Spokane, what's it like? (Seattle: smog, travel, jobs)

[kena]

While I would certainly like to see some additional highrises in Spokane (don't forget the Davenport Tower is new at 21 stories) I actually think the recent projects, including adaptive reuse of existing buildings, is more important than having a new high rise or two. The Davenport has been a massive catalyst for downtown and has, in large part along with the Arena, granted Spokane the option of holidng things like the US Figure Skating Championships (record attendance) and of hosting them again in the 2010 Olympic year and the Mens and Women's NCAA regional baskeball tournaments. The Fox gives the symphony a new premier home and will only continue the regeneration of the west 1st area. If you walk Post street from the railroad to the river you can see so much positive change. You have the Joel's buildings turing into condos, Churchills Steakhouse, the Davenport Tower, the Davenport, new restaurants and bars along post, the Lincoln building and the smaller annex on the corner of post have been redone or are in the process thereof, the Cresent Court has new tenants, the former JC Penny is now condos and retail and then you have Riverpark Square, which despite all the controversy has created a destination for shopping and entertainment. That is just a few blocks on one street.

Sure, Spokane still has room to improve. I'd love to have Portland's Fox Tower filled with professionals downtown. The improvement, however, is palpable for anyone who has spent real time downtown now versus 10 or 15 years ago.

[Deena160]

Originally Posted by kena

You can check out this link with pictures in all directions from the top of one of the hospitals in Spokane. It is a big thread if you have a slow connection but gives a nice sense of place. Spokane, WA What a View! - SkyscraperPage Forum

I wish I knew what I was looking at. I'm getting pretty familiar where areas are just from looking at houses online, but I'm lost here. I love architecture. What are the two modern sloped buildings that point towards each other? I like how they're different, but similarly weighted to balance one another. It's nice to see when other architecture is taken into account when building.
I really do like the old red brick and the the newer buildings that kind of echo that feel. I think some of the newer buildings stick out like sore thumbs. It would be nice if any new skyscraper were the mirrored sort that would echo the red brick instead of competing with it.
:~) D

[kena]

The two modern sloped buildings are the Opera House (on the left) although now it is the Inland Northwest Bank Performing Arts Center or something like that, everyone still calls it the Opera House. The building on the right is the new convention center expansion. The Opera House used to be the home of the symphony (now in the Fox) and is now used mostly for touring concerts and broadway shows.

[Deena160]

Thanks, Kena!!! :~) D

[pattycat]

Originally Posted by Treefriend

Actually the summers in Seattle are great.

Spokane is so dirty and gritty the 105 degree heat seems
even more oppressive.

-----------------------------
Well I've lived in Spokane my entire life, and while every city has "dirty"
areas, I'm going to say I consider this to be one of the cleaner cities I've been in.
And 105 degree heat?? When were you here? Average Summer Temp's are in the 80's. In over 40 years of living here, I can count only a handful of times when temp's came close to that. It's very rare for temperatures to get over 100 here, and when they do, it's generally just for a couple of days. We can also get very cold weather in the Winter, but, again, extreme cold, below zero, is rare, and doesn't last long. Winters can be long, and I suppose severe is relative to what you're used to, but, bitter cold is very uncommon here.
We're fortunate that we do not have problems with high humidity, and are considered one of the safest areas in the country in terms of natural disasters.

[eaglecoug]

There are too many French-Canadians here. The winters suck and the summers are too hot. There are no jobs and nothing to do here. The people are racist towards minorities and the food is terrible. The air is getting smoggier and the traffic is horrific for a small hick town.

[kena]

Originally Posted by eaglecoug

There are too many French-Canadians here. The people are racist towards minorities.

Too many French-Canadians? I've never heard of Spokane having a sizable number of French-Canadians. Not to mention, why, exaclty, would that be a bad thing? Did I miss an irony emoticon?

[WendyK]

Don't ya love these first time posters with their unjustified rants!? I don't think I know even one French Canadian person here. I took some French in HS and would love to see what I remember, if I could find such a person! It's kind of funny that his/her first statement is a discriminatory comment and then he/she goes on to say that "the people are racist toward minorities". I don't get any of it.
Today was a gorgeous summer day, btw. Not too hot at all

[Cahatch]

wow.. some good reading in this... good and bad.. we are flying into Spokane tomorrow... til Tues... gonna be toodling around in our rental car looking at houses and refreshing our 'want' to move.... can't wait to get there... maybe we won't come home this time... for all those that aren't happy in Spokane... I gotta nice home in central ca for ya we will be close to 100 today.... you can have this weather... this menopausal gal has had enough...

Hi Deena... I found you in another thread...

[Deena160]

Originally Posted by Cahatch

wow.. some good reading in this... good and bad.. we are flying into Spokane tomorrow... til Tues... gonna be toodling around in our rental car looking at houses and refreshing our 'want' to move.... can't wait to get there... maybe we won't come home this time... for all those that aren't happy in Spokane... I gotta nice home in central ca for ya we will be close to 100 today.... you can have this weather... this menopausal gal has had enough...

Hi Deena... I found you in another thread...

Oh, yeah...you'll find me all over the place on this forum. Can't keep my fingers quiet! It is good reading--all the Spokane wannabees and wannagetouts putting in their two cents worth.
Hope you have good luck in your house hunt. I think my favorite house has finally been sold. It's been in contingency for nearly two months. We were hoping that it would fall through--pretty bad, huh? Oh, well. Hope you get some good weather for your stay. I know it hasn't been much better there then it has been here on the other side of the mountains. :~) D