Looking to relocate from san joaquin valley

[kena]

Spokane, Post Falls and Coeur d' Alene are essentially one contiguous metropolitan area but they each have somewhat different qualities. Spokane is the 'big city' but that certainly means something different in Washington than California. Spokane is a regional city so it has certain amenities that you'd find in larger cities (braodway shows, arena with sports teams (minor league) and touring concerts, decent restaurants, etc.). That said, it will still feel smaller than, say, Sacramento.

There are quite a few threads on here regarding schools and school districts so I'd suggest you search for those to get a sense of other people's thoughts. That said, district 81 is the main Spokane school district and it is generally good. Ferris and Lewis & Clark are generally considered very good high schools but none of the high schools are terrible or what I would consider unsafe. Mead (north of Spokane) is generally regarded as having good schools and both Mead High and Mt. Spokane are well regarded. Central Valley school district, in the Spokane Valley (CV High and University High) are also thought to be good. Others will have to speak on behalf of Idaho schools.

IMO, Spokane has plenty of nice neighborhoods, safe for families with great parks and services nearby. It has older, mature neighborhoods and newer areas around the edges of the city.

Much of the growth in Post Falls is new. It has the basics (grocery stores, some restaurants, etc) but is really more of a bedroom community for Spokane and Cda. Something else to consider is that Washington has no income tax (it does have a higher sales tax than Idaho).

I personally like Spokane's south hill for its schools, parks, easy access to downtown, shopping and mature neighborhoods but there are plenty of nice areas in and around Spokane. Good luck with your search.

[commstar]

I have posted on this subject once before the link follows and my comments mostly hold. I made some locals angry in my previous post but i came from the bay area and therefore we might see more eye-to-eye they I did with the locals on the board.

Every place has its downside but idaho has a bigger downside than Washington. It is my belief that the Idaho economy is much more regressive and less honest than that just across the border in Washington. After Careful consideration, I abandoned the original intent to move to Couer D'alene for a number of reasons and stability was the biggest reason.

Do something simple like try to research the values of SOLD properties in both Spoakne County and Kootenai County Idaho. Go to Real Estate, Homes for Sale - Zillow oooops no data for the entire State of Idaho. Why? because money talks in Idaho and Real Estate was one of the only things making money for the State the past couple of decades. So, why then can you find no data on SOLD properties in ID? Because one does not have to disclose SALE price of property except when the house is originally sold. One also does not have to disclose defects in Idaho- except for homes that are- get this- "spectrally challenged" that's right HAUNTED- that is the only reason you MUST disclose in the state of Idaho in the sale of a house is because its haunted. One is smart to disclose and most folks would not close without disclosures and I imagine they do not but the fact is they do not have to. No so in Washington. CDA is a house of cards, way overbuilt and lots of folks upside down in their homes because the Realtors were in charge and ran prices way, way, way up. Enough about real estate.

CDA is pretty and has a nice lake- Just don't eat a fish from it due to the mercury levels thanks to runoff from mines further up the hill.

Consider where you will work before you commit to an area. If you live and work in a single state then ok, but if you live in Wa and work in Id then seek tax counsel as property taxes are high in WA but there is no income tax. Kind of a double whammy. Wages in most professions are substantially lower in Idaho than Washington State and there is no Workers Comp (good thing/bad thing).

CDA/Hayden/and Post Falls to some extent is filled with Southern Californians. Ever watch the real housewives of Orange County? Lots of that profile in the CDA/Hayden Area and Post falls near the river. If you dig that crowd then go CDA. I used to be abit more positive about CDA but not since the downturn.


Don't know what kind of medical issues you have but if they are respiratory in nature you will not find much solace here-especially in winter. Shoveling snow off your walk and off your roof at times IS a factor to consider. IF you cannot do it yourself, then you will pay to have it done. Factors. Acquire and maintain snow blower/snow removal equipment appropriate to you situation- up to mounting a blade on your truck. Acquisition of a 4x4 vehicle- factor- not needed 99.9999% of the time but that was not the case this winter.

This is a nice place to live but it is much different than California. I espousing my opinons and experiences here- give them what weight you want. Do not expect it to be Cali. There is NO Chinese food here. There is NO Mexican food here. The locals do not know or understand and will tell you otherwise. Read the following thread for more details.......good luck and if I can help let me know. I am not a Realtor just a California Ex-pat with an opinion.


http://www.city-data.com/forum/spoka...tml#post435473

[RetiredChef]

Commstar made a great post.We moved here from LA, and took 2 years exploring the area and vacationing here for several months during all of the seasons for those two years.When we first thought of moving here we were sold on CDA but that changed very quickly and we choose north Spokane for several reasons.#1 Unless you OWN a business it will probably be cheaper to live in Washington. If you own a business then Idaho is definitely the place to be. Idaho has a state income tax, WA does not, WA pays a higher sales tax and a slightly higher property tax, but our property values are less then they would be for a comparable house in Idaho.CDA is a mixed bag, lots of retirees, lots of transplants and some university kids. The town itself is a mini tourist town (ughhh) and it ebbs and flows with the season. IF you think restaurants in Spokane are not good, wait till you try them in CDA, pathetic.The idea that Spokane is a ‘big city’ seems laughable, considering I lived in NYC, Miami and LA, Spokane is a tiny town. The label of spokomton is also a joke. There is no real crime anywhere to speak of.You mentioned health issues, Spokane has much better medical care and hospitals then CDA area. If something serious happens you usually get airlifted right to Deaconess is Spokane.If you move to CDA, Hayden lake, Post Falls, etc you will find yourself driving to Spokane for nightlife and other entertainment activities. Spokane also has better schools, yes we researched it a lot and we have good to great universities. When it comes time for colleges chances are you children will either leave or commute to Spokane.Also entertainment for the youths is much more plentiful in Spokane then CDA.From Commstar’s post:This is a nice place to live but it is much (MUCH) different than California. (You will learn to slow down a lot, especially your driving speeds.) Do not expect it to be Cali. There is NO Chinese food here. There is NO Mexican food here. (Amen – best Chinese is Gordy’s everything else is scary, Spokane makes P.F. Pukes and Panda Express look good. Mexican try El Gallo Giro, nothing special, but edible about a 5 on a 1-10 scale in Cali but a 9 on a Spokane scale.)The locals do not know or understand and will tell you otherwise. (Amen)The best thing to do is to come to the city and look at the different areas, they all have a very different feel. IMO this is how we look at themSouth Hill – Built up, crowded, reminds me of Pasadena, quaint but not for us.Downtown – A small city, but we wanted to be more rural.Valley – Suburbia-ville – too much like cali, a few places were nice, Green acres (not kidding that’s the real name)North – More rural, rolling hills / mtns lots of green, great views, un-congested and clean feeling.We are all different I know people who think the South hill is great and Northside sucks, it is really up to what you want.Good Luck

[gumms]

Thank you all for your input. We have decided to look solely in the Spokane,WA area. We looked into CDA, but werenot as happy with the area as we are with spokane. Any further info will still be appreciated.

[Deena160]

If you haven't already and you've got the time to sit down and read, you should check out this thread on Spokane. It's ONLY 14 pages long and has been going for a couple of years I think. It includes the good, the bad, and the ugly. If you thoroughly peruse the archive you'll find several threads that have a lot of information on them on probably everything you could think of--different areas, schools, climate, crime/drugs, shopping, etc... :~) D

http://www.city-data.com/forum/spoka...move-good.html