topic Re: ANYONE LIVIE IN SPOKANE, WA? in Community Chat

ANYONE LIVIE IN SPOKANE WA OR NEAR IT?

Lindsays Grandma — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 03:53:44 GMT

My daughter and I, along with Lindsay, my granddaughter, currently live in Arizona and want to move out of the state. At first my daughter picked North Carolina but for some reason she now has her eye on Spokane, WA.

If you live in WA state or Spokane I would love to hear from you. Getting information from those who live in a state we have never been to, but are thinking of moving there, will definitely be a plus for us.

I do know that Sandy Sparkles lived in WA and she will be a big help. The more info I get the better idea I will have of what the state is about. Thanks in advance for your help.

Re: ANYONE LIVIE IN SPOKANE, WA?

Kachina624 — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 03:38:33 GMT

@Lindsays Grandma @Sea Maiden lives in Washington.

Re: ANYONE LIVIE IN SPOKANE, WA?

Lindsays Grandma — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 03:51:29 GMT

@Kachina624 ...Than you Kachina, I'll wait to see if she reads my thread, if not I most definitely will put out a call for her.

Re: ANYONE LIVIE IN SPOKANE, WA?

patbz — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 04:01:03 GMT

@Lindsays Grandma : Where do you live in AZ? What makes you want to leave? This is important information in order to judge whether Washington, etc will best meet your needs. Do any of you work ( how are job prospects in your field?). Do you own or rent? How important is "the political climate" of your proposed home?How about the climate? (weather). How about taxes, health care ( hospital ratings) etc. If you've never even visited maybe visiting and renting for six months would be helpful.

Re: ANYONE LIVIE IN SPOKANE, WA?

Lindsays Grandma — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 04:13:59 GMT

@patbz ...Please give me a little time to put all that information together and I will get back to you. Our wants and needs aren't too many but of course we certainly have them.

I will give you, at this point, the reason for wanting to leave AZ. To start we live in Mesa now, initially lived in Queen Creek, too far from everything. My daughter cannot take the heat any longer, that is the biggest factor. I will give you more info later...

Re: ANYONE LIVIE IN SPOKANE WA OR NEAR IT?

RealtyGal2 — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 08:17:28 GMT

@Lindsays Grandma wrote:

My daughter and I, along with Lindsay, my granddaughter, currently live in Arizona and want to move out of the state. At first my daughter picked North Carolina but for some reason she now has her eye on Spokane, WA.

If you live in WA state or Spokane I would love to hear from you. Getting information from those who live in a state we have never been to, but are thinking of moving there, will definitely be a plus for us.

I do know that Sandy Sparkles lived in WA and she will be a big help. The more info I get the better idea I will have of what the state is about. Thanks in advance for your help.

Washington is beautiful. I lived in Seattle until I was 10. It is totally different from Arizona, I live in Tempe, AZ now. Arizona has sunshine almost every day. Washington has rain almost every day. If you do not like rain and cloudy days then Washington is not where you want to live. I am tired of all the sunshine and would love to move back to Washington, but housing is more expensive than it is here in Arizona, so I would check that out as well. You really should travel there for a weekend before making a decision, but wait until September or October because there are several rain free weeks in August.

Re: ANYONE LIVIE IN SPOKANE WA OR NEAR IT?

Snowpuppy — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 05:30:32 GMT

I know some people there. Spokane is totally diffrrent culture than Seattle. Separated by the Cascades. It's a good trek from Spokane to Seattle by car.

WA is pricey. No income tax but state sales tax is 9 to 10% It's their primary income. Check Zillow for rent/home sale prices. I was asked to relocate and while I make a decent salary, too pricey for me.

Recent uptick in crime. Weather is not as rainy as Seattle and you do get winter snows. Home to Gonzaga and two community colleges.

Re: ANYONE LIVIE IN SPOKANE WA OR NEAR IT?

50Mickey — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 11:13:53 GMT

Lindsays Grandma you have received some good advice from posters here. You have never been to WA and are thinking about making a move there? I would schedule a visit to check it out. Also look into the cost of housing there. From what I see on real estate shows the cost of housing in the PNW is pretty steep. Check out the tax situation and job market if any of you plan on working there. This is a major decision to move from Arizona to Spokane Washington just to get away from the heat and to a cooler climate. There are a lot of places in the US that have a cooler climate and more seasonal changes. There are tools on the Internet that will help you determine the cost of living in a particular city and state. Might be worth looking into this.

Re: ANYONE LIVIE IN SPOKANE WA OR NEAR IT?

qualitygal — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 12:05:34 GMT

Good friends from there!! Been there all their lives, and if that family is an example, I'd vote for you to go there. Please visit it first and see what you think. See if what you expect and want from the area, may be able to give it to you. Read up on it. See their web site for the state.

Re: ANYONE LIVIE IN SPOKANE WA OR NEAR IT?

Eileen in Virginia — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 12:29:10 GMT

I can't speak to Washington state, but someone once gave me some very good advice before I retired. We were talking about whether my family would move back home after DH and I retired. My colleague recommended that we rent in the area we thought we'd like to live, keep our current house in Northern Virginia and rent it out. If "home" wasn't as good as we remembered, we could just return to our house in NoVa when our lease expired. He had friends who'd sold their house here to move home, didn't like it, but couldn't afford to buy a house here to return to. We ended up staying in NoVa because we didn't want to leave our friends here. But I think this was good advice.

Re: ANYONE LIVIE IN SPOKANE WA OR NEAR IT?

spud188 — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 13:31:37 GMT

I live less than an hour from Spokane,DH worked at the largest hospital for 25 years. I think it is a nice city,not huge and lots of family type activities. Beautiful well tended parks.Good schools. Nice looking neighborhoods with all income levels. Fairchild AFB is west of town along with 2 Indian Casinos.

No tax on food but 8% sales tax on everything else.

Housing prices are high right now,has homeless people,has crime,has problems like everywhere else.

Re: ANYONE LIVIE IN SPOKANE WA OR NEAR IT?

wagirl — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 14:21:15 GMT

@Lindsays Grandma ---I live NE of Seattle--Spokane is a good 6 hours at least to get to, from here to there---just remember, it can get blazing hot there just like in AZ and with the number of summer time fires in eastern WA, especially this year, the smoke is horrendous and never ending. and that will only get worse as we all know . Not much rain but lots of snow. And can be very windy. Also traveling to the west side of the state, in the winter, is not a good time--you have to go over the mountains and lots of times they are closed for hours due to avalanches---cost of living is lower there and there is no state taxes, yet, but still sales taxes.

Re: ANYONE LIVIE IN SPOKANE WA OR NEAR IT?

WRXtoo — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 14:43:59 GMT

I was born and raised on that side of the state, 2 hours from Spokane, so I don't have specific info but I do know the area's climate and history. I have immediate family that live there. spud188 gave you good info. It does not rain on the east side of WA every day, there are all four seasons experienced. Snow in winter, sometimes less and sometimes more, rain in spring, some hot days in summer but a "hot spell" barely rivals AZ on a good day, and beautiful fall weather.

A visit to the area would be ideal for you to make your decision. Look for comments here from people who actually live in/know the area (that would not be me). Seattle is a world away. Spokane is a vibrant city with all the benefits and issues of such, and you can live as rural as you would wish.

Re: ANYONE LIVIE IN SPOKANE WA OR NEAR IT?

barbie mae — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 15:15:46 GMT

YES!

Our family lived in Coeur d Alene, Idaho for 20 years just over the border from Spokane, Washington. We are now retired in South Carolina close to our daughter.

We loved Spokane and of course Coeur d Alene. The area is beautiful with lakes and close to mountains if you are a skiier. If you don't like cold and snow this is not the place for you. Summers are beautiful with low humidity, {not quite as low as Arizona} but comfortable. Very few bugs too.

Unfortunately, price of housing has gone through the roof. It truly is outragious, especially in Coeur d Alene and I would assume the Spokane prices are just behind.

Spokane is a managable city and size of the airport is perfect. I have spent many a day shopping in Spokane!

Also, if you love the sunshine of Arizona you will not get that in the Northwest on a regular basis.There are many days especially during the winter where it is very dreary and you might wonder if you are living in Seattle. The only real negative we had while living in that area. I do love the sunshine.

Hope this info helps a little bit.

Re: ANYONE LIVIE IN SPOKANE WA OR NEAR IT?

Love my grandkids — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 15:46:42 GMT

@RealtyGal2 Um hello. I'm in King County in WA state and we DO NOT HAVE RAIN EVERY DAY!! I moved here from So. Cal. in 2010 and trust me, that's a myth.

There is a lot of rain in the fall and winter but spring and summer are pretty mild. We actually DID get a bit of much needed rain last night! This summer has been very warm and dry. NO everyday rain!

Re: ANYONE LIVIE IN SPOKANE WA OR NEAR IT?

DiAnne — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 16:00:35 GMT

I live in the Seattle area and I moved here from Southern California many years ago. I rented a house for a year to see if I really wanted to buy here. Any city or state where people want to live is going to have high prices - it is supply and demand. I can't speak to Spokane's climate or cost of living but I know it is less than where I live. I would really recommend renting for a year to get a good feel for the area.

Re: ANYONE LIVIE IN SPOKANE WA OR NEAR IT?

tansy — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 16:24:42 GMT

Like @DiAnne @ I moved to the Seattle area from southern CA many years ago. However, I also have a winter home in the general Phoenix area. The cost of living is much lower in AZ for my situation. In general the eastern portion of WA is less expensive and more conservative than the "wet" half. Spokane will have more snow and cold to deal with.

I like Spokane -- it's very pretty -- and have visited often, but I would not choose to live there myself. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Check out an online cost of living calculator.

Re: ANYONE LIVIE IN SPOKANE WA OR NEAR IT?

CatsyCline — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 16:32:12 GMT

@Lindsays Grandma

Climate

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spokane,_Washington#Climate

Spokane Census Data, Demographics:

https://censusreporter.org/profiles/16000US5367000-spokane-wa/

Spokane Forums (City-Data)

https://www.city-data.com/forum/spokane-area/

Re: ANYONE LIVIE IN SPOKANE WA OR NEAR IT?

colleena — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 16:39:35 GMT

@Lindsays Grandma I live in Bellingham which is on the west side of the state and our home prices are very high almost rising higher every day. It's our understanding that landlords/home sellers are advertising in California and elsewhere and houses are renting/selling almost immediately way over the asking price.

The east side of the state has higher/drier temps in the summer and colder temps in the winter but we on the west side do have rain but not every day.

As said above I'd recommend a visit to Spokane prior to moving. Good luck.

Re: ANYONE LIVIE IN SPOKANE WA OR NEAR IT?

patbz — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 17:44:53 GMT

@Lindsays Grandma : Since you mentioned where you live in AZ it occurs to me that you can find what you seek weather wise much closer to where you are. Why not consider Flag staff? Its at least 24 degrees less than where you are now, has four seasons and should have the services you require. I live in Show Low ( same weather, same seasons but less services).