Some Questions about Spokane (house, live, beach)

[chopperimpala]

Seems like for most here, the positives OUT-WEIGH the negatives!!! But for me, I moved here in '84 and have been trying to get out of here since '85!!! I live here becuase I have a good job, a family, and a decent house in a good neighborhood. To me the snowfall is TERRIBLE!! It is colder than warmer throughout the year, and yes June, July and August are nice, but I would like to be warm in Septmber thru May also. If you like hunting, this seems the place to be! As long as you don't have a Felony conviction (although after 7 years I believe you can have gun rights re-instated??) You are able to get a hunting permit with little to zero difficulty. Spokane is a relatively "cheap" economical place to live. Jobs are "O.K." around here although as of lately that seems to have changed a little, for the worse. Yet 3 of my kids aged 18-22 have been able to get jobs and support themselves, as they all live on thier own. Another down trend for ME a home seller ( I have a rental house I am trying to sell) is that when listed 6 months ago it was appraised at $150,000. It has now been reduced to $129,500, and I have still yet to sell it!!! So with all that said, you may be wondering why after 25 years I am still here (because I HONESTLY HATE Spokane!!! Actually the Rain, Cold, & Snow not necissarily the city per-se) It is because I am from San Diego, and The ONLY place I am willing to pack up all my stuff and family for, would be to move back to San Diego, but the current economy down there with jobs prevents that, and the housing prior to that prevented me then. So all in all, Spokane is a good place to raise a family in a town with decent morals and values. BUT, I would prefer to cruise my Hot Rod, or ride my Harley in San Diego and would leave here in AN INSTANT if I could.
As a side note, there may not be a "shooting down the block" on a regular basis, but I am very close friends with a Spokane Police Officer, and know for a fact that there is a "little more crime" than most know about around here. There IS a "small" gang problem, and we do have one of the highest meth. lab incidents per city size. But take all this with a grain of salt as I am a very BIASED against Spokane, as I don't... Ski, Snowmobile, Hunt, camp, water ski, nor love the great outdoors, etc. So there isn't really a reason for me to be here anyways?!?!?!? Good luck, Ken

[Spokane Soon]

I feel your pain, and I thank you for your honest comments. We are leaving here because my husband was offered an early retirement, which won't wholly support us, but with a half way decent job or parttime great job we can make ends meet in Spokane. He works in a physically demanding job and getting a little older, still has a few years of workability, but needs to maybe get a job with less hours or days. We figure we can get something there to hold us over until his other pension kicks in in three years, at which time we're hoping he can fully retire, still 'early'. The other thing is we are fleeing California because of the future we see coming. We are not rich. We love the weather here and we have a comfortable home, but we would not be able to retire here, it's too expensive to live for that.

My husband is an avid fisherman, and not so avid hunter anymore, but would be if he lived in the right place. We own a ski boat and use it a great deal. We love to camp and be in the out of doors. Both of us have dreamed of 'living in the trees' again since we left Flagstaff after the birth of our first child. We made a trip to Sand Point a few years ago with friends, and fell in love. (We've been on a mission for about 7 years to find the place to retire to). It's obvious that the place to live AND WORK is Spokane, but the surrounding area is so beautiful and water so plentiful that we feel this is the place for us. Besides Flagstaff, we have lived in Ohio and Michigan so we know how it is to live in the cold and snow, so feel we are prepared for that. I know it can be annoying, and for some unbearable....well for most humans it is, towards the end of the season, but you have a trade-off to make for any place that you live, and this is it in Spokane. Actually another trade-off is leaving our grown children behind. I dread this more than anything. The truth of the matter is though, that we need to make our own way. We truly cannot make it here in our retirement years, and we have been given the opportunity to set up a little early while we are more capable to make the move on our own and to enjoy the area before we get incapacitated, or slow down to the point that we can't enjoy the area the way we want to. We have budgeted for visits down here on a regular basis, and that will just have to do. We are excited and looking forward to our new future.

Times are tight everywhere. We won't make as much money from our home as before, but it's the same all over. It would be very difficult though for you coming from Spokane and affording San Diego again. The state of California is so awesome, if it weren't for the state of the world, and our government (federal as well as state). I could go on and on about this, but don't want to detract from the real issue of this website, and that is relocation.

Anyway, thank you for your post and I hope you find a way to get where you want to be somehow.

[Raelyn28]

Geez my husband and I would give anything to be in Spokane right now and my boys would love to be snowboarding at this very minute. The only thing that is keeping us from moving back is the lack of employment for my husband. He is currently under contract until August with the hospital that he works at.

I really wouldn't mind packing my bags right now and heading back. And honestly I cannot believe someone would leave Spokane for San Diego. I guess it just boils down to personal preference. I lived in North San Diego County and went to school in San Diego for five years then moved to Orange county. I lived in SoCal for two decades and prayed for years that we could move out of that rat race. When the time finally came and my prayers were answered I couldn't wait to leave and I have NEVER been back after being gone now for ten years!!

We moved from SoCal to Oregon and I loved it...then to Spokane. I love the snow, the change of seasons and the natural beauty of the PNW. It is one of the prettiest places in the country. Yes the weather is warmer in SoCal but it is so darn boring to never have seasons. Thanksgiving and Christmas don't even seem like holidays there.. I won't even go into all the details but I would never give up the PNW for SoCal...

I don't know, I guess "to each his own" or so the saying goes...

[Raelyn28]

The snowfall is terrible?? My gosh, don't you like natural beauty.. Go get a snowblower and take up skiing.. Wah, wah, wah... I'll trade you places.

Originally Posted by chopperimpala

Seems like for most here, the positives OUT-WEIGH the negatives!!! But for me, I moved here in '84 and have been trying to get out of here since '85!!! I live here becuase I have a good job, a family, and a decent house in a good neighborhood. To me the snowfall is TERRIBLE!! It is colder than warmer throughout the year, and yes June, July and August are nice, but I would like to be warm in Septmber thru May also. If you like hunting, this seems the place to be! As long as you don't have a Felony conviction (although after 7 years I believe you can have gun rights re-instated??) You are able to get a hunting permit with little to zero difficulty. Spokane is a relatively "cheap" economical place to live. Jobs are "O.K." around here although as of lately that seems to have changed a little, for the worse. Yet 3 of my kids aged 18-22 have been able to get jobs and support themselves, as they all live on thier own. Another down trend for ME a home seller ( I have a rental house I am trying to sell) is that when listed 6 months ago it was appraised at $150,000. It has now been reduced to $129,500, and I have still yet to sell it!!! So with all that said, you may be wondering why after 25 years I am still here (because I HONESTLY HATE Spokane!!! Actually the Rain, Cold, & Snow not necissarily the city per-se) It is because I am from San Diego, and The ONLY place I am willing to pack up all my stuff and family for, would be to move back to San Diego, but the current economy down there with jobs prevents that, and the housing prior to that prevented me then. So all in all, Spokane is a good place to raise a family in a town with decent morals and values. BUT, I would prefer to cruise my Hot Rod, or ride my Harley in San Diego and would leave here in AN INSTANT if I could.
As a side note, there may not be a "shooting down the block" on a regular basis, but I am very close friends with a Spokane Police Officer, and know for a fact that there is a "little more crime" than most know about around here. There IS a "small" gang problem, and we do have one of the highest meth. lab incidents per city size. But take all this with a grain of salt as I am a very BIASED against Spokane, as I don't... Ski, Snowmobile, Hunt, camp, water ski, nor love the great outdoors, etc. So there isn't really a reason for me to be here anyways?!?!?!? Good luck, Ken

[Spokanejobseeker]

Originally Posted by Raelyn28

The snowfall is terrible?? My gosh, don't you like natural beauty.. Go get a snowblower and take up skiing.. Wah, wah, wah... I'll trade you places.

Some of us like money over hugging trees. Obviously your husband is one of them.

[Specialbuddy]

I've lived near Spokane(Liberty Lake) for about 2 months now and it's not too bad. I like the 30+ mile centennial trail that goes into Idaho, which has another 20+ miles of trail. Nature doesn't seem too far away. I saw a moose so that was pretty cool. I will say that the city seems kind of dirty and run down. I finally made it down to the upper and lower falls. The waterfalls in town are awesome but there was quite an amount garbage around. Like someone posted already, this town has a meth problem. Based on the info from city-data there is a lot of theft and the crime is higher then the national average. Hell my bike was stolen the 2nd day I was here.

I'm only living here because my wife is working for a travel nursing company. I'm unemployed but if I had a job opportunity then I would give Spokane shot. I don't think it's that cold but I was raised in a cold climate. I like to snowboard and it sounds like there are 5-6 resorts that are less then 2 hours away.

Make sure you stock up on dishwasher detergent. All of the good brands are banned in Spokane because of their phosphorus levels. I understand that it's bad for the environment but feel like they could have done something else to cure the problem. They should have put a high tax on existing detergents and gave the money to one of the local universities so that they could develop a better dishwasher soap. All of the "eco" friendly ones leave a film on my dishes or simply don't clean them very well. Anyone have a brand that is working for them because I haven't found one yet.

[Spokane Soon]

I'm so disappointed to hear about the amount of trash in the city. That will take some getting used to. The city I live in now takes such great care in that regard. We have our problems, I'm sure with meth, etc... everyone does these days. What's the fiscal sitch with the city? It's really a shame since Spokane looks like a beautiful older city! What is the state of the State of Washington? Can anyone give us a rundown of these issues?

[googie]

I've lived in Spokane for almost three years now after moving here from New England (born in VT, raised in NH, lived in MA with my husband). We are planning to move away in the Spring, but not without some reservations. The weather here isn't too bad. It isn't ridiculously cold but the past two winters the snow has been much worse than we expected. If they had a better funded Transportation Dept. here, the roads might have been passable, but you needed not only four wheel drive, but chains to get around. We were used to Massachusetts where winter driving is exceptionally easy in spite of heavier snowfall. We appreciate the lack of bugs as we were used to tons of mosquitoes and black flies.

The Parks system here is fantastic -- as good as Boulder County, CO (where we lived a few years ago). We have really enjoyed taking our daughters to the parks. Public transportation is reasonable, but, as someone already said, it would be nice to have free ride areas like Seattle.

I have lived in Colbert and now live on the South Hill. I loved being close to Greenbluff and I had a gorgeous 8-mile running route with fantastic views of Mt. Spokane. Now, I am enjoying our proximity to Manito Park and my ability to walk more places with my daughter. This is definitely not a walker's city. There are plenty of sidewalks, but people ALWAYS express disbelief when I tell them I walk downtown for errands and they consider me a "hippie dippie" or offer me advice on where I can buy a cheap car, because why would I ever walk if I have a running car at home.

Our reasons for leaving include a lack of private schools for our daughters (there are really only two -- Saint George's School and Discovery School) and all the rest are religious (NOT an option for us!). The public schools are considered to be good here, but they are pretty mainstream (which is fine, but not what we're looking for).

We are also leaving because it is VERY hard to make friends here unless you are religious. Most activities revolve around bible study and people here are just not that into socializing. I think it may just be a Northwestern reserve that we don't understand (Massachusetts is the friendliest place I've ever lived). People are, however, very civil, and we appreciate that.

Jobs are not that plentiful for the fields in which my husband and I currently work or are trained (non-profits, broadcast media), so if a job doesn't work out it necessitates a move to another city altogether.

All in all, Spokane has a lot of things going for it -- it is beautiful here and they've done a great job with the parks system. We have a hard time with the mega-influence of religion here (sometimes it feels more like western Idaho than Eastern Washington) and we'd like to find a place with a little more going on.

[Godfrey01]

The key thing to understand about Spokane is that it is a border town. East of town you're in the Rockies rubbing elbows with moose, miners, Mormons, wealthy ex-Californians, Republicans, retirees, religious fanatics and even a few Nazis. A few hours West of town you're surrounded by tech execs, hyper-educated immigrants, hyper-educated tree huggers, gay activists and agnostics.

Perched on the divide, Spokane blends the two in a strange but wonderful way.

As a newcomer, you'll see more of the progressive element simply because many of your new friends will also be newcomers. That's who you tend to meet when you move to a new town. Locals here do indeed tend to be a bit religious and insular, but that is changing as Spokane/Coeur d'Alene becomes more cosmopolitan. Still, it takes a while to get invited to dinner.

Spokane's Big New Thing is environmentalism. We just elected greenies to half the city council seats, to the mayorship and to one of the three county commission seats. The same stuff is happening next door in CDA. This is a good sign of maturity, better education and higher income, as the old pickup-driving, snoose-chewing Spokane gives way to bike-commuting, bookish Spokane.

[Specialbuddy]

Originally Posted by googie

I have lived in Colbert and now live on the South Hill. I loved being close to Greenbluff and I had a gorgeous 8-mile running route with fantastic views of Mt. Spokane. Now, I am enjoying our proximity to Manito Park and my ability to walk more places with my daughter. This is definitely not a walker's city. There are plenty of sidewalks, but people ALWAYS express disbelief when I tell them I walk downtown for errands and they consider me a "hippie dippie" or offer me advice on where I can buy a cheap car, because why would I ever walk if I have a running car at home.

The last company(not in Spokane) I worked for was pretty christian. They would pray a lot and would hire "good christian" people. Don't know how I got hired since I was a dirty sinner(some even told me that to my face). They also thought I was a "hippy liberal democrat" too because I wasn't what Fox News considers a conservative. I consider myself a conservative but since I don't drive a big truck and worship Sean Hannity I'm not conservative enough.

...to make friends here unless you are religious. Most activities revolve around bible study and people here are just not that into socializing. I think it may just be a Northwestern reserve that we don't understand (Massachusetts is the friendliest place I've ever lived). People are, however, very civil, and we appreciate that.

My wife has mentioned that she works with a lot of conservatives. Even if Spokane is conservative and religious, the Pacific NW is one of the least religious regions in the US. I feel more normal here then I did while living in Missouri.