Spokane -- how bad is "rush hour" traffic? (South Hill: lease, house)

[zygoma]

The quotes are cuz I have no idea about what your (and soon to be my) morning and afternoon drives are like. Looks like I've been hired by a tech firm out near Spokane Valley Mall, so my sweetie & I are looking for a place to lease. I see there are lots of homes available on South Hill, Mead, downtown, Medical Lake, as well as out east in Green Acres, Veradale, and Liberty lake. Ideally I'd like to find a house that's close to make the commute cheap, but even 20-or-so-miles shouldn't be bad as long as the cars move right along. And thanks to WendyK's excellent ptionostings, I now have some sense of what different neighborhoods are like. So, armed with info to find a nice home to lease, now I have to find out which routes are absolutely to be avoided at all costs during the morning and afternoon commutes.
And, while it's probably off-topic, I'm going to want to know how to find jam nights where a pro-level bassist could show up & find folks to play with.
OK, too many questions for my first post, but I'm trying to boil down a commute from, say, the new Cimarron community up near St Thomas More rd, or in from Mead, or Green Acres to E Indiana Ave, east of N Pines. At $3.40 for a gallon of gas, I'm trying to find a place that's either way close to the office, or at least a pleasant drive.
So, any (printable) ideas?
Thanks,
-- Barney -- "zygoma"

[metrospokane]

Originally Posted by zygoma

Looks like I've been hired by a tech firm out near Spokane Valley Mall, so my sweetie & I are looking for a place to lease.

It'll be a reverse commute for you so it shouldn't take too long. Downtown to Liberty Lake is about 20 minutes in the morning - of constant driving, not stop and go.

Originally Posted by zygoma

And, while it's probably off-topic, I'm going to want to know how to find jam nights where a pro-level bassist could show up & find folks to play with.

You might contact the people at Center Stage. They always have a jazz set going during the week. They'd be a great place to start. Good luck.

[zygoma]

metrospokane,
Thanks for the good info on both topics. I'm new to this forum, and I'm pretty sure I posted to the wrong topic
Reverse commutes are nice.
-- Barney --

[rok0808]

Spokane, compared to other cities doesn't have much of a commute problem. At peek times it might take you an extra 10~15 minutes... One nice thing about living in a smaller city.