Spokane

[Spokanite]

Someone suggested I start a Spokane thread to offer insight into living in this city. Spokane offers four distinct seasons, cold & snowy winter, spring with tons of flowers & trees blooming, hot & dry sunny summers and colorful, cool autumn. While the Spokane city limits population is around 190,000, the total population of all Spokane county is closer to 500,000. The Spokane river flows through from Idaho and up into Lincoln county where it empties into the Columbia river.Lots of people here are into outdoor activities year round - skiing & winter sports within an hour's drive (we're also not far from Canadian slopes), biking, hiking, running, gardening, canoeing & kayaking, waterskiing & tubing are all very popular with residents.
Spokane has a vibrant downtown that has really taken off and become popular in the past 5 years since Walt Worthy purchased the old Davenport Hotel and renovated it back to its original turn of the century splendor. There's a Big Easy concert house, Riverpark Square mall with Nordstrom, Macy's, Restoration Hardware, etc. We also just got a PF Chang's restaurant downtown that is really popular.
I'd be happy to answer any questions people have about living in this area. I'm also very familiar with southern Stevens county (Nine Mile Falls, Deer Park, Springdale, TumTum).

[MyAzi]

If you can post some pictures of that area it would be wonderful!

[the dufferz]

what would $400,000 buy you in the real estate market?

[kdm31091]

Well seeing as the median is only ~$150k I would think $400k would buy a huge place.

[Spokanite]

For $400,000 you can buy a very nice home in the Spokane area. You would get approximately 3000-4500 sq. ft., depending on finishing touches & upgrades. You could purchase a home on acreage if you wanted a larger lot. There are also some nice older homes on the south hill in quaint, tree lined neighborhoods close to parks. You could also buy new construction but you typically don't get as much for your $$ with buying new (although some builders are starting to make price adjustments where they've got too much inventory). One nice thing about homes here is that you usually get some type of basement, which in new homes is extra living space for kids, rec rooms, in-law setup, extra bedrooms, etc.
In older homes (pre-1950's) the basements are usually more for storage than living space because they don't have the big windows that newer homes have.

[Spokanite]

Just an FYI that the US Figure Skating Championships are being held this week in Spokane and being televised on ESPN. A great boost for the local economy and for our city's reputation. I went last night to watch the Championship Original Dance competition. Wonderful experience! I was not aware that so many people are die-hard skate fans! The skaters are all so cordial and accomodating of those seeking autographs and asking questions, etc.
Check it out on TV if you get a chance and you might even see some clips of beautiful Spokane.

[cleozmom]

That would be something awesome to watch up close and personal. Are you going or taking the front row seat in your living room?

[Spokanite]

Originally Posted by cleozmom

That would be something awesome to watch up close and personal. Are you going or taking the front row seat in your living room?

I don't think I'll be able to go to any more events but the one I went to last night was great. If I can take control of the "clicker" at my house, I'll try to watch some on TV. My hubby is into manly sports and not very fond of skating.

[the dufferz]

Originally Posted by Spokanite

Just an FYI that the US Figure Skating Championships are being held this week in Spokane and being televised on ESPN. A great boost for the local economy and for our city's reputation. I went last night to watch the Championship Original Dance competition. Wonderful experience! I was not aware that so many people are die-hard skate fans! The skaters are all so cordial and accomodating of those seeking autographs and asking questions, etc.
Check it out on TV if you get a chance and you might even see some clips of beautiful Spokane.

My wife and I went to the goodwill games when they were in Seattle back when they existed. We watched the mens gymnastics the went and watched them on TV later that night. What you see in person is nothing compared to what you see on TV. Just ask the other 5 people who were there...

[the dufferz]

Originally Posted by Spokanite

Just an FYI that the US Figure Skating Championships are being held this week in Spokane and being televised on ESPN. A great boost for the local economy and for our city's reputation. I went last night to watch the Championship Original Dance competition. Wonderful experience! I was not aware that so many people are die-hard skate fans! The skaters are all so cordial and accomodating of those seeking autographs and asking questions, etc.
Check it out on TV if you get a chance and you might even see some clips of beautiful Spokane.

I'm watching it right now, and they actually got the name right! Spo-can. I have heard it pronouced Spo-cane on TV before.

Some very pretty ladies going some pretty skating. Odd not having Michelle Kwan out there.

[Spokanite]

Thanks for reminding me to turn it on! My hubby's working late tonight so I can watch for a while :-). It's funny to see all the fans in the background waving to their friends while the camera's on them...DORKS! Have a good night. I'm going to watch TV.

[Spokanite]

I just posted this on c-d and thought it should be on here too.

This was just reported in yesterday's Spokesman - I'm summarizing the main points. Spokane car thefts have more than doubled in the past 8 years and became the city's most reported crime in 2006. There were 2348 car thefts reported last year. In the West and East Central areas, drugs were the biggest concern. Police have shut down a lot of houses and boarded them up. A more widespread problem than drugs or auto theft is graffiti. Grafitti has left Spokane looking like a badly tattooed sailor. Volunteers and police are making the rounds with paint to cover up the damage but they are having a hard time keeping up with it.

On a positive note, employment is expected to continue to grow after an increase of 4.5 from the previous year. Best opportunities will be in construction, wholesale & retail trade, finance, insurance, real estate and services. Hotel revenue is up and officials are banking on 2007 as the year that will launch Spokane's reputation as a travel destination. Commercial real estate space vacancy rates are falling as new businesses move into the area. Residential real estate prices are expected to stabilize this year with a predicted appreciation of 4-6% for 2007, compared to 14.5% in 2006. The average home price in Spokane county for 2006 was $195,000. Low to middle income homebuyers struggle to find reasonably priced houses but there's an emerging population of affluent residents spending $500,000 or more to live in condos and upscale housing developments.

Business columnist, Bert Caldwell, reported that the last time Spokane enjoyed the kind of prosperity that has prevailed the last few years, Expo '74 was drawing thousands of visitors to the area, residential construction was booming, and Kaiser Aluminum Corp. was still a manufacturing mainstay. Local high-tech companies like Key Tronic Corp. and ISC Systems Inc. were emerging as major employers. He goes on to talk about the decade of stagnation that Spokane went through from the late 70's into the late 80's. Current stats show that health care has become the region's largest employer. Manufacturing has rebounded. Spokane started 2007 with the US Figure Skating Championships, a second Davenport Hotel opened, groundbreaking for Kendall Yards on the north bank of the Spokane River holds promise for transforming 80 acres of barren dirt into an urban centerpiece.

[the dufferz]

Originally Posted by Spokanite

I just posted this on c-d and thought it should be on here too.

This was just reported in yesterday's Spokesman - I'm summarizing the main points. Spokane car thefts have more than doubled in the past 8 years and became the city's most reported crime in 2006. There were 2348 car thefts reported last year. In the West and East Central areas, drugs were the biggest concern. Police have shut down a lot of houses and boarded them up. A more widespread problem than drugs or auto theft is graffiti. Grafitti has left Spokane looking like a badly tattooed sailor. Volunteers and police are making the rounds with paint to cover up the damage but they are having a hard time keeping up with it.

On a positive note, employment is expected to continue to grow after an increase of 4.5 from the previous year. Best opportunities will be in construction, wholesale & retail trade, finance, insurance, real estate and services. Hotel revenue is up and officials are banking on 2007 as the year that will launch Spokane's reputation as a travel destination. Commercial real estate space vacancy rates are falling as new businesses move into the area. Residential real estate prices are expected to stabilize this year with a predicted appreciation of 4-6% for 2007, compared to 14.5% in 2006. The average home price in Spokane county for 2006 was $195,000. Low to middle income homebuyers struggle to find reasonably priced houses but there's an emerging population of affluent residents spending $500,000 or more to live in condos and upscale housing developments.

Business columnist, Bert Caldwell, reported that the last time Spokane enjoyed the kind of prosperity that has prevailed the last few years, Expo '74 was drawing thousands of visitors to the area, residential construction was booming, and Kaiser Aluminum Corp. was still a manufacturing mainstay. Local high-tech companies like Key Tronic Corp. and ISC Systems Inc. were emerging as major employers. He goes on to talk about the decade of stagnation that Spokane went through from the late 70's into the late 80's. Current stats show that health care has become the region's largest employer. Manufacturing has rebounded. Spokane started 2007 with the US Figure Skating Championships, a second Davenport Hotel opened, groundbreaking for Kendall Yards on the north bank of the Spokane River holds promise for transforming 80 acres of barren dirt into an urban centerpiece.

Sounds like the inland empire is rising again, but you may have to walk to get there!

Car theft is a "washington" problem that usually ties together with drug activity. Seeing that the penalty for auto theft is pretty mild and not heavily pursued, stealing cars is an easy way to get drug money.

[washington native]

gangs, inversions and crime, oh boy.