Working in Spokane Valley, where should I live? (Sprague: crime, new home)

[watcher_b]

My wife and I just moved up here a few months ago and are currently living in Coeur d'Alene in her parent's basement until we find our own place. There is SO much to choose from right now as far as what to buy and we are a little overwhelmed. I've been reading the forums here on the pros and cons of living in Idaho and working in Washington and it seems the difference between staying in Idaho or moving closer to work is small. So I thought I'd ask your opinion, where should we live?

The caveats are that we would like to stay close to family, so we are avoiding Spokane Spokane. We've kinda set boundaries from Spokane Valley to Coeur d'Alene, which is no small area. I really like Coeur d'Alene, we know more people there, but being closer to work is a HUGE plus. My wife is from Coeur d'Alene which makes it easier to look for places there because she knows more about the areas, but we worry we are missing some great places on the Washington side because we just do not know enough about the different neighborhoods there.

I've read that crime is higher on the Washington side, but we just moved from a pretty crumby area in Los Angeles, so our perspective of a "bad area" is a little skewed. We're used to police helicopters flying over head at night once a week So we are happy that we have the opportunity to live in a neighborhood where the cops are not surrounding a neighbor's house every other day.

I think it'll be a little more expensive to live in Idaho, with the income tax and the driving farther to work, but I think it'll all work out in the end. I have not seen a huge price difference in houses between Idaho and Washington. I keep hearing how expensive Coeur d'Alene is, but I'm just not seeing it. Plus we are seeing a whole bunch more to choose from in Idaho, especially new (or newish) houses. We are looking at houses around the $200k price.

Anyways, any ideas, opinions, or thoughts?

[Deena160]

I thought houses seemed cheaper on the Idaho side??? That's only just noticing at a quick glance looking at craigslist and such. Post Falls isn't too bad. We visited there last year to visit my cousin. There seemed to be a lot of new housing.
We like the Valley and are concentrating our search there. Areas south of 16th are nicer, and schools are rated better. There are some nice homes for great prices north of Sprague, but some of the areas are a bit ratty and the middle school has a particularly low rating. Anyone know why?
Homes also seem to be cheaper in the east and west valley areas, but we didn't really go exploring too much around those parts. You have to be careful as to where you'd be in relation to the railroad, I think.
Hope this helps a little. Good luck! :~) D

[vette-dude]

Yep, years back I remember living with my relatives "for a very short time"... with that said, we purchased a new home in the valley and really enjoy it here , in the country but then again only minutes from major department stores, the mall and so on...Actually the house next to us is on the market ....

We did some research "with out realtor" on builders in the Spokane and Spokane Valley locale and found a very good , well established builder that also seems to go the extra mile. We spent months looking on the net and in person all over Spokane before deciding on the valley...up and coming area with new and very short lived in homes....allot have full basements also for your parents to live in someday, sorry just kidding.

If we can further assist, send a pm., oh and the homes range from $196,000 and up , most are 3 bedroom, 2 bath and full basements....so in your price range actually, check them out online as well....

Oh, you can hear the train from a distance, but it's not like "100% of the time, it's maybe 2 or 3 times a day at most..... but is much better than hearing low flying planes or constant dog barking.....we are also close to the Spokane River with walking trails near by...

In regards to crime, seems there is an increase in the city of Spokane; primarily driven by the poor economy, but don't hear any noticeable increase in the valley....check online spokane valley police crime statistics..if you wish to further explore this...yes much , much nicer than LA for definate..

vette-dude

[jessysunshine]

My hubby and I were just chatting today about what a nice neighborhood and area we lived in when we lived up at S. Woodlawn Rd. and E. 16th Ave. off Pines Rd. (If you Google that it's actually Spokane, but it really is Spokane Valley.) There are so many nice, quiet neighborhoods back there, and we lived right by a wonderful school. We loved that area.