Have job interview, know nothing about city (Seattle, Spokane: real estate, apartments)

[tazzled]

Hi all,

I've been applying for jobs in Seattle, and somehow wound up getting a call about doing an interview for a job in Spokane. This is fine with me, except that I know absolutely nothing about Spokane,at all.

I've done some light Googling - read the wiki page, visited the official website, looked at photos - but ths isn't really sufficient.

For people who live there:

-What is the city like?
- What all is there to do?
- What are some of the neighborhoods/what are they like?
- Is it easy to get around, sans car, or would a car be a necessity?
- Any tips you may have?

Thanks!

[redfish1]

biggest white trash city in america. bad crime and lots of meth.......

I've worked all over the country and Spokane is at the top as far as trashy people.

EFF that place

[aplcr0331]

There you go, a well reasoned reply...extremely thought out with mountains of non-ancedotal data to back up salient points. I like how the author uses language in a such a fluid manner to get her points across without resorting to low level attacks. She seems well versed in the local area having given you a virtual tour of the areas in question. Just like you asked. Better rep this lady up!

[tazzled]

Alright, well... thanks for the help. I've enjoyed my tour of Methtown.

Now, how about Spokane?

[OGTSO]

Hello, I moved to Spokane from Orange, Ca in 2010. I moved here because I got a comparable job with comparable pay to what I was doing and making in Orange, Ca. I bought a house on 10 acres North of Spokane, but still in Spokane County. My house is near the Wandermere Golf Course off Highway 395. I love the area where I live because it feels like I live way out in the country, but I am only 20 minutes from downtown Spokane and about 30 minutes from the airport. My wife and I go downtown for entertainment/shopping, etc and we never feel unsafe. There are homeless people and vagrants, but they leave us alone. Depending on where your job would be located would probably determine the best place to live. I think you would need a car to live in Spokane, but I do not use the public transportaion here so I can't comment on it. There are pockets of bad areas just like any other town. Read through some threads in the Spokane forum and you can figure out the bad areas pretty easily. I like Spokane and I would recommend it to anyone coming here with a good job already lined up.

[tazzled]

Originally Posted by OGTSO

Hello, I moved to Spokane from Orange, Ca in 2010. I moved here because I got a comparable job with comparable pay to what I was doing and making in Orange, Ca. I bought a house on 10 acres North of Spokane, but still in Spokane County. My house is near the Wandermere Golf Course off Highway 395. I love the area where I live because it feels like I live way out in the country, but I am only 20 minutes from downtown Spokane and about 30 minutes from the airport. My wife and I go downtown for entertainment/shopping, etc and we never feel unsafe. There are homeless people and vagrants, but they leave us alone. Depending on where your job would be located would probably determine the best place to live. I think you would need a car to live in Spokane, but I do not use the public transportaion here so I can't comment on it. There are pockets of bad areas just like any other town. Read through some threads in the Spokane forum and you can figure out the bad areas pretty easily. I like Spokane and I would recommend it to anyone coming here with a good job already lined up.

Thank you very much!

I would be getting an apartment, and from what I've seen, it's incredibly affordable to rent in the city. Granted, I don't know if these apartments were located in less than savory areas or not. I did a general search.

Is there a lot happening downtown? Does downtown die after a certain hour? For example, where I live now, our downtown is totally dead after 6pm vs where I am originally from where downtown is where everyone goes.

[PS90]

Originally Posted by redfish1

biggest white trash city in america. bad crime and lots of meth.......

I've worked all over the country and Spokane is at the top as far as trashy people.

EFF that place

Is there a Spokane, North Carolina? Because this rant doesn't sound anything like the Spokane that I know.

[Count David]

-What is the city like? Near nature, near perfect
- What all is there to do? anything you'd do anywhere else, and floating the river
- What are some of the neighborhoods/what are they like? everything from old money mansions to cookie cutter new suburbia, Spokane has the gamut
- Is it easy to get around, sans car, or would a car be a necessity? I would want a car, but there is a bus system
- Any tips you may have? enjoy it

Thanks! you're welcome!

[takoma620]

Hi friend. I had never heard of Spokane either til I got there. Born and Bred Beltway (DC) and ended up on Spokane after a whirlwind internet romance lol. Anywho, the MOST IMPORTANT THING TO REMEMBER ABOUT SPOKANE is the simple fact it is 300 MILES AWAY from Seattle, it's nearest real city. Translastion: Spoakne is COMPLETELY in a world of it's own.
This can be good, can be bad depending on who you are. I always used to tell people the difference between a city like Seattle and a City like Spokane is the difference between shooting a bullet and throwing it. And I mean that literally - something you could do in Seattle that may get you shot at, in Spokane they may seriously just throw a bullet at you (and sometime expect the same result lol)


Yeah, lotsa homeless in Spokane - the river which flows thru the city has been a vagrant trail since before America was founded NO JOKE. Also, before the Gub-mint changed the rules on cold medicine, Spokane was partying HARD on Meth. I CANNOT BEGIN TO TELL YOU HOW STUNNED I WAS WHEN I WENT THERE, KEPT MEETING GIRLS NAMED "CRYSTAL" and realizing why their parents named them that after meeting them

Anyways, two HUGE pluses to Spokane are it's completely out-of-this-world low level of serious crime (if you arent a thug or gansta, the worst that will prolly happen to you is maybe a car-break in) for a city it's size, and it's TOTALLY AWESOME WORLD CLASS CITY PARK SYSTEM! Second to none! Great for kids if you have them or if you just like parks. The main city park downtown was actually the site of the 1973 World's Fair (yep, they had one just like Seattle did lol) and is a VERY enjoyable fun destination.

Also rent there is cheap as hell - will be able to live like a king if you get decent steady pay............

I guess the bottom line is if you enjoy the simpler things in life, you will LOVE Spokane. If you want more "bells and whistles" in your life and where you reside, then you prolly want to pass on that job offer TRUST ME!

Hope this helps and GOOD LUCK

[bitko]

Indeed, the North Spokane area, like Wandermere and so forth, is where it gets lovely.

Stay away from the South Hill or your chance is great you'll slid for several hundred feet down it and impact something solid. Stay away from Spokane Valley.

As you are a single male, unless you are gay, Spokane is no place for a single straight person no matter the gender if you seek to have a relationship of a romantic nature.

The white trash comment is apt.

The town and county are wholly owned by local interests. It is a company town.

In spite of massive amounts of cheap power being so close to all the hyrdoelectric power generation, you'll note no real data centers or coordinated industrial presence is here beyond Kaiser Aluminum. Microsoft, HP, Apple, Facebook, Yahoo, and Amazon came here to open corporate facilities and the massive power consuming, job-creating, data centers. Spokane city makes it impossible as local interests want not to lose the controlling death grip that prevents real opportunity establish itself.

To answer your questions-

-What is the city like?

Worn out. Broken roadbeds. Travel by car North to South is a pain like many West Coast cities.

- What all is there to do?

Some characterize the Spokane area as an outdoorsy area. Do to the nature. You have to travel some distance to get into the real nature. You work your job, carry out daily duties. It helps if you live for your work versus the more usual Western Washington State in that they work to live. The secular social interfaces are nearly nil, as I found out. If you go to church, it helps. I'd doubt that. You have well scaled down amenities. This is a quiet town and many merely live very, truly small lives and keep to themselves. The town is void of the diversity of people and ideology that is, say, Western Washington. You have bars everywhere of less than literate or interactive people. The people in this town are very entitled and have little am ambition. Yet why is ambition needed when it is so small. Bars, bars, bars. One Magic Lantern cinema if you like independent cinema. The pinnacle cultural event is (S)H(L)oopfest, the 3 on 3 basketball tournament. So very stupid. A little theater. A lot of white trash. And a much larger decay quality like some dumpy Ohio town. Worn out. If you are a single male and educated and cultured, and you want some kind of romantic attachment, good luck, boy. It helps if you are a Christian church goer.

The tap water is among the best I've ever had. Thanks to the ill-named 'Spokane' aquifer.

- What are some of the neighborhoods/what are they like?

Research this forum and the i-net. All hail the stupid overrated 'haute' South Hill with what somewhat pricey single family real estate. However, six months out of the year (maybe more like three or four months) you risk an icy road accident motoring up and down the 6% or better grades going up and down. Spokane Valley is trashy with some good areas South of and North of I-90. Do your research. The transport infrastructure is crap is is a taxpayer fleecing like none other. It is nice in Wandermere and other area North of Spokane. Very nice.

- Is it easy to get around, sans car, or would a car be a necessity?

An automobile is a mandatory thing. Spokane is like LA in that sense. Public transport is available if not convenient. Forget bicycling. This is not Portland. Bike lanes are TRULY rare. Don't let the Centennial Trail hype suck you in. It may help you if you are near your daily resopurce like bank and grocer. Spokane has innumerable grocery stores.

- Any tips you may have?

Seattle is NOT Spokane. The two could not be more opposite as they are at opposite ends of the state. If you want a place that is socially accessible, a diversity of people and ideology, and innumerable secular social interfaces, well, go to the Seattle-Puget Sound Region (From Olympia to Bellingham), or the SF Bay Area, or Vancouver, BC. More expensive yet more brightness and vibrancy.

I came to Spokane and have despise this awful place. I have and could list innumerable resources that accurately and clearly lambaste Spokane and the Spokane County as a horrific place of fading opportunity and ever shrinking opportunity. Yet many come here and thrive. That may be you. I'm unsure.

cheers,

dud.

Originally Posted by OGTSO

Hello, I moved to Spokane from Orange, Ca in 2010. I moved here because I got a comparable job with comparable pay to what I was doing and making in Orange, Ca. I bought a house on 10 acres North of Spokane, but still in Spokane County. My house is near the Wandermere Golf Course off Highway 395. I love the area where I live because it feels like I live way out in the country, but I am only 20 minutes from downtown Spokane and about 30 minutes from the airport. My wife and I go downtown for entertainment/shopping, etc and we never feel unsafe. There are homeless people and vagrants, but they leave us alone. Depending on where your job would be located would probably determine the best place to live. I think you would need a car to live in Spokane, but I do not use the public transportaion here so I can't comment on it. There are pockets of bad areas just like any other town. Read through some threads in the Spokane forum and you can figure out the bad areas pretty easily. I like Spokane and I would recommend it to anyone coming here with a good job already lined up.:ok: