Spokane, Washington

Spokane is a beautiful mountain paradise with a smallish city vibe, rural surroundings and lots and lots of outdoorsy life. Running and biking trails weave alongside the gorgeous Spokane River, which cuts right through the city. Outside the city, five ski resorts, nearby lakes (including Lake Couer D’ Alene), more rivers, and forests provide the best of Washington’s scenery and amazing opportunities for recreation. While those moving from Seattle or Portland will find downtown sleepy it's a good mix of nature and urban if you like your ratio heavier on the nature side of things.

Here are a few pros about Spokane from a local:
You can live in any residential environment you want. Downtown, suburban, rural, small town. All are still relatively affordable and available, Lots of outdoors stuff to do. Hiking, swimming, biking, skiing, offroading, hunting, fishing, etc. Lots of good breweries and a handful of good restaurants. Beautiful scenery imo and all 4 seasons, plus a bonus smoke season!

For more reviews of what living in Spokane is like from locals check out: The Buzz

The weather, and economy, are quite cold in today’s Spokane. The long winters can be tough to endure for those coming from the coasts, and the local economy can be even tougher to endure if you don’t have a job lined up. The disenfranchised are common here. Gonzaga University losing in the Final Four every year also doesn’t help morale around town.

Locals/Transplants with a note about how they make the weather work:
I’ve lived in Spokane for a couple of years. After living in several places in the Pacific Northwest, I’m comfortable settling here. The weather in Spokane is considerably favorable to Western Washington (for me anyway). Spokane has fairly hot summers and fairly snowy winters. It doesn’t rain much compared to the west side of Washington - it’s pretty sunny and dry.