How is commuting from Springdale to Spokane during winter months (Cheney: for sale, apartment)

[TPC1323]

G'day all,

My husband and I are looking to relocate to Springdale, WA from the midwest. The biggest question we have is how is commuting to Spokane from Springdale, specifically right off Springdale Hunters Road?

Do many people commute 1 hr each way successfully during the winter months, without the commute turning into 2 hours one way after a big snow and things like that? We have all 4x4 vehicles, 2 Outbacks & an F250. How much on average are the roads icy during winter as well? Thanks for everyone's tips & advice! This forum is the BEST!

Cheers!
Paul & Theresa

[WendyK]

What part of Spokane do you need to commute to? If it's north side, that might be do-able although still not the most fun in the winter. You'll be spending a lot of time in the car and on the road. If you have to get to downtown Spokane on a daily basis, that would be a long commute. I don't think a lot of people drive from Springdale to downtown Spokane regularly. In the winter we have shorter daylight hours, it starts getting dark around 4 pm and it doesn't get light in the morning until closer to 7 am.

[TPC1323]

Thank you, I should have said what side of Spokane.
My hubby will need to commute to the Northside, north of riverfront park. It's basically highway 395 the whole way.

I am hoping to get a job at Fairchild AFB, and I know that's going to be an even longer commute.

[WendyK]

Even Riverfront Park area is pretty close to downtown and Fairchild is farther west. Is there somewhere else you can live that would be closer? If you're looking for a rural type area, maybe Cheney or Medical Lake or Spokane's West Plains areas would be more convenient to FAFB and downtown Spokane. You'll be spending a lot on gas money for sure driving from Springdale on a daily basis. People think I drive a lot and I live in Nine Mile Falls which is less than 30 minutes from downtown or FAFB.

[TPC1323]

We have been having trouble finding what we are looking for any closer to Spokane. We are needing at least 20 acres of useable pasture land, without spending $200k. So that has us looking further out. We do want to be rural and sort of secluded, without neighbors right on top of us. Currently I commute about 50 minutes, but my hubby is only commuting about 30 minutes (he commuted about 1.15 hours each way for several years so to him it's not a big deal, and I just wanted some real world experience about the conditions). I really appreciate your input!

How well is Hwy 395 and 231 usually cleared up after a big snow? How icy does it usually get or does that not happen that often?

[PS90]

I know a few people that live in Springdale or Valley and work in Spokane, but 2 out of the 4 people that I can think of that do that, have a small house or apartment in Spokane that they stay in during the week.

It would be do-able during the winter to the northside/Wandermere area, but there are days that will suck. 395 is usually plowed pretty well, but most of Hwy 231 is directly north of a bunch of hills - so the lack of sun can make it REALLY slick and icy in the winter at times. That, and it's not a priority for plowing, so it may not be completely plowed early in the mornings.

Also, to each his own, but I would rather stick my head in a hot panini press that commute through Spokane to Airway heights on a daily basis. There is currently no quick way from north to south Spokane (if the freeway ever gets done there might be, however), and you would be going through during rush hour, probably.

If you are looking in Airway Heights for employment and want a place out away from people, why not consider somewhere like Reardon? - Hwy 2 is a better road than 231, and is less traveled than 395, and you would be much closer and not have to commute through Spokane.

[PS90]

Also, I don't consider "north of Riverfront park" to be the northside of Spokane. You would still be closer to I-90 than you would to the northern "border" of Spokane - so commuting from Hwy 2 or maybe south of Spokane would be much closer.

[Yeledaf]

Consider the Cheney area. It's a much more pleasant commute to Spokane.

Cheney WA Land for Sale - 56 Listings | Page 1 of 3 | Land And Farm

[TPC1323]

Originally Posted by PS90

I know a few people that live in Springdale or Valley and work in Spokane, but 2 out of the 4 people that I can think of that do that, have a small house or apartment in Spokane that they stay in during the week.

It would be do-able during the winter to the northside/Wandermere area, but there are days that will suck. 395 is usually plowed pretty well, but most of Hwy 231 is directly north of a bunch of hills - so the lack of sun can make it REALLY slick and icy in the winter at times. That, and it's not a priority for plowing, so it may not be completely plowed early in the mornings.

Also, to each his own, but I would rather stick my head in a hot panini press that commute through Spokane to Airway heights on a daily basis. There is currently no quick way from north to south Spokane (if the freeway ever gets done there might be, however), and you would be going through during rush hour, probably.

If you are looking in Airway Heights for employment and want a place out away from people, why not consider somewhere like Reardon? - Hwy 2 is a better road than 231, and is less traveled than 395, and you would be much closer and not have to commute through Spokane.

Thank you sincerely for your advice, and I had hoped you would offer some input!
After everyone's comments and much discussing with my husband, I believe we are going to try for a smaller parcel in Elk because 20 acres that close to Spokane is way out of our budget comfort zone.

To be honest I wish this parcel was in Stevens County, but we just couldn't find land that suits our needs in Stevens County and one we could also commute to Spokane for at least a couple years. We have been looking for several years, and this was our 3rd time visiting there to look at places.

The smaller parcel in Elk has everything we want, just in a smaller footprint (10 acres).

Off Subject a bit, do you know of any weird laws or regulations against setting a solar power system vs. shore power for Spokane County and WA State in general? This parcel is back from the road quite a ways, and we are thinking it might be the same cost to run land power from the road as it would to set up a full solar power system. FYI, we are planning on building a modest sized home no larger than 1,200 sq ft (the smaller the Better!)

Thank you tremendously PS90!

[TPC1323]

Originally Posted by Yeledaf

Consider the Cheney area. It's a much more pleasant commute to Spokane.

Cheney WA Land for Sale - 56 Listings | Page 1 of 3 | Land And Farm

Thank you Yele !