Spokane - is it pedestrian friendly? Mostly car-oriented? How is the layout? (Seattle: appointed)

[Tiger Beer]

Spokane - is it pedestrian friendly? Mostly car-oriented? How is the layout?

Not that I wouldn't have a car, but it is nice to be able to walk around places without jumping in the car for nearly everything.

Also, if there is some walkable density...are there people around...or is just walkable in the fact that you COULD walk because there are sidewalks.

I guess, essentially, thinking of neighborhood settings where you can walk to the library, bookstores, restaurants, or whatever...without having to get in a car and drive to some mall that has everything, and what might be most common.

I guess I'm seeing if there are exceptions to the normal city-oriented layouts in the city...?

[Count David]

Some of the older neighborhoods on the north and south side could be considered walkable.

I'd say the lower part of South Hill would be best for that, and near Gonzaga.

[Tiger Beer]

I browsed on google maps. It does seem predominately residential. But about 10 years ago, long time ago already, I did drive through Spokane. I remember parking downtown and eating at a really cool restaurant/bar, the kind that reminded me of stuff I'd see in Seattle/Portland. I also remember a park downtown for kids with amusement rides and ferris wheel. Not sure if that was just for summer seasonal thing or fair of some kind though.

Is the downtown area pretty much THE spot...and most of the rest is residential?

How similar is Spokane in feel to other cities like Olympia, Bellingham, Portland WA, or even somewhere like the suburbs of Seattle?

[SpokaneWAHomes]

Here is a great site where you can plug in a physical address and see how "walkable" the surrounding area is: Get Your Walk Score - A Walkability Score For Any Address I'd say that downtown Spokane is the most walkable if you want to get to a lot of "cultural" amenities. There are "pockets" of neighborhoods that you can walk to some shopping to includes malls, strip malls, some restaurants. On the Northside- Shadle and Garland have older homes of mixed styles. In the Shadle area you could have walking access to a library, Walmart, some fast food, Dollar Tree, Drugstore, Safeway, Starbucks. In the Garland area you could have walking access to Garland Street which has more boutique type shops, coffee, some local restaurants and a theater that runs movies cheaper after they have been out for a few months . It will also depend on the type of home, neighborhood, price range you are looking at.

[svartkatt]

The lower parts of the South Hill near downtown and the Brown's Addition area west of DT are the only areas I would call "walkable" in the sense that I think you mean. Certainly other parts of the city are very beautiful for a relaxing stroll, but if you mean walking to services, restaurants, bars, shops, etc., you're going to be taking a LONG walk unless you're living near downtown. The city is mostly single-family residential, so distances can be quite far. I would say it's very geared towards driving. There are apartment and condo buildings on the lower South Hill and near downtown (especially Brown's Addition) where you could theoretically live and walk to most places.

I would say that Spokane is really quite different from Portland or Seattle, and not really comparable to Olympia. Seattle and especially Portland have downtowns but also "urban villages" with business districts in the residential neighborhoods, and both cities have fairly dense cores in terms of population. Spokane is mostly residential, with business concentrated in downtown, a few malls, and in strips like Division street that require driving. I grew up in Spokane and live in Seattle, and personally in terms of pedestrian lifestyle, I think Portland is really the best in that regard. I think Portland is also ahead of Seattle in bicycle infrastructure and public transit, and in trying to get people out of their cars.

[kena]

For what I think you're describing, I would agree with others here that downtown, Brown's Addition, (parts) of Cannon's Addition, Garland and (parts) of Audobon/NW Boulevard are 'walkable' neighborhoods. There are a few other areas where if you live in an apartment area you could walk to services (for example, if you live near 57th & Perry) you could walk to the grocery store, several restaurants, the gym, etc. but the businesses are set up for cars.

If you're looking for comparable neighborhoods to, say, Wallingford in Seattle or Hawthorne in Portland, you're only going to find those in the above mentioned areas, and even then you won't get the same level of density/services.

I'd say that Spokane feels, size wise, like a smaller Portland. Portland isn't overwhelming with its verticality, like Seattle, and is a little slower paced than Seattle (IMO) and Spokane, being the largest city in a good radius, feels (and is) bigger than a Bellingham or Olympia. Now, Spokane is less dense than Portland and has far less of the indie, foodie, alt culture vibe that you get in Portland proper. Spokane is comprised of a decent downtown and lots of residential neighborhoods with pockets of services and greater density.

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by svartkatt

The lower parts of the South Hill near downtown and the Brown's Addition area west of DT are the only areas I would call "walkable" in the sense that I think you mean. Certainly other parts of the city are very beautiful for a relaxing stroll, but if you mean walking to services, restaurants, bars, shops, etc., you're going to be taking a LONG walk unless you're living near downtown. The city is mostly single-family residential, so distances can be quite far. I would say it's very geared towards driving. There are apartment and condo buildings on the lower South Hill and near downtown (especially Brown's Addition) where you could theoretically live and walk to most places.

I would say that Spokane is really quite different from Portland or Seattle, and not really comparable to Olympia. Seattle and especially Portland have downtowns but also "urban villages" with business districts in the residential neighborhoods, and both cities have fairly dense cores in terms of population. Spokane is mostly residential, with business concentrated in downtown, a few malls, and in strips like Division street that require driving. I grew up in Spokane and live in Seattle, and personally in terms of pedestrian lifestyle, I think Portland is really the best in that regard. I think Portland is also ahead of Seattle in bicycle infrastructure and public transit, and in trying to get people out of their cars.

This is kind of the sense I'm getting. Actually I've lived in Portland before, and loved it.

So, thinking of a comparitive level, I might be a bit disappointed to move to the Northwest again, and have a city that isn't quite as setup in such a great way as Portland.

Especially since I was just browsing through Spokane...and it sorta sounds like real estate prices aren't all that far apart from each other...kinda similar...and jobs don't seem to be around in either place as well.