I lived there for 11 years, about 25 years ago, so what I know about the place might not be relevant anymore.

Back then, I chose to take a job in Spokane over one in Tulsa and never regretted it. But my primary reason for moving to Spokane was the natural beauty. Lots of trees and parks. And the South Hill is by far the choicest location for buying a home.

The weather in winter can be problematic. Back then, the city had a policy that streets wouldn't be plowed until there was six inches of snow on the ground. That meant snow would accumulate and freeze before city plows tried making streets passable. And black ice (slick and nearly invisible ice layers) can make driving treacherous.

Spokane hosted the 1974 World's Fair and that prompted city officials to clean up the area blighted by the railroad tracks downtown. The result is a jewel of a public park system that embraces the Spokane River that cuts through town. Hence, it's also a city with several bridges.

I'm told the northern part of town has become a drug haven, but I have no proof of that.

Earlier posts about traffic being a nightmare are close to the truth. The city never developed a comprehensive urban plan to accommodate a growing population, so the current mess is the result.

Winters can be brutal, which is why a system of sheltered and climate-controlled skywalks running over city streets makes shopping downtown bearable.

Spokane boasts a Nordstrom downtown. When I lived there, Spokane had the distinction of being the smallest American city with a Nordstrom department store.

The city suffers from being so far away from the urban sprawl of the west side of the state. It's considered a backwater by the rest of Washington State and is very conservative.

One of the positive aspects to living in Spokane is the proximity to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, and Sandpoint, Idaho, to the north. It's too bad that COVID has made crossing the border into Canada difficult because being able to drive into Alberta was one of the perks of living there.

Unfortunately, Spokane always seemed hell-bent on making itself family-friendly. That means single people can be an afterthought.

That said, there are bars and restaurants to take the sting out of living there.

And there's a large mall in the Spokane Valley, so you have options.