Spokane: Deer Park (Monroe, Colville, Chewelah: house, closing, to live in) - Washington (WA) - Page 2 - City-Data Forum

Baltic_Celt · 10-09-2006, 04:58 PM

Hello All -

Perhaps a bit off-topic & forgive my naivete, but I was wondering if any of you could compare Spokane living to Seattle, particularly if anyone has lived/worked in both places?

I used to live in Seattle & in the 14-yrs since I've been gone & revisited, as is the case with most larger cities, rents have more than doubled, it's more crowded & the cost of living seems so much higher. I worked in IT then, so jobs were plentiful, but I've opted to work in administrative assistant jobs while attending dental hygiene school for now. There's several schools in the Seattle area, but also a DH school at Eastern WA U right in Spokane, that I'd love to check out.

People have always mentioned Spokane as a sunnier alternative to Seattle, with a lower cost of living & higher quality of living, but as a single woman I enjoyed movies, restaurants, microbreweries, the many parks & the fact that Seattle is a relatively pretty, clean, walkable, safe city (compared to other large cities I've lived, particularly eastcoast). Lots of alternatives for a single to do in Seattle, even alone. How would that compare with Spokane, as I only knew married couples with kids who told me about the area & I have no family or initial friends in the area? I will also be looking for an administrative job & was wondering about the job market in Spokane & what the top industries are there? If I desired working as an admin asst in an holistic place (chiropractor, acupuncture) or dental/veterinary, do many such choices exist? Do many folks cross over the border to work in the Coeur d'Alene area, or is it the other way around?

I don't expect anyone to tackle all my questions, but any local help would be most appreciated. Thank you for all the insight you can offer.

Cheers, then... Baltic_Celt

suz · 10-09-2006, 05:55 PM

Hey everyone,

I also am new, and have a couple of questions. My finace and I are planning to move to the Spokane area in two years or so. We took a week off for a trip out there early on in September- and completely fell in love with it. We were so caught up in the beautiful terrain and great people and all that we forgot to ask about crime.

We are really more interested to know what areas of Spokane are seedy, or attract undesirable elements -we plan to buy at least 10 acres within 40 miles of the city, so we really need someone to tell us what parts of the city we should avoid in looking for employment. To put it bluntly, I don't want to unknowingly accept a job in a crack neighborhood.

PS- Even though the both of us are NC natives, and southerners love to go on about southern hospitality....we were completely blown away by the constant, geuine displays of friendliness we experienced- from the gas stations to the restaurants to the Fred Meyer to the unbelievable way you Pacific NW people drive in such a curteous manner!!!! AND every hole in the wall side of the road place we stopped for a restroom- it was absolutely spotless. And another bonus- in the 1300 miles we drove- we only saw 2 Wal-Marts. You don't know how lucky you are to not have to drive by a Wal-Mart every 5 miles. Spokane and the surrounding areas have such character! It's so refreshing. And the air....from evergreens to apple orchards....it smells so lovely! Did I mention we fell in love with it out there???

WendyK · 10-09-2006, 07:19 PM

Suz and Baltic - Suz, you actually helped answer some of Baltic's questions about living here. I think this is a very fun city to live in with many types of activities ranging from outdoor exploring to Broadway shows at the opera house. Traffic is very easy to navigate in - even at it's worst, you won't have bottlenecks and bumper to bumper traffic for more than 10 minutes. One thing I've always felt since I moved here is SAFE - in nearly all areas. You asked about crack neighborhoods, and there are some areas where there are meth houses, but it wouldn't be near where you'd work. YOu can pull up the crime statistics on the Spokane city police map that will show areas of more condensed crime. People here are usually very friendly and eager to talk to newcomers. I have more friends here than I had in 15 years of living in Orlando FL. There are great restaurants, clubs, shopping, live music venues - whatever you want to do. The newspaper puts out a Friday section with all the fun things to do and there's also a local Inlander newspaper that's fun to read and learn about what's going on in town.
Weather is really nice most all the time - 4 distinct seasons but nothing too extreme. My kids have never missed a day of school yet for snow since we moved here in 1998.
Yep, Spokane sure has a lot going for it!

suz · 10-09-2006, 07:52 PM

Wendy,

We have our eye on a parcel of land in Nine Mile, and from the photo, it looks to be fairly high up in elevation. We contacted a realtor about another parcel near Mt. Spokane, and we were told that we would most likely need a 4WD vehicle in winter. Would that also be true of land in Nine Mile?

Thank you!

Suz

WendyK · 10-09-2006, 08:54 PM

Suz - There are some parts of Nine Mile that are pretty high up. But not all roads are steep - it depends on how well the area has been developed. I live in Nine Mile on a hill but it's been well graded and is easy to drive. We do use an all wheel drive vehicle but have found that most of the major roads are well maintained with sand & plowing when there's snow. Mt. Spokane area is higher in elevation and gets more snow, also a lot of the roads are more rustic and not as well maintained, so a 4WD would probably be a necessity if you were buying land in an outlying area.

mitchmountain · 10-14-2006, 03:48 PM

In learning about Spokane's suitability for us, I need to know if you have a problem with fleas. Might seems like a dumb question, but, we are at 7000 ft elevation now and due to that, have no flea problem at all! And when we were in south Dakota, which I think to be about the same altitude as Spokane, we did not have flea trouble either. How is it there? I just don't understand what makes the difference, since in Seattle I guess fleas are quite a problem.

RodFarlee · 10-14-2006, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mitchmountain

In learning about Spokane's suitability for us, I need to know if you have a problem with fleas.

Ii's sure better than the east coast (or the northern CA coast)!

Your mileage may vary, but my dogs are out in the fields and woods every day, and we have plenty of deer in the neighborhood. Rated in terms of months Frontline is needed (and roughly in terms of numbers):

Fleas: east coast 9, Spokane 2, Seattle 3

Ticks: east coast 8, Spokane 1, Seattle 0
If your dogs don't run free in tall grass, you might never have any problem.

frhrwa · 12-31-2006, 11:58 AM

ah.. whats the difference in Seattle and Spokane?.. well, Seattle is californianized, need I say more? Spokane is countrified with growing pains.. When they get the cross freeway finished and take the traffic off Division, it will be "so" much better.. right now, the traffic on Division is horrendous!.. Deer Park is about as far north as I'd move if you want commute times to Spokane (in the winter).. you get much farther, and the roadwork seems to suffer during the ice and snow season.. Deer Park to Spokane is an easy commute and virtually always clear. As to work, Deer Park has a really nice new hospital for you to check out, and plenty of Automotive shops and a full blown dealership there on the south end of town.. Land values are terrific presently, but going up as it gets discovered, I wouldn't wait to long to come check it out.. I just bought 20 acres up on the north end off Bridges Rd.. lots of trees, views, excellent proximity to both Hiway 2 and Hiway 395, although I prefer 395 for my travels.. just seems quicker (closer to town)... Deer Park is a laid back relaxed town with plenty of oppportunity for anything new and most anything old... "Great spot to live"!... I formerly lived in Las Vegas (from the 40's to the 70's) when it was a nice town, but still, as you say, dirt and HOT... moved all over the U.S., lived in Colorado, San Juan Islands (16yrs), Battle Ground (near Vancouver WA) for the last 5yrs... I'm building and looking forward to Deer Park now.. hopeful they don't get tax greedy like most growing communities!

StealthRabbit · 01-03-2007, 01:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnlvs2run

I'm looking to build a passive solar home on 5 acres or more.

What areas north of Spokane have more sunshine in the winters and also places to run?

south of spokane? (Walla Walla,)
http://sustainablelivingcenter.com/

also consider Dayton and south into forest. Oh... and use 'defensible space' (which I'm sure you know about...)

There are some 'earth builders' in Spokane area using 'Annualized solar gain' check out the newsgroup over here- http://groups.yahoo.com/group/organi...cture/messages

darby · 02-06-2007, 11:11 AM

Hi all, I'm going to Deer Park for one day in March. I'd like to know what types of things I can find to do there. I'll just be wasting time waiting on someone from about 8:30AM till around 3:30PM. I'm coming from Post Falls so I have an Idaho fishing license so fishing is out.

All other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.