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What is Spokane Washington like?

I'm not concerned with the "gay scene" in Spokane, but just general things like are people generally friendly, is the city relatively clean, is crime a huge problem, etc. I've been offered a job transfer to Spokane and know almost nothing about the place.

by Anonymousreply 77September 20, 2021 3:08 AM

In Spokane all seems to breathe freedom and peace and to make one forget the world and all its sad turmoils.

by Anonymousreply 1September 9, 2021 10:02 PM

No they are not friendly, yes it's relatively clean, pedestrian hit and runs and gun violence is common (lots of Ukrainian/Russian gangs and druggies) but not as bad as big cities like Chicago or LA. Horrible roads and highway, lots of car accidents due to bad road designs and too many people for the infrastructure.

by Anonymousreply 2September 9, 2021 10:06 PM

Absolute shithole, OP. I don't know if it's crime-ridden but the city definitely has a beaten-down, depressing feeling to it. Horrible Midwestern climate. No glamour or "nice areas". It's also very isolated. I grew up in Washington so it's not like I was there once on a layover. It really is a shitty place.

by Anonymousreply 3September 9, 2021 10:11 PM

I wouldn't consider it a Midwestern climate. The Midwest has a lot of humidity, the North is much drier. But yeah it is basically a shit hole

by Anonymousreply 4September 9, 2021 10:16 PM

Spokane gets a lot of snow in the winter and its broiling hot in the summer. That's close enough to a Midwestern climate. Don't be a tedious nitpicker

by Anonymousreply 5September 9, 2021 10:34 PM

It has a normal four seasons like any place on the east coast. The weather is the only good thing about it R5. The Midwest is sweltering humidity in summer and brutally cold in the winter. It's not the same, sorry.

by Anonymousreply 6September 9, 2021 10:37 PM

It's the armpit of WA. If you have to go across to Coeur d'Alene to live it up, you're in trouble.

by Anonymousreply 7September 9, 2021 10:38 PM

[quote] It's the armpit of WA

I heard it referred to as the “meth capital of Washington”.

by Anonymousreply 8September 9, 2021 10:43 PM

It's White Supremacist Idaho-adjacent

by Anonymousreply 9September 9, 2021 10:44 PM

I fingered Linda Florentino there.

by Anonymousreply 10September 9, 2021 10:46 PM

It is politically more like the Midwest than liberal Seattle but there are gorgeous places to visit nearby like Priest Lake, ID

by Anonymousreply 11September 9, 2021 11:06 PM

Why is it Spo-KAN, instead of Spo-KANE?

by Anonymousreply 12September 9, 2021 11:23 PM

^ funny u ask, it used to not have the E

by Anonymousreply 13September 9, 2021 11:24 PM

Here

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by Anonymousreply 14September 9, 2021 11:26 PM

"I was there once in 1982. We went to a New Wave Club and then a gay bar and it was depressing. The food scene was horrible too. Avoid!"

by Anonymousreply 15September 9, 2021 11:28 PM

I used to have to go there for business about once a year. It's really kind of white trashy and very Trumpy.

by Anonymousreply 16September 9, 2021 11:33 PM

I've lived near Spokane for almost 20 years, though I've never lived directly in Spokane. I know what I'm talking about.

by Anonymousreply 17September 9, 2021 11:34 PM

Oh deer! And lots of them!

by Anonymousreply 18September 9, 2021 11:34 PM

[quote] If you have to go across to Coeur d'Alene to live it up, you're in trouble.

Do you know any Ida-hos from Coeur d’Alene?

by Anonymousreply 19September 10, 2021 1:23 AM

My best friend is a member of the Spokane Tribe. I used to go out there with her a few times a year. The best part of Spokane is driving away from it. It is a strange town, with even stranger residents. A lot of trashy people of all colors, and kinds end up there.

by Anonymousreply 20September 10, 2021 1:33 AM

The traffic is horrendous, I know that much.

by Anonymousreply 21September 10, 2021 1:34 AM

Lots of DOPE. And of course the DopeHeads love it.

by Anonymousreply 22September 10, 2021 1:37 AM

Is it close to Grey Sloane hospital?

I hear they need me there.

by Anonymousreply 23September 10, 2021 2:41 AM

Samantha Stevens' son was a serial rapist there.

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by Anonymousreply 24September 10, 2021 2:46 AM

[quote]I grew up in Washington so it's not like I was there once on a layover. It really is a shitty place.

I grew up in Washington as well. Most Washingtonians have never been there unless they attended Eastern. I was only there because I was in high school band and also attended Boys State.

There are the Cascades which separate it from most of the rest of the state, so your comment does sound like you were there once on a Horizon Air layover.

by Anonymousreply 25September 10, 2021 3:04 AM

I lived there for 11 years, about 25 years ago, so what I know about the place might not be relevant anymore.

Back then, I chose to take a job in Spokane over one in Tulsa and never regretted it. But my primary reason for moving to Spokane was the natural beauty. Lots of trees and parks. And the South Hill is by far the choicest location for buying a home.

The weather in winter can be problematic. Back then, the city had a policy that streets wouldn't be plowed until there was six inches of snow on the ground. That meant snow would accumulate and freeze before city plows tried making streets passable. And black ice (slick and nearly invisible ice layers) can make driving treacherous.

Spokane hosted the 1974 World's Fair and that prompted city officials to clean up the area blighted by the railroad tracks downtown. The result is a jewel of a public park system that embraces the Spokane River that cuts through town. Hence, it's also a city with several bridges.

I'm told the northern part of town has become a drug haven, but I have no proof of that.

Earlier posts about traffic being a nightmare are close to the truth. The city never developed a comprehensive urban plan to accommodate a growing population, so the current mess is the result.

Winters can be brutal, which is why a system of sheltered and climate-controlled skywalks running over city streets makes shopping downtown bearable.

Spokane boasts a Nordstrom downtown. When I lived there, Spokane had the distinction of being the smallest American city with a Nordstrom department store.

The city suffers from being so far away from the urban sprawl of the west side of the state. It's considered a backwater by the rest of Washington State and is very conservative.

One of the positive aspects to living in Spokane is the proximity to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, and Sandpoint, Idaho, to the north. It's too bad that COVID has made crossing the border into Canada difficult because being able to drive into Alberta was one of the perks of living there.

Unfortunately, Spokane always seemed hell-bent on making itself family-friendly. That means single people can be an afterthought.

That said, there are bars and restaurants to take the sting out of living there.

And there's a large mall in the Spokane Valley, so you have options.

by Anonymousreply 26September 10, 2021 3:13 AM

Lots of classy, transracial people are from Spokane.

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by Anonymousreply 27September 10, 2021 3:16 AM

r25 I went to WSU. You grew up in Washington yet your forgot about the second biggest university only 80 miles south of Spokane? Thanks for reminding me that the cascades exist, you sound like a real expert. Spokane is a shithole, end of story.

by Anonymousreply 28September 10, 2021 5:10 AM

Sorry, R28. Any of my old high school friends (and their children) who went East, went to Eastern. I always forget WSU exists. Lol.

Spokane has some beautiful landscape which prevents it from being deemed a shithole IMO. But you do you!

by Anonymousreply 29September 10, 2021 5:22 AM

[quote]violence is common (lots of Ukrainian/Russian gangs and druggies) but not as bad as big cities like Chicago or LA.

Chicago crimes per 100k residents: 39.76

LA crimes per 100k residents: 32.01

Spokane crimes per 100k residents: 65.6

by Anonymousreply 30September 10, 2021 5:42 AM

THIS is the cultural highlight of the city.

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by Anonymousreply 31September 10, 2021 6:09 AM

[quotes]Spokane crimes per 100k residents: 65.6

The lilacs are dripping with blood.

by Anonymousreply 32September 10, 2021 6:12 AM

[quote] THIS is the cultural highlight of the city.

No this is:

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by Anonymousreply 33September 10, 2021 6:14 AM

I went to Gonzaga university. Lots of hot college boys

by Anonymousreply 34September 10, 2021 6:18 AM

Spokane is hundreds of miles away from a real airport but has none of the wilderness charm. You might as well live in a suburb or Seattle where you can get the convenience of a city but are still an hour away from the boonies. If you truly like the wilderness you're better off going to the boonies in Montana or Oregon.

by Anonymousreply 35September 10, 2021 6:23 AM

R35 Housing on the west side of the Cascades is very expensive. Average home price in metro Seattle is over double the price in Spokane.

by Anonymousreply 36September 10, 2021 6:35 AM

After you move there and eventually kill yourself, can I have your stuff?

by Anonymousreply 37September 10, 2021 6:38 AM

Well - One of my relatives went to college in Spokane and dated Edward R Murrow. Her family were wheat farmers. She settled down in Yakima - another town of note in addition to the Tri Cities. You can see the big mountains as you drive out of Yakima. They grow hops for beer there and have some real Germans in residence. The drive away from W WA toward Seattle and over the passes to Seattle are worth a trip. Don't even think of moving to Seattle. We don't want any more people.

by Anonymousreply 38September 10, 2021 6:39 AM

[quote] They grow hops for beer there

Are there any meaderies nearby?

by Anonymousreply 39September 10, 2021 6:41 AM

[quote] The drive away from W WA toward Seattle and over the passes to Seattle are worth a trip.

I have sno qualms about that.

by Anonymousreply 40September 10, 2021 6:42 AM

R36 Spokane is not the deal it used to be. Cost of living has increased a lot in that area(Including Idaho and western Montana). There are some towns along i-5 between Seattle and Portland that are far away enough to be cheap, but still sufficiently close enough to either city so you aren't stranded in an airport desert.

by Anonymousreply 41September 10, 2021 6:44 AM

I love the weather and landscape of Seattle. The public transportation is amazing. Can you take the train to Spokane?

by Anonymousreply 42September 10, 2021 6:46 AM

Bing Crosby: "Well, I'll tell you, back in the knee-britches day, when I was a wee little tyke, a mere broth of a lad, as we say in Spokane, I used to totter around the streets, with a gun on each hip, my favorite after school pastime was a game known as "Cops and Robbers", I didn't care which side I was on, when a cop or robber came into view, I would haul out my trusty six-shooters, made of wood, and loudly exclaim bing! bing!, as my luckless victim fell clutching his side, I would shout bing! bing!, and I would let him have it again, and then as his friends came to his rescue, shooting as they came, I would shout bing! bing! bing! bing! bing! bing! bing! bing!"

by Anonymousreply 43September 10, 2021 6:54 AM

Oh it's beautiful, I mean, I have never been there, but I remember seeing some pictures on google about three months ago and it looked awesome.

by Anonymousreply 44September 10, 2021 7:03 AM

(R40) Good one and , of course I meant drive from E WA to Seattle. I live in Bellevue - my late partner was a UW grad from Yakima.

by Anonymousreply 45September 10, 2021 7:05 AM

Bellingham is a nice little town that's far enough from Seattle to not be a suburb but still close enough to access fairly easily.

by Anonymousreply 46September 10, 2021 7:11 AM

Ryan Phillipe can celebrate his 48th birthday by putting his big fat cock in my tight little hole.

by Anonymousreply 47September 10, 2021 7:13 AM

Evergreen Geoducks. Pronounced “gooey duck”.

by Anonymousreply 48September 10, 2021 7:13 AM

Wrong thread!!!!!!

by Anonymousreply 49September 10, 2021 7:13 AM

Wrong thread, R47?

by Anonymousreply 50September 10, 2021 7:13 AM

R46 Bellingham is expensive. Cheaper than Seattle, but still very expensive compared to other parts of Washington. Many retirees there.

by Anonymousreply 51September 10, 2021 7:17 AM

[quote]Ryan Phillipe can celebrate his 48th birthday by putting his big fat cock in my tight little hole.

Is he in Spokane?

by Anonymousreply 52September 10, 2021 8:20 AM

R30 I didn't want to exaggerate the crime in Spokane, and didn't want to look up crime statistics. That just justifies my hatred of Spokane even more though.

by Anonymousreply 53September 10, 2021 4:50 PM

Interesting read. During my childhood my family had their peak in Spokane (huge house, dad successful), then came a job transfer and divorce and my mom and sisters and I slipped into the working-poor class. Spokane and our house there have always held a mythical place in my imagination. And having grown up in or visiting family in Easter Washington and Oregon, I have a soft spot for those landscapes.

by Anonymousreply 54September 10, 2021 5:56 PM

I got picked up by a male prostitute at a bus stop there. I kept on going because I was headed for the Dollar tree to get some laundry soap because the motel's vending machine ran out ran out

by Anonymousreply 55September 10, 2021 7:31 PM

[quote] I have sno qualms about that.

Haha. I see what you did there, R40.

One of my favorite little ski spots, by the way.

by Anonymousreply 56September 10, 2021 7:39 PM

And it is a couple of hours from Walla Walla, so there's that :)

by Anonymousreply 57September 10, 2021 7:59 PM

Thanks to 90 Day Fiancee, we all know about Sequim (pronounced Squim), Washington now.

by Anonymousreply 58September 10, 2021 11:17 PM

One curiosity about Spokaners is that they leave out the “to” in “going to”. For example they’ll say:

“I’m going Lilac Fest.”

“I’m going Pig Out in the Park.”

“I’m going casino in CdA.”

by Anonymousreply 59September 10, 2021 11:20 PM

[quote]Thanks to 90 Day Fiancee, we all know about Sequim (pronounced Squim), Washington now.

"All"? I think you seriously overestimate their viewership.

by Anonymousreply 60September 11, 2021 12:51 AM

r59, that's just dumb. First of all, no one in Spokane says "going". They say go un. "I'm go un over there after dinner. " They say goeena for going to . "I'm goeena Lilac Fest". The a on the end substitutes for to. But props for knowing the main events in Spokane. It's not exactly peculiar to Spokane, though. There's a very cute video of a language teacher teaching American English and how Americans actually pronounce going to. (Usually gonna).

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by Anonymousreply 61September 14, 2021 6:36 AM

Re: most of the comments about Spokane above. Spokane downtown is definitely "shit-holey", especially the far western edges and far eastern edges. However, the Spokane park system and the close-in neighborhoods, especially on the South Hill are definitely far more beautiful than most cities can boast of their inner cities. Part of that is accidental. Spokane was at its height economically in the 30 years before the great Depression, and it has an enormous stock of beautiful craftsman homes that were never demolished to make way for other, less classy architectural styles in the 40s to the 60s, because there was no population growth during those years and no demand for new homes. When population picked up again, the suburbs became the place where split levels and other unattractive styles were most prevalent.

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by Anonymousreply 62September 14, 2021 6:46 AM

I was there for the 1974 World’s Fair. There was a Mormon Pavilion. They didn’t tell me about the weird parts.

by Anonymousreply 63September 14, 2021 6:48 AM

They don't call it "Spokanistan" for nothin'.

by Anonymousreply 64September 14, 2021 6:59 AM

It's the Paris of Eastern Washington.

by Anonymousreply 65September 14, 2021 7:03 AM

Spokane Craftsman homes. If you click on the individual numbers on the tour map, pictures will come up of the houses corresponding to the number on the map. This particular neighborhood is within one 1 1/2 miles of downtown.

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by Anonymousreply 66September 14, 2021 7:03 AM

Shithole neighborhoods or not - you decide:

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by Anonymousreply 67September 14, 2021 7:21 AM

They don't call it Spokanistan, they call it Spokompton

by Anonymousreply 68September 14, 2021 7:28 AM

OTOH - WINTER. It's unpredictable, but often long and snowy

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by Anonymousreply 69September 14, 2021 7:31 AM

People in Seattle hate it, and look down their noses at it. What's that tell you?

If you hate guns and cheap land, but aren't bothered by gentrification and homeless crackheads shitting on the sidewalk, you're going to think Spokane is boring and full of hicks.

If you hate expensive cities and uppity young morons, but aren't bothered by rednecks and quiet nightlife, you're going to like Spokane.

by Anonymousreply 70September 14, 2021 8:10 AM

[quote] There was a Mormon Pavilion. They didn’t tell me about the weird parts.

The penis and vagina?

by Anonymousreply 71September 14, 2021 1:45 PM

Spokane is not full of hicks, Coeur D'Alene is full of hicks.

by Anonymousreply 72September 14, 2021 1:51 PM

Tbh R70 Spokane has plenty of druggies shitting on the sidewalk. There's a lot of homeless in Spokane and lots of illegal drugs

by Anonymousreply 73September 14, 2021 4:56 PM

It's all relative, r73. Seattle, Portland, SF, and LA have tent cities sprawling, in some cases, for a mile or more in certain areas, and there are multiple areas frequented by the homeless. Spokane's homeless seem numerous and are very visible, because they congregate downtown, but in various censuses of homeless conducted by agencies, they number fewer than 2000 in total. It would be very rare to encounter homeless people in Spokane outside of the downtown corridor, which is relatively compact. Some migrate out of downtown in the evenings to find places to sleep in various parks and wildlands adjacent to downtown.

by Anonymousreply 74September 14, 2021 5:28 PM

That's a great post, R61, and really precise.

by Anonymousreply 75September 20, 2021 2:04 AM

I know people love to hate on NYC, but we don't have tent cities and homeless encampments.

Our homeless don't travel in big groups, nor are they organized. We have plenty of "street bums", but I'd wager many of them are domiciled somewhere.

by Anonymousreply 76September 20, 2021 2:17 AM

[quote] It has a normal four seasons like any place on the east coast. The weather is the only good thing about it

That's completely false. It gets really cold in the winter and crazy fucking hot in the summer. They reached 109 degrees this summer. It's normal for them to reach over 100 degrees every summer

They get the worst of the summer and winter weather

by Anonymousreply 77September 20, 2021 3:08 AM
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