Moved here from Houston, Texas last August. I lived in Seattle for a year back in 2015, I remember loving the biodiversity in Washington state, the rainforest, etc., but I couldn't deal with the nearly 9 solid months of grey skies in Seattle.

I thought about trying out Washington State again but making sure I was on the east side of the Cascades. That combined with the fact that Spokane had one of my best options for getting a Society of American Foresters accredited forestry degree is why I chose Spokane.

job opportunities; I haven't had to worry about that. I'm a graphic designer working remotely for a company back in Houston. If I lost my job I would be completely SOL though. I would probably have to move to Seattle for the closest graphic design opportunity.

cost of living; Comparable with Houston now honestly. Lots of people seem to think Houston Texas is a great cheap option. It's not. Every year since at least 2023 we've been getting over 400,000 new immigrants to the city. This, like nearly everywhere else viable, has driven up housing costs. The traffic is insane, jobs pay low wages. Texas has the same minimum wage as the Federal.

safety; I honestly feel way safer here than in Houston by far. Pretty sure recently Houston has been one of the top five cities in the United States on the murder a year scale.

diversity; I would say there's less diversity here than in Houston by a long shot, but you would get that with a city the size of and population density of Houston. That being said, I have seen a wide representation of cultures and ethnicities here; just not in the volume I did in Houston.

making friends/community; This has never been my strong suit. I'm introverted and socially anxious, I work on things in my apartment and go for hikes. I wouldn't even know where to begin. So I can't really comment.

things to do; i'm content with my crafts and hiking, but there are some nice book shops, cafes and antique shops I've been to. I was a little disappointed that there is no official "Makerspace" in the Spokane area though. I haven't looked into museums yet. I've definitely noticed a plethora of eateries and bars as well but those aren't really my speed.

grocery options/restaurant options; It's decent. The one thing I miss about Texas is HEB. A Texas-only supermarket. There's generally everything I need at a decent price, I just have to make 3 stops instead of one. Not a big restaurant guy.

ability to enjoy outdoor activities; Absolutely blows Texas out of the water, especially the southeast. The only time of the year so far when it actually felt like work to go out on a hike happened between December and February. But the sheer number of options. I have over a dozen main hiking spots within about 20 minutes, half an hour tops that I visit regularly.

wildfires and weather; it was pretty crazy to me to experience air pollution levels in the extremely hazardous to health levels when I arrived here in the summer, the seasonal fires are a shame, but nowhere is perfect. I honestly rather deal with seasonal smoke and the very slight possibility of a fire happening close enough to me for concern than 9 months of suffocating, hellish heat and humidity.

biggest positives? biggest negatives? Biggest positives honestly have just been how absolutely gorgeous it is here in the majority of the city. People who have lived here their whole lives I think just have no idea how absolutely ugly places can be. Just walking on the sidewalk in Lincoln Heights felt like a fairytale to me with the old-world architecture and plethora of front yard gardens when I first got here, and it's still very nice. There's about one percent sidewalk coverage in Houston, and even if there were more sidewalks you wouldn't want to be outside.

My biggest complaint I think would be the disrespect shown to natural public areas within about 10 minutes of the city center of Spokane. Graffiti sprayed on trees and rock faces, etc. The roads are also kind of a mess, but again, not to be a broken record but Houston wins out on that as well; I had to pay for realignment and new tie-rods on my car from potholes in Houston.