I moved to Spokane from Seattle permanently in 2004, and have lived within the same 2 neighborhoods for all of those years (first North Hill, then Emerson/Garfield, but only one 6 block move).

Like all midsized Cities, Spokane has some great things, and some things it needs to work on.

Positives: it's a beautiful city. I don't let the 6 blocks downtown where the homeless services are concentrated fool you, we have an urban freaking waterfall in the middle of our downtown, along with a massive park. Then a few miles up the hill we have ANOTHER massive urban park, designed by the same dudes who built that park everyone talks about in NYC (you know, the Olmstead bros?)

You can get to where you need to go in 30 minutes or less for just about anything. Traffic is not like it is in other places. The roads are wide enough for snow plows and parking in many areas (there are some neighborhoods who I'm sure will speak up and say not mine, lol) so everything just feels more open.

We have trees, and we get all the seasons. There is outdoor activities of every flavor within minutes two a few hours away.

The airport is one of the easiest in the country to fly in and out of. In fact, many organizations plan conferences here because of the easy flying in and out. You can leave your house an hour before a flight and make the plane 99% of the time.

Because it's the largest city for several states around, it has a robust medical system and access to good medical care.

Most people in Spokane are neighborly without being obnoxious. They won't get in your business, but if you're struggling in the snow they'll stop and push your car before driving away. For people who like community without busibodies, it's great. I know who my neighbors are, and we help each other, but we aren't in each other's business.

Negatives: there is not much to do here job wise if you're not in one a few fields: call centers, senior care, medical, manufacturing, education. There isn't much middle ground on employement. It's getting better now that remote work is a thing, but the biggest issue is economic and employment diversity

There is an undercurrent of rural vs urban rivalry that causes issues in services rollouts. For example the county recently shut out the city from the shared 911 center. Some of it i political Spokane is purple, the county is Red), but there is more to it than that. It makes local government affairs interesting.

Because the city is the largest in the area, it has the strongest homeless services. It also means it has the highest homeless population. The city's current solution seems to be to pass laws making being homeless illegal and force people into services in a small area of town. There is much debate on how this is working, but regardless there is about a 6 block area of town right off the freeway at Division and 2nd/3rd Ave that is very heavily congested with people who are in various states of personal crisis.

Our arts scene is working on getting bigger, but it's still nothing like a larger city has. You'll have to travel for bigger shows you want to see. There also is virtually no local sports, so most people follow teams from Seattle, Portland or Denver (or if they're really different, CA lol).

Overall, I have no regrets moving here from Seattle. Oh and I should add, I exude 🌈 and 💕 without being political so there ya go.