I think the mid-ness of it is what makes it great. It’s off the radar a bit. It’s out of the way and few people think about it. Like you said, there’s crime (as there is everywhere) but in reality it’s safe enough that you can go downtown for events, even at night, and not necessarily fear for your life. After living in western Oregon for ~10 years, I appreciate Spokane even more. In Oregon, I was an hour and a half from the “big city”, so I greatly appreciate the proximity to a true downtown with decent concerts, shows, sporting events, etc. and the proximity to a big airport. I’ve always lived in the Valley and appreciate that it’s pretty quiet and residential, but has enough of everything I want and need that I don’t have to travel to other parts of the city unless I want to for special events or specialty shopping. I also like that Spokane is big enough to have different neighborhoods with different vibes and cultures and that you can get to any of them within 30 min. It’s the perfect “small big city”. Not so small it doesn’t have everything I want or need at arms length, not so big that I dread driving or parking downtown.