Questions about Spokane (South Hill, Summit, Kendall: rental, how much, felony)

[commstar]

have been here 18 months, transplant from the bay area. tough love to the locals:

i concur with the no food here sentiment. there is no good food here. check your appetite at the door. there is no chinese here food or otherwise. the viet & thai is passable but not worth more than this sentance. indian, well forget that too.mexican well the mexican who run the restaurants want to cook authentic mex but the locals dont get it so they cook to the local taste which is pretty meat and potatos. try to order adobada, milanesa, posole, or a sope here. good luck, they cant sell it so they dont offer it. the encharito is thought to be authentic mexican food by locals here. i resepectfully assert that anyone raised in mead or in spokane in general probably does not know the difference(but thinks they do)......i guess that kinda makes an argument about diversity being a good thing a somewhat valid argument. spokane is pure white and i have heard friends from seattle call it 'povertyville'. i can see that too with words like 'spendy' in the local vernacular. if you will miss the ocean, pro sports, or gay parades look elsewhere. if you want an unpretentious, blue collar conservative, cold, grey, quiet place with glorious summers to raise your family then get off the train in spokane. if you come, eat first then RENT b4 u buy and take your time there is a wide diversity of living situations available here from lofts in wino alley downtown, to victorians on the south hill to wheat farms to the west and waterfront to the east and north. schools are a big factor for many. 81 sucks. i would not live in the city limits of spokane city council is a mess and services suck.and to you spokanites who were raised here, love the area but there are NO good restaurants here. what passes for chinese here is really disgusting to those of us who do know the difference.sweet and sour anything is not chinese. my country for steamed mustard greens w/oyster sauce. i have asked several chinese people i have encountered here where they would go in spokane for chinese and the reply has been that there is none and one must go to seattle.....or SF. spokane trys hard but just misses the mark in so many ways......that attracted me here....

[RodFarlee]

Originally Posted by commstar

...there are NO good restaurants here...spokane trys hard but just misses the mark in so many ways......that attracted me here....

Now I'm curious... in what ways DID Spokane attract you to move there? There must have been something that drew you to move a thousand miles to live in Spokane?

The things you harp on (the lack of genuine Chinese and Mexican restaurants) seem remarkably superficial - and I don't mean that in a dismissive way, rather that it's not something hidden, that can be uncovered only by living there for a year. It's the kind of thing one would learn easily in a brief visit before even considering a major move. (And it's something that could be said of 99% of towns in the northwest and intermountain west, so I don't quite understand how it could be surprising.)

One thing I've always found, visiting Spokane, is that people are very friendly and helpful. In that spirit, and given your experience, could you offer advice for others here about how to better research a city before moving?

[mes3fils]

Hi,
We live in S. FL and are going to visit spokane in April during spring break. We are very unhappy here. A friend lives in Liberty Lake. She and her family love it there.
After reading some of these posts, I am concerned about the negativity. I realize we will be able to see for ourselves but will we get a feel for the area in a time frame of a 1 wk visit?

Are there nice malls, that are fairly large with a good mix of popular stores...A&F, Gap, Nordstrom?

Is there a 'Carabba's' restaurant? (chain Italian)

What about a good pizza place?

Is it really gray from October thru June? (I have had spokane as my default computer weather for over a yr and don't notice it to be THAT long of a gray period)

Is Greenacres right next to or part of L. Lake?

Does the valley get 'breezy' days where you can open your windows in the Fall? Or summer?

Are there any 'bars' downtown that one could go to for a night out?

What about places where there is dancing (night life for younger ones)?

If some nice person could 'copy and paste' and answer my questions, I would be sooo appreciative!! Thanks.

Have a blessed day everyone.

Donna

[WendyK]

Hi - I would love to answer your questions in a non-negative way!

Are there nice malls, that are fairly large with a good mix of popular stores...A&F, Gap, Nordstrom? Yes, there is a large mall in the Valley, River Park Square downtown and the Northtown Mall on the north side of town. We have Macy's, Nordstom & Nordstrom Rack, A&F is downtown, GAP is in all of them - all the main stores you'd find nationwide. I have a 15 yr. old daughter and we spend quite a bit of time at the mall :-)

Is there a 'Carabba's' restaurant? (chain Italian) No Carrabba's here but there are plenty of good restaurants to choose from - Mexican, American, Seafood, Italian, Thai.

What about a good pizza place? Good pizza is David's Pizza or Benniditto's. Those are my favs but I'm sure other locals have their preferred pizza places, too.

Is it really gray from October thru June? (I have had spokane as my default computer weather for over a yr and don't notice it to be THAT long of a gray period) The gray days come and go - I would say the worst months are Dec Jan & Feb and then things get better. I'm from FL too and do not miss the FL weather at all. The 4 seasons make the year more fun with different activities.

Is Greenacres right next to or part of L. Lake? Greenacres is near Liberty Lake - it's another section of the Valley part of Spokane.

Does the valley get 'breezy' days where you can open your windows in the Fall? Or summer? You can open your windows year round if you want to - summer gets pretty hot and most people like to have central AC, but nights are usually cooler and you can open the windows.

Are there any 'bars' downtown that one could go to for a night out? Lots of great bars - The Big Easy, Blue Fish, Steelhead, Davenport - Peacock Room - depends on what you want to do. Downtown here has really expanded in the past 3 years and there's plenty of night life, live music of all types and safe to walk around. Also lots of art galleries in between the clubs to stop and admire the local art scene.

What about places where there is dancing (night life for younger ones)? I'm over 40 but I know that there are dance clubs - you can dance at the Big Easy, Dempsey's, Ankeny's (these are all downtown) and I'm sure there are lots of places in the valley to have fun night life.

Please let me know if you have any more questions - I think you would enjoy a visit here to get a feel for what it's like living in Spokane.

[mes3fils]

Thanks Wendy for answering my questions. We won't be moving anywhere until my dh retires in Jan 2011. He is a sgt for the BBPD. I am 36 and he is 37.
We have 3 boys...14, 2 and 5 months. The oldest on will be graduating the year of 2011 and so I am 'working' on him to move with us! His bio dad lives here. When we visit in April 2007, it will just be the 3 of us, and the babies will stay here at home with my MIL. None of us are happy here.

I am signed up with two real estate email listings...Windermere (Larry W.) and John L. Scott (Jaime M.). It gives us a lot of info as to the homes, areas and prices.

We love how there are mtn views from so many homes. I am an RN and will be seeking part time hospital work when we move. And, hopefully, dh can get a job with the local Sheriff's office? Do you know anyone in the SO?

Is there a BJ's wholesale club there? (another version of Costco)

Thanks again!

[WendyK]

As an RN you won't have any trouble finding a job here. I've worked with several nurses and they get hired immediately. I know the chief at one of the outlying police depts. and might be able to hook you up with him to see about getting a position with the Spokane police or the county sheriff's office.
No BJ's but yet there are 2 costco's - one on the north side and one in the valley.
You will love the views here - so much different than flat florida! It's so refreshing to see hills, trees, valleys, and all the wonderful wildlife. Have a good weekend!

[Binx]

Good: Mead School district, Northtown mall, big on fine arts, good restaurants, great parks, 2 costcos, beautiful mountains and lakes, lots of good outdoor sporting activities, Gonzaga and Whitman colleges.
Bad: traffic-needs north-south freeway (coming,) not so good inner city neighborhoods, long dreary winters, poor city leadership, over-regulated.
high water bills, high electric rates, isolated in eastern washington, poor roads, polluted river in center of city, home prices climbing to Seattle rates.

[kseo]

How much higher are the electric and water bills compare to Western Washington? How is Spokane over-regulated?
When is the north-south freeway coming and where does it start and end.
Also how bad are the winters? Here in the Seattle area we had 10" of rain in two weeks and low 50's to high 40's...
Spokane gets sun in the winter don't they?
Thank you.

[kseo]

Can i please have your feedback on my previous post.
Thank you.

[Spokanian]

Back to the original question about the neighbourhoods.

Spokane is divided into northern and southern part by I-90. It's like two different towns. To put it shortly:

Northern part - screams "white trash". Ugly, poor. Very high crime rate. Check http://www.spokanegis.org/crimemap/ (broken link) You don't want to live there unless you really have no choice.

Downtown - a mixed bag. There are two or three streets that have newer buildings and look very clean, but the rest looks like after war. Very ugly. And because very few people hang out there, if feels abandoned, you can mostly see punks and scums there. Doesn't feel good at all. Stay away.

Southern part - awesome! Very upscale, lots of old trees, big beautiful houses, just driving through is a pleasure. You definitely want to live here. While houses are expensive here, you can still find a condo unit for under 100k ocassionaly.

Hope that helps.