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Old 06-06-2018, 10:36 PM
 
45 posts, read 45,204 times
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Easy. Spokane.
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Old 06-06-2018, 10:47 PM
 
Location: West Coast
1,889 posts, read 2,198,110 times
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Yeah E. WA and C. WA’s outdoor activities are very underrated, lots of awesome scenery and more wide open spaces for fun, lots of cool areas for off-roading and over landing too
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Old 06-07-2018, 10:11 PM
 
2,609 posts, read 2,504,547 times
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I've lived in Hawai'i, Arizona, New Mexico, and several midwestern states. I highlight those first three, because they are very sunny places, and definitely have longer daylight hours in the winter. I was in the midwest through college, then NM (4 years), Seattle area (3 years), Arizona (3 years), Hawai'i (10 years) and now Seattle area again (4.5 years and counting).

You've been given some great advice about things to consider. I will say that I really love the weather here. I'm not such a big fan of the time change or the fact that summer days are ridiculously long and winter days are ridiculously short, but the overall weather is a much better fit for me. For my kids (who were teen/preteen when we moved here), the transition went much better than I anticipated. The weather was a big switch, since we were so cold the first winter (I was born/raised in Chicago, but the years in Hawai'i really thinned my blood, I guess!). But the fact that I love the weather is a direct reflection of the fact that I've never liked constant sunny weather and living in AZ and HI were definitely not my choice at all. I get grumpy with too much sun.

The social climate was a world apart from Hawai'i. My kids fit in well and adjusted just fine and I've met lots of great people at work, but it's far more difficult to make friendly conversation with people you don't know.

Even though Hawai'i was a really expensive place to live (with low pay in my field), some things were a lot more expensive than I anticipated here (particularly water, housing). If the pay is similar in both Spokane and Bellevue, you'll get a whole lot more for your money in Spokane. You'll also get a whole lot more sun and variability in weather. More family time and less stress sounds like a great thing, and Spokane is big enough to have a lot going for it. I haven't ever lived there, but I have done some work there and enjoyed the area.

Good luck deciding, and congrats on having more than one option!
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Old 06-09-2018, 09:29 PM
509
 
6,321 posts, read 7,037,074 times
Reputation: 9444
Quote:
Originally Posted by Botev1912 View Post
How does Spokane have superior access to outdoor activities? Seattle is close to three national parks, volcano, waterfalls, mountain sports, all kinds of hikes, ocean, lakes, islands...
I worked for the Forest Service in recreation outside of Spokane and Seattle. Within a four hour drive of both towns... Here is the list of outdoor activities.

plus one...means better in the town mentioned.

plus two...means much, much better in the town mentioned.

So here we go.....winter sports.

downhill skiing....Spokane plus two
cross-country skiing.....Spokane plus one
ice climbing..........Spokane plus two
snowmobiling........Spokane plus two

next category......blood sports

freshwater fishing.....Spokane plus two
saltwater fishing.......no contest...Seattle
big game hunting.....Spokane plus two
upland bird hunting...Spokane plus two
waterfowl hunting.....Spokane plus one, but in fairness the Columbia Basin is an overlap for both cities.

summer outdoor sports

Backpacking.....Spokane plus two
day hiking........Spokane plus two
white water rafting...Spokane plus two
kayaking.................Spokane plus two
sea kayaking...........no contest...Seattle
mountain biking.......Spokane plus one
road biking.............Spokane plus two
canoeing................Spokane plus one
single-track motorcycle trails....Seattle plus one (Wenatchee NF).
quad roads and trails...Spokane plus two
camping (dispersed)....Spokane plus two
camping (campgrounds)...Spokane plus two
day sailing.................Spokane plus one
sailing (cruising)........Seattle plus one
motorboating............Spokane plus one
jet boats..................Spokane plus two
mountain climbing......Spokane plus two
rock climbing.............Spokane plus one
hot springs................Spokane plus two
birdwatching..............Spokane plus one


Basically Seattle beats Spokane in salt-water outdoor activities. Otherwise it is no contest for outdoor activities.

Within a four hour drive of Seattle....western Washington, western BC, western Oregon and eastern Washington.

within a four hour drive of Spokane....eastern Washington, Idaho, eastern BC, Alberta, Montana, eastern Oregon.

Trust me no contest. IF your into the outdoors....Spokane. Probably the best metro areas in the US for outdoor recreation.
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Old 06-09-2018, 10:20 PM
 
Location: Seattle
8,169 posts, read 8,289,381 times
Reputation: 5986
Quote:
Originally Posted by 509 View Post
I worked for the Forest Service in recreation outside of Spokane and Seattle. Within a four hour drive of both towns... Here is the list of outdoor activities.

plus one...means better in the town mentioned.

plus two...means much, much better in the town mentioned.

So here we go.....winter sports.

downhill skiing....Spokane plus two
cross-country skiing.....Spokane plus one
ice climbing..........Spokane plus two
snowmobiling........Spokane plus two

next category......blood sports

freshwater fishing.....Spokane plus two
saltwater fishing.......no contest...Seattle
big game hunting.....Spokane plus two
upland bird hunting...Spokane plus two
waterfowl hunting.....Spokane plus one, but in fairness the Columbia Basin is an overlap for both cities.

summer outdoor sports

Backpacking.....Spokane plus two
day hiking........Spokane plus two
white water rafting...Spokane plus two
kayaking.................Spokane plus two
sea kayaking...........no contest...Seattle
mountain biking.......Spokane plus one
road biking.............Spokane plus two
canoeing................Spokane plus one
single-track motorcycle trails....Seattle plus one (Wenatchee NF).
quad roads and trails...Spokane plus two
camping (dispersed)....Spokane plus two
camping (campgrounds)...Spokane plus two
day sailing.................Spokane plus one
sailing (cruising)........Seattle plus one
motorboating............Spokane plus one
jet boats..................Spokane plus two
mountain climbing......Spokane plus two
rock climbing.............Spokane plus one
hot springs................Spokane plus two
birdwatching..............Spokane plus one


Basically Seattle beats Spokane in salt-water outdoor activities. Otherwise it is no contest for outdoor activities.

Within a four hour drive of Seattle....western Washington, western BC, western Oregon and eastern Washington.

within a four hour drive of Spokane....eastern Washington, Idaho, eastern BC, Alberta, Montana, eastern Oregon.

Trust me no contest. IF your into the outdoors....Spokane. Probably the best metro areas in the US for outdoor recreation.

509, I don't disagree with everything you said but who wants to drive 4 hours for skiing? With Stevens and Crystal under 2 hours (I get to Stevens in 1.5), they are very doable for a day trip so we need to make the downhill skiing about even, maybe even slightly weighted to Seattle.
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Old 06-09-2018, 10:49 PM
509
 
6,321 posts, read 7,037,074 times
Reputation: 9444
Four downhill ski areas less than 1 hour 30 minutes from downtown Spokane. Two in Washington, Two in Idaho.

Much better snow in the Rockies than in the Cascades. Lift lines....what are those?

When you expand the radius to 4 hours you pick up ski areas in Oregon, Montana, and BC.

Spokane is just amazing when it comes to outdoor recreation.
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Old 06-09-2018, 10:59 PM
 
Location: Seattle
8,169 posts, read 8,289,381 times
Reputation: 5986
Quote:
Originally Posted by 509 View Post
Four downhill ski areas less than 1 hour 30 minutes from downtown Spokane. Two in Washington, Two in Idaho.

Much better snow in the Rockies than in the Cascades. Lift lines....what are those?

When you expand the radius to 4 hours you pick up ski areas in Oregon, Montana, and BC.

Spokane is just amazing when it comes to outdoor recreation.
2.5 hours from Seattle, amazing bowls, badass steep and deep at Mt. Baker, many world class extreme skiers train there. 4 hours north there is this small resort called Whistler/Blackcomb you may have heard of. Come on 509, I'm conceding a number of other categories and offering you a downhill skiing tie, I'm even being a little generous here .
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Old 06-09-2018, 11:03 PM
 
Location: Seattle area
9,182 posts, read 12,120,375 times
Reputation: 6405
Quote:
Originally Posted by 509 View Post
I worked for the Forest Service in recreation outside of Spokane and Seattle. Within a four hour drive of both towns... Here is the list of outdoor activities.

plus one...means better in the town mentioned.

plus two...means much, much better in the town mentioned.

So here we go.....winter sports.

downhill skiing....Spokane plus two
cross-country skiing.....Spokane plus one
ice climbing..........Spokane plus two
snowmobiling........Spokane plus two

next category......blood sports

freshwater fishing.....Spokane plus two
saltwater fishing.......no contest...Seattle
big game hunting.....Spokane plus two
upland bird hunting...Spokane plus two
waterfowl hunting.....Spokane plus one, but in fairness the Columbia Basin is an overlap for both cities.

summer outdoor sports

Backpacking.....Spokane plus two
day hiking........Spokane plus two
white water rafting...Spokane plus two
kayaking.................Spokane plus two
sea kayaking...........no contest...Seattle
mountain biking.......Spokane plus one
road biking.............Spokane plus two
canoeing................Spokane plus one
single-track motorcycle trails....Seattle plus one (Wenatchee NF).
quad roads and trails...Spokane plus two
camping (dispersed)....Spokane plus two
camping (campgrounds)...Spokane plus two
day sailing.................Spokane plus one
sailing (cruising)........Seattle plus one
motorboating............Spokane plus one
jet boats..................Spokane plus two
mountain climbing......Spokane plus two
rock climbing.............Spokane plus one
hot springs................Spokane plus two
birdwatching..............Spokane plus one


Basically Seattle beats Spokane in salt-water outdoor activities. Otherwise it is no contest for outdoor activities.

Within a four hour drive of Seattle....western Washington, western BC, western Oregon and eastern Washington.

within a four hour drive of Spokane....eastern Washington, Idaho, eastern BC, Alberta, Montana, eastern Oregon.

Trust me no contest. IF your into the outdoors....Spokane. Probably the best metro areas in the US for outdoor recreation.
I am sorry but your post is so biased. It's ridiculous.
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Old 06-10-2018, 05:43 PM
 
Location: Kansas City, MISSOURI
20,863 posts, read 9,518,220 times
Reputation: 15573
Having lived in both places, yeah I'd say Spokane has the nod when it comes to outdoor activities, unless you insist on saltwater stuff.
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Old 06-10-2018, 06:16 PM
509
 
6,321 posts, read 7,037,074 times
Reputation: 9444
Quote:
Originally Posted by Botev1912 View Post
I am sorry but your post is so biased. It's ridiculous.
NO...it is my PROFESSIONAL opinion having worked in both areas in outdoor recreation.
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