parks and walking trails (Spokane, South Hill: real estate, condo, house prices)

[MrGerardo]

I've heard that pretty much anywhere in the pacific northwest you will find tons of parks and walking trails. I'm looking for this around the spokane valley or anywhere in eastern washington. I'm sick of long commutes to work as well as the high cost of living. I live in Chicago and saved up enough to put a large down payment on a condo. What is a typical one-bedroom condo in a green part of town usually cost?

[am81]

I am not sure about the condo. However, I do find it true that this area has lots of parks and walking/biking trails. I moved here from the Southeast and find that to be a different aspect of the area. Most places have at least one or two parks within walking distance.

[ILoveSpokane]

MrGerardo,

It is true that you don't have to go very far in the Northwest to find some great hiking trails and parks. The valley I am not too familiar with, but there are some great Condo's in liberty lake that start in the low $100's. Furthermore, if you look more toward the city there are 3bd 2bth 2 story condo's in the Downriver area starting at 167k and going to the low 200's which are right by the wonderful Audubon Park and a few blocks from the Spokane River and Riverside State Park. Also, Brown's Addition and the South Hill have great condo's as well.

With a nice downpayment you will have no problem finding a nice condo in this area. Spokane is very affordable. Hopefully this helps.

I would contact a realtor in the city. I know there are a couple on this board that contribute regularly. Have a great day!

[MrGerardo]

Originally Posted by ILoveSpokane

MrGerardo,

It is true that you don't have to go very far in the Northwest to find some great hiking trails and parks. The valley I am not too familiar with, but there are some great Condo's in liberty lake that start in the low $100's. Furthermore, if you look more toward the city there are 3bd 2bth 2 story condo's in the Downriver area starting at 167k and going to the low 200's which are right by the wonderful Audubon Park and a few blocks from the Spokane River and Riverside State Park. Also, Brown's Addition and the South Hill have great condo's as well.

With a nice downpayment you will have no problem finding a nice condo in this area. Spokane is very affordable. Hopefully this helps.

I would contact a realtor in the city. I know there are a couple on this board that contribute regularly. Have a great day!

Thank you for the great insight. As a matter of fact, I was looking online at Liberty Lake. The only reason I haven't moved yet was to be near my aging parents; otherwise, I would have left Chicago years ago. I wouldn't be interested in anything big, just a one-bedroom, one bath, near a park or somewhere green, but preferably in a quiet area. Like I said before, I'm not looking to move now; I'm just getting ideas. I'm getting sick of the Chicago area. We absorbed a lot of New Yorkers since 9-11 and these people are buying up our real estate driving up prices and taxes, like what Californians are doing to Washington and Idaho.

[sylvanarrow]

Liberty Lake is nice, because there's a big (thousands of acres big) park at the south end. Also a popular swimming hole in the summer. There's a six mile or so loop trail in there. In the winter, you can go snowshoeing there and might only see a couple other people the whole time. In the spring, lots of deer are around, and I saw a couple of moose this year too.

To the north, just across the freeway is the river with the Centennial bike trail, which is paved and runs more than 30 miles, most of it along the water.

A possible downside (depending on your interests) with Liberty Lake is it's kind of a sleepy bedroom community without much in the way of nightlife or restaurants (though there are some, and it is definitely growing).

Also in Spokane Valley, closer to Spokane, the Dishman Hills area offers a great park with miles of crisscrossing trails (I actually kind of prefer this one for dog walking, because there are a lot of different choices, and you can swirl around different ways each time). Here, you're only a few minutes from downtown via the freeway, and again the bike trail is not far to the north.

For another really big park, check out Riverside State Park which borders the northwest side of Spokane. That bike trail is over there, too, and there are hiking trails you can meander along. I'd say this is the most lushly green section of town, though I think it also gets the most snow in the winter.

In all these areas, you can get a pretty nice 1 bedroom condo for 150k (and a not-entirely-hideous one for closer to 100k). Liberty Lake is probably the most expensive of the areas as far as median house prices.

Traffic is pretty light most of the time in Spokane, and I (living on the South Hill) can get to any of the areas I mentioned in about 20 minutes, so wherever you choose, trails aren't far off.