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Spokane, WA

Population: 212,078

67

Key findings

Spokane has a Livability Score of 67_/100, which is considered average
Spokane crime rates are 122% higher than the Washington average
Cost of living in Spokane is 17% lower than the Washington average
Spokane real estate prices are 40% lower than the Washington average
Rental prices in Spokane are 27% lower than the Washington average

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Compare Spokane, WA Livability

What do the locals think about Spokane?

47%Family friendly 74%Public transit is accessible 38%Walkable to grocery stores 26%Yards are well-kept 71%Lots of parks 47%Walkable to restaurants 38%Friendly neighbors 32%Safe at night 44%Pet friendly 62%Streets have sidewalks 41%A quiet area 41%Sense of community

Based on 34 votes from AreaVibes users. See all Spokane poll results.

Spokane Real estate & Rental prices

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Spokane Demographics

Population212,078 Median Age35.8 Have Kids (under 18)46%

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Spokane, WA

Spokane is an all-American city that is home to over 200,000 people. Located in the eastern part of Washington, the city's name literally means "Children of the Sun" in the local native language. The city loves to get outdoors and celebrate, and they actually host the world's largest outdoor streetball tournament called Hoopfest. The city also hosted the World's Fair in 1974 when hundreds of thousands of visitors gathered at Riverwalk Park to partake in the events.

Spokane has become a better known city throughout the nation in recent years as the Gonzaga Bulldogs have stormed to the front of the college basketball standings. In addition to the University, the also has a large Air Force base that employs many of the city's citizens. The State of Washington is another major employer in the area, as well as Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center. Spokane enjoys an affordable cost of living that allows its residents to meet all of their basic needs.

Housing in Spokane is much more affordable than in the Seattle metropolitan area, and homeowners have many interesting neighborhoods to choose from. Manito, Kendall Yards,
Rockwood, and Lincoln Heights are some of the most desirable locations to live in the city. I-90 is one of the main freeways that cuts through the city, and it is one of the major chokepoints whenever there is a traffic issue in the city. Spokane offers its residents public transit options via Spokane Transit. Their fleet of busses has grown to over 125, and they offer daily service on a number of routes that cut across the entire city.

Spokane Falls is one of the area's top attractions, and it is a stunning sight to see after heavy rains in the local area. Another favorite spot for those who live in Spokane is Manito Park. It is a beautiful public garden with a large selection of flowers and shade trees. If you are picking up a theme that outdoor activities are extremely popular in the area, then you are absolutely correct. Spokane's nickname is Lilac City due to the big festival that the city hosts every year.

If you are looking to travel beyond the city limits, the ski resorts of Idaho are a short drive away from Spokane. In the city, there are many popular restaurants that are known for providing healthy & delicious meal options. Riverwalk Park has a large sculpture garden that is known throughout the state. It also has an impressive cable car that runs over Spokane Falls and provides dramatic views of the mountains in the distance. Spokane has a good public school system, low crime, and offers residents a comfortable and exciting lifestyle.

Top Rated Schools in Spokane

Name	Grades	Students	Proficiency
Libby Center	3 - 12	314	98%
Hutton Elementary	KG - 6	517	82%
Wilson Elementary	PK - 6	383	81%
Moran Prairie Elementary	PK - 6	534	80%
Woodridge Elementary	PK - 6	453	71%
Prairie View Elementary	KG - 6	686	70%
Great Northern Elementary	KG - 6	46	70%
Mullan Road Elementary	PK - 6	594	69%

See all Spokane schools

The best places in Washington

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Top 10 best public schools in Spokane

Spokane Reviews

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Review Spokane

Worthy of zero stars. Extremely Dangerous to live in and explore.

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https://archive.org/details/File1_2018

First-hand Documentation of criminal harassment, mob mentality, intimidation, gangland, vandalism, graffiti, littering, burn markings, and a dangerous antisocial environment that is not safe for anybody. Keep your kids and those you care about safe and away from this "school". This is what happens to you if you are minding your own business and you walk down a street associated with this "school".

If you walk down a public street associated with District 81, you will have multiple locals drive around finding reasons to frame you up for crimes you did not commit. These people do have respect for each other and would much rather ruin innocent people's lives over false police reports than they would actually being proactive against crime. This is McCarthyism and it shouldn't go unnoticed. If you can go literally anywhere else, please do so. Be advised that this "school district" does not actually do anything about the following above paragrapah and actually make matters worse.

The "District Resource Officers" prefer to have people harassed and mobbed than they actually do police work. Do not come here. For the good of humanity find a way out of Spokane. What a shameful excuse for a place.

2 -5

Bad energy city

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I had a relative visit during winter on the greyhound in his 80's he was waiting for me to pick him up at the bus station. Security kicked him out in the snow to wait. He told them he just got off the bus. Then security made him dig in the garbage to find his bus ticket because he begged to come back inside. He was well dressed. Like that matters much HE IS 80 Years old !!!. The locals think dicks drive in is the best. It's exactly like McDonald's food or maybe worse. I could go on and on about the random acts of violence , pot holes, stuck up people and bad attitudes and unfriendly people. A neighbors pit bull left 25 stiches on my hand. These negative reviews are spot on. In fact I've met a group of people running around blessing areas trying to open up good energy portals and close negative ones because they say the energy is so bad here. Summer is short and very hot and smoky . Winter is long and cold. I think the gene pool is compromised here. Locals hate new people moving in. They need new people to move in to change this city ! I'm not strong enough to put up with how bad this city is anymore. Some pretty places but it's not worth it. I don't find a lake with houses all around it that pretty. You have to drive 80 miles to find any lake that's not a tourist atraction or every inch is a private boat launch anyway. What is so great about that ? Go on a hike and you will just run into homeless tents or a dead body or 2 guys having sex. It's not worth it. You know when your on a trail and you smile and say hi , no one responds back ? Try it sometime . Then go hike on MT Hood or Baker and see how nice people are. It's like night and day .

4 -4

Beat up 3 times in Spokane. "Fed up"

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I was walking down the street and someone in a car driving by hit me so hard with a rock that it left a large bruise on my chest. Thank God it didn't hit my head. People go out of there way to splash you driving by. Another time we gave a guy a ride that was stranded and he attacked us and started hitting us and robbed us. I went to my boyfriend's moms wake and said to a girl that wasn't even related that I missed my mother. She screamed no one cares about your mother and gave me a black eye. Left bruises all over my body . Her friends said I broke a bottle over her head that was half filled with beer in it . They had me arrested so that she wouldn't go to jail for assault. She had no marks on her at all and no beer wetness on her. This is all noted in the police report. The 911 tape you can hear me screaming for help getting the crap kicked out of me. They tried to set my BF up too and told 911 he was assaulting people with beer bottles and changed the story when the police arrived so they let him out of the cop car. Hillbilly funeral here ! I suggest when someone calls 911 to go down to the 911 office and get the recording. The best 21.00 you could ever spend . This was clearly a cover up. Turns out the fight was over inheritance . They wanted my BF out of the picture . The police should have questioned the situation. They arrested the wrong person. I think this is a dangerous place to live. I lived in Portland for 20 years and not in the best area and moved here. I've given people rides and walked down the street and went to funerals and wakes with no problems. I had friendly nieghbores except the thieves from the Post Falls area. Go figure ! This is the worst place I've ever lived. The one thing that stud out the most when I first moved here was how people didn't smile or talk to each other and seemed just stuck up. Most of the nice people I've met moved here and I'm not talking about Montana people .... You can hardy tell them apart from the locals except the chip on the shoulder is a little larger. You have a few nice locals but they want out also. Local businesses have no moral code. Im all set to move and I'm never looking back !

7 -4

Enter at your own Risk. Better Future Elsewhere.

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This is a message to the young people of Spokane who may stumble across this review at some point:If you are both young and vibrant and really want a slice of life, Spokane isn't the place to be. Enter at your own risk. The problems with crime, class, education, employment, livability, housing and employment are too long to elaborate. What can be said is that Spokane has high crime and police corruption that make it bad for everyone. I say this having lived in Spokane for over 17 years of my life. There are too many problems with bad influences, gangs, drugs, violence and a corrupt neighborhood watch and police force to elaborate on. People have filed false police reports with trumped up charges and phony witness statements in this city just to get people murdered or shot by the police. The police just want their revenue. And the schools just want "participation" for their own purposes. It is "entertainment" to their ugly kind.Neighbors have pretty bad ideologies that they believe in that send a message of fear and terror to others. If you have standards and want a "business-friendly" environment, then consider going somewhere else. Spokane is not business friendly. Many businesses have closed shop because of how expensive it got. If you are a student looking for opportunities and a better quality of life, consider going somewhere else. This isn't the place for young people to be successful in. People tend to leave Spokane with negative views like this because they saw no future for them. You will not be impressed with the "culture" of Spokane if you are a self-respecting professional. Many of the people around here are not and cannot be trusted. They obviously have too many problems for their own good. They may come off as friendly, but they aren't. They are so petty as to want to live in the past rather than being innovative in order to try and screw somebody over. Making connections here is virtually impossible.Etiquette from one to another is practically extinct in Spokane. Helping out other people to give them insight usually ends up getting stabbed in the back. If you put yourself out there as wanting to give and receive high-quality information and results, you will get attacked and judged in the most sinister of ways by people who are at the bottom of the food chain. The most you can do is to learn from your failures in that instance. People are very mean-spirited with a prejudice to them. There just isn't anything to it. People don't hold doors open. They don't even say hi to each other in most cases. They don't know how to treat women like high-class ladies. They don't even know the moral of "don't judge a book by its cover". This is not the place to have quality conversations either. You will learn more from them seeing all the "Fight Videos" that circulate about people in Spokane. You will also get nickle and dimed by some of these businesses for stuff you straight up did even pay to use.Most of the time, people here tend to just gossip and talk badly about other people who they know absolutely nothing about. They are cowards who avoid scrutiny and complaints about the kinds of garbage they watch and listen to. You will get more learning for yourself than you will trying to ask for help or seeking insight from any of the people around here. The education and confidence is just not there at all. You won't be treated with any respect at all in Spokane. Drivers are known to yell curse words, text on their phones and give dirty looks. If you are walking down a public street, you will instantly become a target. People are obviously on drugs and aren't happy at all with their lives. People are so backwards as to assume that people are pedophiles simply for trying to educate children about bad ideas of riding their bikes down stairs where they could land in the hospital for being ignorant of how physics work. You will not see any standards of conduct or punctuality from these people.Spokane is the kind of place for people who are well-established in a career prior to have actually entered into Spokane. Having talked to several professionals, it is the case that those who "look good" on a resume with a trade behind them prior to coming are immediately employable compared to those who are young with nothing under their belt. The job market for young people is just not there. Spokane is good in terms of nursing, construction and industrial based work. Consider opportunities to work study, study abroad and networking with certain places that you hit it off well with. Do your research on where you want to go. You will have more a shot at landing a job if you go to school for nursing and health related fields than you are anything else really.The best advice is to consider going to college in order to get direction of where you need to be going. Get a degree completed with and then work to transition out. If you don't have any motivation at all to see a future for you in Spokane, consider looking for an opportunity elsewhere that will give you a way to "stay ahead of the game" to set you up for success that really is for you. You want to be thinking long-term not short-term. You will want to leave this place behind you to never return if you are absolutely serious about doing better for yourself elsewhere. It is strongly advised to avoid downtown. The riverside portion in Spokane has a huge drug problem. Chief Garry Park isn't any better at all with all the property crimes committed because the economy and education level of these people is so bad. The curb appeal around in Spokane is just not there. Except in "Privileged neighborhoods". People have moved out of previous neighborhoods or have gotten out of spokane altogether because there are no opportunities for employment or having a future. For other reasons, it has been because of bad neighbors. There aren't standards.You don't get what you pay for here. This isn't the place for people to really get noticed either to make a difference in people's lives. This is a place for bad neighborhoods, bad judgment, rude and childish name-calling, flouting, dehumanization, Snakes, outlaws, criminals, drug addicts, racists, welfare recipients and dishonest business practices that do nobody any good. Trying to "make friends" here just isn't a common thing. People are more glued onto their phones and social networking websites like facebook than they actually are about having quality relationships. You will get more out of educating yourself of where you need to be going than you will trying to get advice from people who obviously come off as provincial than they are cosmopolitan. Basically, people are stuck in their "old ways" than they are abouting doing something different with a better result. Academic quality around in Spokane is also lackluster. The "School System" does not work for the students. You will observe some of the most obscene results that these "schools" bring onto their students. They treat their students badly. Students are also known to carjack other student's vehicles while they are attending class wanting to have a better future for themselves. It isn't advised to expect standards out of the "professionals" in most cases. There are of course exceptions to this. People are just out to be rude and petty with others than they are to lend a helping hand to somebody in need. The kids have bad attitudes on them. They litter in their neighborhoods, say disrespectful and bigoted language and trespass on people's property with an ill will to it. Nothing is done to discourage that kind of conduct. They have been enabled. You can thank the obsession with "Individuality" and "diversity" for that one. There is nothing good at all in what these people are asked to do and actually do.The Spokane Police Department in Spokane is corrupt. Their police have a tendency to "Shoot first, ask questions later". In recent events, people have gotten shot and killed by the people on the basis of false police reports. The police are known to lie in order to protect themselves from accountability of not obeying the oath they took. Trying to get the police to actually come out to investigate crimes that were committed does not actually work. The complaint process is a joke as well. Police are known to make up excuses to not do their job, plant evidence, make up charges, order people to sit on a curb and discriminate against people on the basis of their ethnicity. The racism in Spokane should be very clear.The opportunity will come. This isn't the place for anybody to have to put up with throughout all of your life. You have time to make mistakes and to learn from them. Just don't be too late. Build new horizons and cascades for yourself. Focus on you and your future ahead. Don't come here wanting to date or to think that you will be "friends forever" with people. It won't happen. You will need absolute motivation to get out of here if you are really determined to be a successful person in life.From Areavibes:"Many people wonder how safe they are in Spokane, WA in comparison to other notable cities in the state of Washington as well as in comparison to the rest of the nation. Using the gauges above, which document and compare safety in Spokane, WA to other cities in the state and across the country, Spokane, WA is 2% safer than other cities of Washington and 7% safer than other cities in the nation. When referring to the results, which show crime scores in Washington cities and all around the United States, Spokane, WA has a ranking of below average in comparison to other cities in the country, which is determined my comparing Spokane, WA crime rate to all the other cities investigated.""Do you want to know the risk of being victimized by a crime in Spokane, WA? Displayed here are the statistics showing how likely you are to become a victim of a crime of violence, crime against your property, or any other crime. If you are in Spokane, WA, then there is a 1 in 160 risk that you will experience a violent crime against you. These types of crimes may include homicide, sexual assault, robbery, and physical assault. Your risk of being a victim of property crime is 1 in 14. These types of crime include burglary, petty theft, and theft of motor vehicles. Altogether, there is a 1 in 13 risk that you will become a victim of crime in Spokane, WA.""The overall crime rate in Spokane is 186% higher than the national average. For every 100,000 people, there are 21.53 daily crimes that occur in Spokane. Spokane is safer than 7% of the cities in the United States. In Spokane you have a 1 in 13 chance of becoming a victim of any crime. The number of total year over year crimes in Spokane has decreased by 2%."Consider all these additional resources:https://www.areavibes.com/spokane-wa/crime/https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/wa/spokane/crimehttps://www.spokanecounty.org/3416/Regional-Crime-Maphttps://www.kxly.com/news/spokane-police-officer-named-in-jan-7-shooting/977020491https://www.inlander.com/spokane/jailed-for-jaywalking-police-and-witness-accounts-differ-on-downtown-spokane-arrest/Content?oid=16257530http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2019/jan/30/police-arrest-suspect-a-second-time-for-lc-social-/http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2019/jan/16/shadle-park-high-school-under-brief-lockdown-follo/https://www.krem.com/article/news/local/more-than-220-students-absent-from-lewis-and-clark-hs-following-weekend-threats/293-4dd199bc-b5c8-4ea7-9da6-618aefc011edhttp://www.spokesman.com/stories/2018/dec/18/father-alleges-autistic-daughter-abused-injured-at/https://www.kxly.com/news/police-arrest-suspect-in-lewis-clark-hs-threats-same-person-accused-of-previous-threats/995858202http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2018/dec/28/spokanes-first-kmart-to-close-in-march-as-part-of-/

2 -3

Beautiful area but has people problems

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I have been living in Spokane for almost 4 years now. I moved here because of a job. I will mention the positives first. Downtown Spokane has a few nice tree lined streets and a lovely park that overlooks Spokane Falls. Centennial Trail is another major positive for Spokane. It begins at Nine Mile Falls and goes to the Idaho border and can be walked, biked, or skated. There are many outdoor things to do in the outlying areas: hiking, boating, camping, skiing, rafting, hunting, fishing, cycling, etc. Sadly, there are too many negatives that override the positives. Spokane can best be described as some kind of Post-industrial City that doesn't know how to budget money. My guess is that the taxes mostly end up lining the pockets of bureaucrats. Spokane has a very high crime rate (you can check it out on one of the sites that compiles all city crime rates). I live downtown and someone was shot just around the corner from where I live; apparently it was drug related. I heard 3 gun shots and then a man screaming help. There has been so many murders since I moved here. I here about them all the time. Spokane also appears to be a Favorite spot for the State to dump it's newly released Sex offenders. Drug addicts are all over wandering around and panhandling. I love walking and when I first moved here I used to go down by the river around "People's Park", as there are trails, but the sewer smell was very overpowering and, again, there were strange people wandering around the trails. A lady I work with, who was born and raised here, was shocked I was down there walking around the trails after I told her how I kept running into strange people back on the trails. She told me to "never go there again". She said it used to be different in Spokane but has gone down hill.One day I came out of my apartment complex and a transient woman I walked passed took a swing at me and almost hit me in the head. It was totally unprovoked. While walking, I have also had many incidents of people yelling things out car windows at me, lewd gestures, etc. So, I gave up taking walks. There was just too many psychos out, not to mention people with pit bulls and other bad breeds not on leashes. The PROFESSIONAL classes here, are bad. I have had bad experiences with doctors and was charged $200 for going in after I took a hard fall from a Running accident where I hit my head and my arm became infected from the cuts. The Physicians Assistant saw me 5 minutes and prescribed a muscle relaxer which I never took. I finally went to urgent care a few days later and had to pay more money to get anti-biotics. I had an issue regarding my house I lost before moving to Spokane, and went to an Attorney for advise. Spent $300 and got a print out from the internet. Something was wrong with my car and I took it to a shop off of Hamilton. They charged me $250 for something I found out I didn't need.Overall, there are many very low class people here. And very unfriendly. I am planning on moving in another 2 years. Can't wait. This is about the worse place I have ever lived.

5 -1

Beautiful area but has people problems

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I have been living in Spokane for almost 4 years now. I moved here because of a job. I will mention the positives first. Downtown Spokane has a few nice tree lined streets and a lovely park that overlooks Spokane Falls. Centennial Trail is another major positive for Spokane. It begins at Nine Mile Falls and goes to the Idaho border and can be walked, biked, or skated. There are many outdoor things to do in the outlying areas: hiking, boating, camping, skiing, rafting, hunting, fishing, cycling, etc. Sadly, there are too many negatives that override the positives. Spokane can best be described as some kind of Post-industrial City that doesn't know how to budget money. My guess is that the taxes mostly end up lining the pockets of bureaucrats. Spokane has a very high crime rate (you can check it out on one of the sites that compiles all city crime rates). I live downtown and someone was shot just around the corner from where I live; apparently it was drug related. I heard 3 gun shots and then a man screaming help. There has been so many murders since I moved here. I here about them all the time. Spokane also appears to be a Favorite spot for the State to dump it's newly released Sex offenders. Drug addicts are all over wandering around and panhandling. I love walking and when I first moved here I used to go down by the river around "People's Park", as there are trails, but the sewer smell was very overpowering and, again, there were strange people wandering around the trails. A lady I work with, who was born and raised here, was shocked I was down there walking around the trails after I told her how I kept running into strange people back on the trails. She told me to "never go there again". She said it used to be different in Spokane but has gone down hill.One day I came out of my apartment complex and a transient woman I walked passed took a swing at me and almost hit me in the head. It was totally unprovoked. While walking, I have also had many incidents of people yelling things out car windows at me, lewd gestures, etc. So, I gave up taking walks. There was just too many psychos out, not to mention people with pit bulls and other bad breeds not on leashes. The PROFESSIONAL classes here, are bad. I have had bad experiences with doctors and was charged $200 for going in after I took a hard fall from a Running accident where I hit my head and my arm became infected from the cuts. The Physicians Assistant saw me 5 minutes and prescribed a muscle relaxer which I never took. I finally went to urgent care a few days later and had to pay more money to get anti-biotics. I had an issue regarding my house I lost before moving to Spokane, and went to an Attorney for advise. Spent $300 and got a print out from the internet. Something was wrong with my car and I took it to a shop off of Hamilton. They charged me $250 for something I found out I didn't need.Overall, there are many very low class people here. And very unfriendly. I am planning on moving in another 2 years. Can't wait. This is about the worse place I have ever lived.

6 0

Spokane is still spokant

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Spokane has a lot of this to work on. Their is no housing code embactment department to uohoald building code enforcement and people live in houses that give them cancer. Homes here are rotting with people living inside them literally. The realestate is going up thinking it's comparable to California is a joke. I just moved from California and I can say it's not cheaper to live here when the people are cheaper here. Cheap people equal expensive prices for crap. Here In Washington the state laws do not protect renters or employees as much as state laws in California .. I was working at Denny's and my boss sexually propositioned me and he got away with it because of how currupt Spokane really is. The city forgets about how they rounded up all the Indians and killed them downtown 100 years ago some how it isn't in the history books. This city used to be magical but then I grew up and realized it is a garbage dumb .. The best thing about Spokane is the freeway leaving the area. I grew up here and it used to be so pretty now the valley looks like crap it's over crowded the air sucks water pollution in drinking water is being reported all over because no water systems have been removed and replaced in 100 years. If you don't drown in the river you may freeze to death because the weather here is always cold the water never gets hot. In the winter time it is nasty streets covered in snow bad weather too crowded .. Best thing is a snow day when everyone gets a day off. But unfortunately the weather has been getting really bad power lines have been snapped previously leaving people vulnerable without power in the elements of winter . many people have frozen to death in their homes in Spokane due to power failure especially the elders. The homeless people are drug addict and not getting the help they need. Downtown is open durring remodeling it looks like crap. The shopping here is a joke because coming from California I already know Spokane is behind the times and still paying full price. With best wishes to the small companies believing the idealistics of a achievable goal as a possible outcome. because this is a new corporate Spokane where the freeway is more important then the people. And if your on disability insurance this is the worst place because houses are going up for nothing in crap neighborhoods and crap ran down apartments. . I just moved in my oven don't work my fridge leaks my dishwasher is fifty years old my apartment had not been remodeled since it was built .but I had to get new carpet because it smelled so bad and I can't complain about everything at once so I literally am living without working appliances so that way I don't make too many waves . crack heads everywhere in Spokane is something to get used to because it is the third meth capital in California. the toothless population I call them lol .. I don't think I am staying in Spokane it is disappointing and frustrating that drug dealers are not prosecuted here either I reported a drug dealer I recorded admitting to have sold illegal narcotics to Spokane community for 20 years while he manipulated his ssi check to get the pills. I still have the recordings and oddly I made a police report and nothing ever happened. He is still selling his pills to the manager of red lobster next to Northtown mall. This city of Spokane has a large amount of gay bisexual men who are all HIV positive and taking prep to control it but they are also drinking and smoking meth that makes the prep not work so for future gay residents I was told if I was going to be gay in Spokane to get on prep and that is a big red flag and a bad sign. The gay community is a joke older men using younger men and the ones with HIV are going around spreading it like wild fire. So be careful because even the YMCA and local gyms are constantly soliciting people on Craigslist for sex party In the showers and mrsa can not be removed from a facility and my friend got mrsa from the racquet club in Spokane and almost died Last week. Hope this helps anyone deciding on if Spokane is a good fit for you. Stop and think about what you can do to improve Spokane if you come to Spokane. If you are buying a house in Spokane the realestate is a joke right now people are really over paying for crap houses don't over pay for garbage Spokane loves a sucker with money and only a real looser would buy a house in Spokane thinking it's a flip option when so many houses and neighborhoods are in such disrepair the whole city should be considered a fire hazard.

6 0

Beautiful Spokane, WA Is Attractive If You Ignore The Bad Stuff

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I lived in a huge apartment complex on North Nevada St. in Spokane, WA. It was a newer complex of 1,500 apartments built during the early years of Eastern Washington's housing bubble. My neighborhood was filled with working class people, and it was close to the Deer Park suburbs. The rent was very reasonable, and I got to experience the famous Inland Northwest "four seasons."

Spokane is a medium-sized metro area that hasn't yet learned to deal with growth. Spokane is the largest city in Eastern Washington, but most of the people cling to a rural type of living. Growing up in the area, I was familiar with most of the nicknames for Spokane. They include Spo-Compton, Spook-a-loo, and Spo-Can't! These names were likely given because Spokane has a surprisingly-high crime rate (especially for drugs and auto theft). It is politically liberal and progressive, but has a hard time taking care of things like roads and employment.

The negatives associated with Spokane are all products of the past housing bubble. Massive numbers of people relocating from other urban areas, especially California and the East Coast, put the local economy and government into a headspin. While Spokane offers the same professional opportunities as places like Redmond and Seattle, it hasn't quite figured out how to balance population growth with infrastructure concerns.

Spokane is a "Yin-Yang" city-there are goods, and consequent bads! The area is absolutely beautiful and perfect for outdoor sportsmen, but with population growth, it is hard to find solitude. Whitworth and Gonzaga Universities are world class, but Spokane is largely a welfare community. The hills are filled with wall-to-wall mansions, but marijuana and Meth culture is present in nearly every neighborhood. Most Spokanites are very friendly, but they will run-over their own mothers to make the next traffic light.

1 -5

Variety, nature, entertainment, outdoors, great living!

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Attractions8/10

Community8/10

Nightlife8/10

Dining8/10

Shopping8/10

Rental prices here are amazing right now for homes, more Inexpensive than a lot of other cities in the U.S. Raising a family here is better because minimum wage is high but rent is low. If you make more than minimum wage here, you find that you live very comfortably.
There are good job opportunities. If more renters cared about and took care of their houses and property, Spokane would be more beautiful though. There is plenty of gorgeous outdoor nature, trails, and scenery. People in the community are nice. Saying hello and have manners for the most part.
There is a nightlife here and it's getting better with music and clubs becoming more popular and this is also a good area for growth.
Spokane recycles, which is huge to me. Yay, I'm in the part of the country that really cares about the planet and our carbon footprint!
Downtown is fun and really awesome looking with the old churches.
People here seem pretty laid back. So far do good. A bit cold but it's February.
People I talk to here have good things to say. I'm glad to be living here!

2 -3

Beautiful Spokane - Washington's Gem of a City

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Attractions7/10

Community9/10

Nightlife6/10

Dining6/10

Shopping7/10

I recently relocated to Spokane, WA after visiting friends who live there and falling in love with the area. Spokane is a beautiful city with friendly locals, tons of shopping and a fabulous downtown riverfront area. Just one visit and you will realize that Spokane is full of wonderful surprises and pleasures for both visitors and locals alike.

Spokane has an endless variety of activities for nature lovers of all ages to enjoy. Manito Park is one of the city's top highlights and has a duck pond, picturesque gardens, a conservatory, playgrounds, biking and walking paths that provide entertainment and plenty of outdoor activities. Centennial Trail offers a car-free environment for biking, horseback riding and hiking with its 37 miles of trails along the scenic Spokane River.

Downtown Spokane is a safe and easily walkable area that offers many shops, restaurants and a movie complex with an IMAX theater. The Spokane Symphony provides both classical and pops orchestra musical performances. With many excellent restaurants serving a delicious variety of cuisines to choose from, a night out in Spokane is great for couples, friends and families.

Of course Spokane is not for those who prefer more moderate temperatures. The winter months can be cold and they do get some snow and rainy days. Late spring and early fall are the best time for visitors to get out and enjoy the city and all the nearby nature activities as the summers can be quite warm.

No matter if you are relocating or just visiting, your time in Spokane will be a memorable experience. From strolling in the parks to mountain climbing, rafting and hiking, there are plenty of activities to keep you entertained as you enjoy this enchanting city.

2 -6

Super Spokane

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Attractions10/10

Community9/10

Nightlife8/10

Dining8/10

Shopping8/10

As someone who enjoys both kayaking and rafting, Spokane, WA proved to be paradise! The Spokane River, which empties into the Columbia River is an ideal spot for those who enjoy river sports or rafting.

If rafts and kayaks don't appeal to your sense of adventure, Spokane has many more attractions to offer! Several nice art galleries are available for browsing. Are you a nature lover or just want to enjoy some peace and quiet time in a natural setting? Visit Spokane's Finch Arboretum. Take advantage of the several walking paths in Spokane that wind through the magnificent botanical and tree garden. Visit in the spring and enjoy the colorful flowering plants and trees. Autumn brings in the breathtaking colors of fall foliage.

Clean, affordable lodging is available as most national hotel chains have at least one establishment in Spokane.

Restaurant choices are abundant in Spokane. One of our favorite eateries is Downriver Grill. Forget about your waistline and just enjoy the delights offered in this busy, family-owned Spokane favorite.

1 -5

Source: The Spokane, WA data and statistics displayed above are derived from the 2016 United States Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS).

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