just curious: why NID and not Eastern WA with no income tax?

[mistyriver]

Originally Posted by Keim

For some reason Deadtimes comments got under my skin. The town isn't perfect, but it is not the hell on earth DT described. I actually enjoy going up there for the ocassional long weekend. I think it is a nice town.

I find it hard to believe that anyone from CDA could make such comments. It wasn't long ago the Aryan Nations were having parades down Main St. CDA.

People in glass houses, ya know?

I agree. Spokane is a small city but not bad at all and I appreciate having the airport and shopping available and not horribly far away. My daughter and her husband chose to live in Spokane and they live in a beautiful area on the South Hill near Manito Park. Beautiful by any city's standards.

[Pretzelogik]

Originally Posted by Keim

Actually, the Spokane crime rate is nearly 2x higher than LA. Though LA far outstrips Spokane in violent crimes and murders.

Spokane is far from horrid in my opinion. But it does have a crime problem.

Low information voters? Really? Why not call them what they really are: thugs.

Or...cadidates for Death Row..but no...they are just poor mistreated yuutes. Get a couple of years in "Reform School".

[AlwaysLooking]

Originally Posted by Goin' Coastal

We are visiting from Northern CA, staying in Spokane Valley for a few days, and we haven't felt this area has been a good fit for us.

However, when we went over to CDA today, we felt like we were in the right spot. CDA had several beautiful areas; wonderful, wide bike lanes near the lake, well set off from the traffic; and a very vibrant downtown area with many interesting and appealing shops and restaurants.

The area seems very clean and new, and I saw several places where people were outside working on refurbishing buildings. I liked that, that people seemed to be taking care of their property.

We also drove down a few little neighborhood streets with older houses. Even though the neighborhoods, and the houses, were older, most of what we saw was well cared for.

CDA made a huge, wonderful first impression on us. We would consider living there, even if we had to pay state taxes. It would be worth it.

GC, we visited Spokane, CDA, and Sandpoint a lot before we moved from the Bay Area 2 years ago. Initially we thought outside of Spokane was going to be our next home, then we traveled to ID and Sandpoint was at the top of the list; but in the end we needed faster airport access in winter so bought in the CDA area. IMO there's a lot to research and learn before moving from there to here.
We are so glad we left CA, but I do miss my old house with it's beautiful uneaten by deer landscaping; and the OCEAN. Seriously!
Hope you've had a nice visit to the area.

[lovecda]

If you're looking for someplace convenient to Coeur d'Alene and to Spokane that is in Washington, you can't beat the Liberty Lake/Otis Orchards area. They tend to be "bedroom communities" where most people work in Spokane or somewhere in Idaho. I know one couple who lives in Otis Orchards where the husband works in downtown Spokane (taking public transit from Spokane Valley) and the wife works in Athol, Idaho. Another couple I know lives in Liberty Lake; the wife works in Spokane Valley and the husband works for Kootenai County. From what I understand a decent number of people who live in LL/OO have similarly split work situations.

If you would prefer living in Idaho, but still want the (reasonably) close access to Spokane Valley an Spokane, Post Falls is a good choice. It's only about 8 miles further east from Liberty Lake/Otis Orchards.

[Goin' Coastal]

We checked out Liberty Lake, which I liked very much, and I have heard of Otis Orchards. Both communities have beautiful houses, way more house than we have here in the Bay Area, for a good price. Most are way larger than what we need, though. And I liked the way the Liberty Lake looked. It seems to have all I need, and I also like that Spokane's airport is not too far.

I just know how it felt when I went over the border into CDA. I can't explain it; I just felt it. CDA just seemed right. Like AlwaysLooking, I think I would miss my oceans here in CA, but that beautiful lake might just make up for it. The air was clean, the town was clean, and I look forward to returning for more visits. We may not move there; we may just go up for long visits from time to time. I am just very glad to have finally visited. My husband has talked about it for the 34+ years we've been married. He said his grandfather always talked about it and remembered it as a special place. It seemed that way to us, too.

We are now back in the Bay Area, having wended our way through traffic, and I must say, I miss all the green and the trees. Maybe it is time for a change?

[fy10fyr]

Be careful forming an opinion of a place that you have only seen when it's at it's best, which is now.

Before you make a decision, come visit for a week or so in Jan or Feb. Nothing much is green, it's mostly shades of brown and gray, and a good chunk of the trees are bare. Sunny winter days are gorgeous, but there's also a fair amount of days when we get inversions, and you have nothing but low clouds and fog, sometimes for a week or more.

You may know all this already, but if not, it's something to think about.

[Goin' Coastal]

Thanks. We do plan to visit a few times at different times of the year.

[SS454ElCamino]

I guess it depends on what you do for a living as far as the tax question goes. It may have a net benefit to live in Wa. for some, and others not. When we made our decision it came down to property taxes which seemed to be about double in Wa. and cost of living, regulation ect. I figured that leaving a Blue state, and moving to another Blue state was kind of pointless unless you want to be regulated, taxed, and told what to do over everything. Idaho is still deep Red, and while I agree that growth is scary, and annoying especially when undesirable people move in, I think most of the ones moving to NID are coming for similar reasons, and want to preserve that. One of the great things about growth is it is a boon to the economy, and there are still plenty of places to live that are close to everything, and not in the crowded areas of CDA. There is still lots of room everywhere you look IMHO. Eastern WA. is still a beautiful place, and North Spokane is very nice, as well as some of the other areas mentioned in this thread out in the valley, but it is unfortunately tied to the politics of the west, and that was a major turn off for us.