Moving to Spokane or one of the surrounding areas (Seattle: low crime, how much)

[greenacres]

We plan on moving to Spokane or one of the many surrounding areas but have NO idea which place to move to; they all sound great. We would like to find a nice neighborhood, low crime, close to good schools. Any idea which areas are best? I will be working in Spokane. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!Thanks!!!

[Ryan]

If I was stuck working in Spokane (which is a dump most any way you look at it), I would commute from the Coeur d'Alene, ID area. It's immeasurably nicer and a better investment than E. WA side if you're planning to buy.

[dellmelissa]

its not true. spokane is not a dump. Its a great place to live. its beautiful. lots of shops and convience and other things. actually I'm moving to yelm and my parents are selling the house.

[daarrheel]

Spokane is a great city, and though I am liveing in Corvallis, MT now, I do plan to move back to Spokane in 5 months. I lived in Spokane for 15 years of my life and now I have talked my wife and her family to move to Spokane with me. I wish you luck and if I were you I would look into Mead since that is on the North side of Spokane and in my opinion has the best school and living area.

[Ksovs_girl]

So whats the weather like in Spokane? How much snow in the winter, Rain? Very hot in the summer?

[city-man]

Originally Posted by greenacres

We plan on moving to Spokane or one of the many surrounding areas but have NO idea which place to move to; they all sound great. We would like to find a nice neighborhood, low crime, close to good schools. Any idea which areas are best? I will be working in Spokane. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!Thanks!!!

I grew up in spokane, its a nice quite city that is not so quite like it used to be. I lived for over 1/2 year in seattle(mapple valley). I did not like it one bit. Spokane is VERY close to wildlife. I love it! All the camping, fishing, outdoors, hiking, biking, can't change it for any life in the "big city."

Depending on the money you have. Mead is a growing city and good place, upper south hill, spokane valley.

I plan to live in Spokane the rest of my life(currently in mid 20's)

[orygun]

Originally Posted by daarrheel

I lived in Spokane for 15 years of my life and now I have talked my wife and her family to move to Spokane with me.

Have you lived there recently?

[kena]

If you have more specifics on what you're looking for I'm sure you'll get more tailored advice in terms of specific neighborhoods, areas, etc. For weather, Spokane has four true seasons. Some winters will see only a few real snowfalls while others there will be more significant accumulation. A link to weather averages: Average Weather for Spokane, WA - Temperature and Precipitation
Good luck with your move.

[st33lcas3]

Here's some info. take it how you will, MONEY Magazine: Best places to live 2006: Spokane, WA snapshot.

I grew up in Spokane and spent 26 years of my life there. I thought it was a good town until I grew up and started seeing how it truly was.

Politicians who bicker between themselves, a police force that couldn't even keep the Hell's Angels out, infrastructure going to h*ll, air so dirty in the fall you can taste it (thanks to the Palouse farmers), the economy gravitating towards low paying service industry type jobs, the list goes on.

There are some nice things about it. Apparently it has some of the best hospitals in the country. Manito Park is a great place to spend a day, along with the Spokane Falls downtown. Riverside State Park on the north side is beautiful. Being a half an hour from a lot of outdoor activities. Oh, and Bloomsday, the annual road race through town. In other words, it's a great place to spend the weekend, LOL!

It's the largest town between Seattle and Minneapolis, so people in the smaller towns surrounding it believe it's a 'big city'.

If you do move there, the better neighborhoods are -
The area off N.W. Boulevard\Assembly Rd.
Indian Trails
Five Mile
The far south hill Area

Area's to avoid -
The downtown core
Hillyard\Dogtown
Liberty Park\East Sprague
Northtown Mall area

[pw72]

Nobody has responded to the weather question. Here is a good analogy.

Take the upper midwest. Take the Pacific Northwest coastal areas. Combine. That's Spokane. In other words, yes, it can get cold and snowy, but that is modified by the proximity to the Pacific ocean. Summers can get hot with a few 100 degree days, but usually don't last longer than a day or two. Weather is not a real problem in Spokane, but there can be snowstorms, and it can get cold or hot. On the bright side, thunderstorms are infrequent (compared to most of the country), no hurricanes, tornadoes are rare, and earthquakes just don't seem to visit this area.