 years ago (leaving all of their friends and family) but they were really happy here and the great neighborhood was an important reason why!
Now, all I have to do is get my house finished enough to put it on the market to even be able to make a contingency bid on this great house!!! Please pray or think happy thoughts for me, whatever you do for good kharma... :~) D

[Deena160]

Originally Posted by Deena160

Did find a house that we really liked in the southern part of the Valley. It was in a lovely area of very well kept homes. D

This home had been on the market well over 6 months and a week after we were finally able to see it, someone else made a bid on it. ...with tears.
I won't mourn the house as much as the great neighborhood. It probably needed too much work anyway(sour grapes!). :~/ D

[chiaroscuro]

Originally Posted by Deena160

This home had been on the market well over 6 months and a week after we were finally able to see it, someone else made a bid on it. ...with tears.
I won't mourn the house as much as the great neighborhood. It probably needed too much work anyway(sour grapes!). :~/ D

I had that happen. If you can't be with the one you love.....

[tada727]

My husband and I made a visit to Spokane last weekend and on that basis have decided to move to there. We have been West Coast home owners all our lives. It is time for us to think of what you can get for your hard earned equity and Spokane is the place. We want to maintain a certain lifestyle and continue to work, just not so hard. It is very realistic to do in the Spokane area. Our small town of Monroe has one main road that is also part of Hwy 2 over here. It takes sometimes 30 min to 45 min to get from one end of town to the other and it is about a mile drive. I have commuted for 14 years to a city called Edmonds and it takes 1 hour 15 minutes each way. We found the Spokane traffic busy, but at least moving. We also found several off the main road parallels to get to where we were going quicker. We do that wherever we go. We were impressed with the citys overall upbeat attitude and it did not seem to have much of the current economic stress as over here and across the nation. Weather? well, it is raining here and 50 and 65 in Spokane today. Enough said. We have had a few bad winters here recently, as has everyone else. We are the type to have a pellet stove installed, wiring for a generator in our home, and an RV just in case. We tend to prepare for the worst and then enjoy the adventures that weather can produce. We look forward to the move.