United States / Washington / Spokane-Spokane Valley Metro Area / Spokane County / Spokane / Zip Codes

Review of Spokane, Washington

Never thought of leaving
Star Rating - 7/5/2016
I was doing some research that landed me on this site and I have to say I was compelled to write in response to all the negativity! I have lived hear most of my life, with short stents away and a good deal of travel. I can honestly say that besides college, I never thought of leaving! Spokane is amazing! I have never been without a job; neither have my kids. My youngest just applied for a job at 16, and got the first one she applied for! My oldest is in College getting a great education right here in Spokane.
Our outdoor recreation opportunities are well known and legendary but on top of that we have a strong educated workforce, a nationally recognized education system, amazing weather (Don't confuse us with the other side of the State; we get nearly 200 days of sun a year), crystal clean air and water, a growing cultural and start-up scene, a ridiculously short commute time (from downtown to rural America in as little as 15 minutes), incredible and inexpensive golf, and some of the most friendly people on the planet. I am not kidding; I hear that all the time from visitors; literally someone new to Spokane just told me last week; "people here are so friendly it is a bit weird at first!" Oh, and did I mention, you can run a business for as little as 70 cents on the dollar from what it is on the coast (when you calculate lease rates, labor, local taxes etc), with waaaay less rain and buy a beautiful home for $200,000? Finally, I have worked downtown now for 11+ years and though I encounter homeless people and have been panhandled I have NEVER felt unsafe or felt threatened.
Mark | Spokane Valley, WA
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2 Replies

Thank you for writing this! My family and I are planning to relocate to Spokane, from Hawaii within the next 12 months. We were wondering why there are so many homes for sale for such cheap prices, and while I was reading the above comments, my heart sank... until I read yours. Then the glimmer of hope returned to me. I look forward to starting my new life there, in your city, where we will be able to afford a home and live decently. Hawaii is so expensive, and although it's beautiful and the people here are great, it's just hard to survive here. Being born and raised here, makes it tolerable, but my husband and I want more for our adult children, and they also want more, besides living from paycheck to paycheck. Again, thank you for this comment, which has restored my faith that we have chosen a good place to relocate to. Mahalo and aloha!
Andrea | Waianae, HI | Report Abuse
Agree 13   Disagree 12
I resound with much of your comment, as I grew up in Spokane and had a wonderful childhood and even stayed for college. But: you are male, yes? It is quite different when you are female. When I was a kid, the Spokane Serial Killer was still at large - they found one of the bodies behind my dentist's office on the side of Five Mile where we would play in the woods. A girl at my high school was drug out of her car when she stopped at a stoplight late at night and raped. Another student, who did running start at SFCC, got into her car and was raped by the man hiding in her backseat. Spokane anchor Shelly Monahan was raped by the south hill serial rapist before I was born. When I was in HS, all of us working at the Northtown mall had to start having a security escort to our cars if we worked until closing due to a rash of autothefts involved hiding under the car and then slashing the person's Achilles tendon. I grew up knowing where to go and when, walking quicker when I caught the eye of a "sketchy" man, looking over my shoulder and being very aware of my surroundings when walking alone. It wasn't until I moved that I realized that this isn't "normal" - oh, and I moved to L.A. - where I was more than prepared to live a block from Hollywood Blvd. because of my upbringing in the Mead District suburbs of Spokane. It is NOT a safe city!
Sydney | Seattle, WA | Report Abuse
Agree 9   Disagree 6
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