Background: In 1990, I rode the USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) from Alameda to Bremerton for its home port change due to complex overhaul. I absolutely loved the Seattle area and hated leaving when I transferred in 1992. I literally became homesick by the time I hit Utah on my drive to my next duty station in Oklahoma, and for the past 19 years have longed to return. A friend of mine on the VW forums has lived his entire life in Spokane and sold me on the idea of moving to Spokane instead of the Seattle area for the following: 1) lower cost of living, 2) better weather, 3) Spokane is the smallest big city in America. The pictures of the high plains desert and the mountains a mere 15 minutes away pretty much sold me.

Last year's record setting summer of the most number of consecutive days over 100º and the most number of days of temperatures over 100º solidified my desire to leave. That, and that it's always, always, always windy here. Honestly, a day where the wind speeds are less than 15mph is considered light breezes. Naturally, I'm hesitant over a few factors such as: 1) the economy is very strong in the OKC metro, 2) I've been here for 19+ years and am pretty much established (the curse of familiarity). Then again, I don't want to stay here until I retire and then move, because being miserable all the time is no way to live.

Anyway, I was hoping some of you in the PNW could chime in with advise and observations. And for the record, I grew up 90 miles west of Chicago and have no desire to ever live in that area. I've probably visited a grand total of 10 times in the 25 years since I left.

 

My wife is from Post Falls/Coeur D' Alene and still has a lot of family around the Spokane/CDA area. My father-in-law still lives there. The job situation is seasonal for a lot of work-mechanics, logging, mining and the businesses that support them. Late fall-Late spring a lot of companies lay off. Of course there are a lot of exceptions-medical, finance, etc. Overall though, the economy has adjusted to a large winter unemployment. Housing is very high in and near Spokane and Coeur D' Alene, but if you don't mind a 30 mile drive over ice and snow, there are plenty of bargains out of the city. Other than those 2 things, I can't think of any downside to Northern Idaho/NE Washington. And most folks from Spokane feel more connected to conservative Idaho than crazy-lib Washington. I guess if you're a Democrat, that might be a negative.

 

I work in I/T but am pursuing a BA in Legal Studies so I can transition to something else. I've also considered moving to Portland, Oregon as well due to the public transit situation there and also the friendly lifestyle.

 

My girlfriend is from Spokane. I went there last fall with her to visit her father and I really liked it. I talked to him about living there. He said a lot of work is seasonal, as stated earlier. Of course, that didn't really apply to my line of work (HV/commercial electrical).

I thought it was a beautiful place and have considered making the move, but...the South is my home.

 

I never understood why people always said that the Pacific Northwest was such a beautiful and great place to live... Until I moved away. I am counting the days till I can move back to the good ol' Cascades (those are beautiful snow-capped mountains people).

Spokane can be a rough town, but so can any town if you don't know where you are. Land in eastern WA is cheap compared to the Seattle area, which only makes sense... I have family out in Yakima, and always enjoyed visiting out there. With the economy out there based primarily on farming and such, expect to meet lot of people who aren't very tall and only speak Spanish.


For the record mantisman, the Seattle area and it's surrounding suburbs are the main contributors to that stereotype. Once you get a little south or east of there, people are different. Lots of great outdoors kinds of people, huge 4x4 scene, even bigger hot rod scene.

 

Dude, are you kidding me???? I will never, ever forget the day the carrier pulled into Indian Island for the final weapon offload. It was actually 80* with light clouds in the sky. People lined the flight deck and stood in awe of the beauty of how greet it is and also the low lying clouds just hugging the mountains.

What gets me is the people who say, "Oh, Oklahoma is just sooooooooo beautiful". Seriously? WTF ever. If you think dried out vegetation baking under the hot sun is beautiful, then yeah, this place is paradise, but not for me. I have rued the day I left Washington since the day I left.

I have been planning for a trip to Spokane for the past couple of years, but something always tosses a wrench in it. This year looks to be different.

Today, it was cool with light rain up there. Meanwhile, it was 90* here and the forecast calls for chances of thunderstorms tonight. This time last year it was in the 100s, and for a few days last week we had severe weather that brought hail the size of grapefruit to some areas of the State.

Eff this place.

 

I didn't understand because I had never lived anywhere but there, so I was spoiled, and used to it.

People everywhere here think Louisiana is so great. I almost vomit when the "Keep Louisiana Beautiful" commercials come over the radio.


+ 1 million to the last part.

 

Been A Wa resident since day one. ~2/3 in Seattle area and ~1/3 over in Spokane. I consider Spokane home and would be back there right now if it weren't for no jobs for me. There is little to no tech work. There is an over saturation of excellent lawyers due to Gonzaga Law school, but if your paralegal or something you are set.

For me it's a mental thing. I kinda hate the people over here in gay vegan tree hugging welfair state of seattle. Everbody seems more normal to me over in E Wa. I miss the hard working conservative blue collar atmosphere over in Spokane.

You've been so you probably remember the winters. They can be pretty long and cold, but the brief warm to hot and dry summers make up for it in my opinion. Seattle is is basically the same weathere as Spokane but much milder. Add or subtract 20 to 30 degrees from the spikes in Spokane weather and that's whart seattle is like. Nice and smooth transitions between the barely discernible seasons. Spokane is much more desert like whereas Seattle is practically a rainforest.

 

I'm a desert dweller, born and raised. First in SW Idaho-back then the only green was the farmland and the pathetic sage brush. Now it's a giant city from Boise to Ontario, Oregon. Got tired of the San Jose North that Idaho became and moved to the beautifully barren SE Arizona. I don't want to live anywhere else. The red clay valleys and the majestic mountains just go on forever. And where I'm building my house, just a few ranches miles away. I love the pine forests of Idaho, Oregon and Washington, but I hate cold winters. Had 35 years of that and love that the coldest day here in January is a freak warm spell in Idaho. From my house on the side of the mountain, I look east across the valley and see the nearest house 5 or 6 miles away. And once you get used to a 7 or 8' mesquite being the tallest tree around, its' the beauty of solitude that makes it worthwhile.

 

Do it. Spent 10 wonderful years in WA (2yr Spokane and 8 Kennewick) and only left to pursue a master's degree in TX because that is where schools are. If you hate OK, let me tell you about Mexas, er..I mean Texico... or whatever it is called. It absolutely sucks and I don't understand a single person who says otherwise. It is 3rd world at best with worse roads than ILL, everything is broken and dirty, terrible traffic and it is always over 100 deg. I will be going back to mountains as soon as I finish here.