Wanting a brand new city. Vancouver, maybe?

[Spokane09]

Thank you gamehog9,what do you mean by urban planning? What about the outer cities?

K

[GameHog9]

Originally Posted by Spokane09

Thank you gamehog9,what do you mean by urban planning? What about the outer cities?

K

What I mean about urban planning is the way they designed the city. I live in Tri Cities and here they separate commercial areas and residential areas. Judging from my recent waltz through the core of Spokane, a good 10 miles or so into Hwy 2, I have realized that whoever drew up the blueprints for Spokane has not yet learned this. Streets wind through downtown in no apparent order and most of it is too tightly packed and congested. The shopping areas themselves are nice (Heres lookin' at you Northown Mall), but the location is bleh. This creates horrible congestion in a city for its size. In other words, the core of Spokane is packed tighter than a can of sardines, besides being littered with lots, lots of one-way streets, which equals utter confusion (unless you're a local).


Outer cities?

There really is only Spokane Falls, and places like Mead (e.g. Spokane is not a 2nd Seattle complete with suburbs). Spokane Falls is far less congested, and , IMO, a better place to look at than downtown.

Other than the planning, there is absolutely nothing wrong with Spokane

[sylvanarrow]

Originally Posted by Spokane09

Oh this is very funny to me because I have lived in Vancouver all of my life and I am looking to move to the Spokane area.

The other posts are correct in respect to all that Vancouver has to offer but, the cost to live here has gone up considerably in the past 5 years. I am recently divorced and I am finding it too expensive to live on my own, hence the move to Spokane.

You will find a lot of nightlife here, quaint little coffee shops and to many other things to list.

Maybe you can tell me a little about the Spokane area.

Best of luck to you

I'm another one who is looking to leave Spokane for Vancouver/Portland, but more because I miss the climate and the proliferation of liberal democratic treehuggers (I grew up in Seattle) than anything else. Spokane is very affordable and as far as "urban planning" goes... compared to Seattle, it's a breeze to get around downtown (doesn't every downtown that predates autos have a ton of one-way streets?).

I live on the South Hill, and it's five minutes to downtown or the freeway, and rush hour doesn't change it that much. Traffic will probably seem enjoyable for you compared to Portland or Seattle--backups on the freeway, even at rush hour, are rare. For affordable living, try the Perry District, Lincoln Heights (both on the South Hill but not the snooty part, heh), or out in the Valley consider Millwood. There are a lot of nice neighborhoods at the north end of town, but there's no freeway to get you there, and traffic on Division (Hwy 2) is a pain with a stoplight every five blocks. There is a north-south freeway in the works, but it's close to 10 years out.

The farther out you go, the more it gets into hick-ville. Out at the dog park by the state line, I've run into a lot of pro-hunting, pro-Bush types who openly state that global warming and other environmental issues are B.S.

That said, outdoor recreation over here is awesome. A major paved bike trail runs along the river from NW Spokane all the way to Couer d'Alene in Idaho, and there's a 72-mile paved path in north Idaho too. Several downhill ski places, and they're very uncrowded compared to Mt Hood, Snoqualmie, Stevens Pass, etc. Lots of lakes and rivers for water recreation.

I don't know what all you're looking for, but you can send me a note if you want any more information. We seem to have drifted off from the original topic here, heh.

[scottsostuff]

We love it here and think that Vancouver is a great area. Why we like it is when you want a big city it is just across the bridge and you can be in downtown Portland. It sounds like downtown vancouver would be a good area for want you are looking for. There are some great apartments in the downtown area and those that live in the area are very social with each other.