Posted on Apr 10, 2015
Maj Chris Nelson
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I am now down to under 300 days until out of uniform (if all permissive TDY/Terminal Leave is approved). I have an offer on the house here in Montana and looks like we will close 30 June. I am thinking about sending my wife and daughter ahead to whatever location we decide to relocate to in June/July. We are looking at possibility of the Spokane area and I was wondering if anyone had any feedback??!! I know there is an Air Force base there, looks like a couple colleges and hospitals.... Pros of the area? Cons of the area? Any feedback appreciated!
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Responses: 3
Cpl Kristoffer Mischel
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I live in Reardan which is about 20 miles away from Spokane. I love this area. It really depends on if you want to be around a bunch of people. 9 mile falls in Spokane wouldn't be a bad place to live if you wanted to be closer to town, but you'd want to keep your distance from Browns addition and Hillyard. The south hill is also a good place to root down. There is quite a few stores and dinning areas there. If you wanted to be closer to Fairchild, Airway Heights isn't too bad, I lived there from the time I got out of the Marine Corps to about June of 2011. You would want to look at places on the South side of the highway. There is a Walmart, Yokes and a couple of auto part stores in that general area, as well as some restaurants. There is also the Northern Quest Resort and Casino. If you want smaller town living, Reardan is great. I live about a block from the school and I have no problem letting my kids walk. Davenport would be a good place for small town living as well, there you would want to look for something on the north side of the highway. I also lived in Medical Lake when I was growing up. I didn't really like it that much, but I was a kid. I really haven't been back there that much, but it has a heavy population of AF personnel.
The weather here has been pretty mild the past few winters, but we can get hammered pretty good if it does start snowing.
Spokane Pros: Close to everything, easy to find whatever you might need, veterans hospital close by
Spokane Cons: Relatively high rate of car thefts (compared to where I live now) during summer time, its the land of the one way street, if you are in Hillyard you'll definitely want to lock up.
Reardan Pros: Small town living, neighbors tend to help you out, great people
Reardan Cons: Driving 15 minutes either direction to get to a store, Older homes, everyone knows what you are doing (Gossip), don't speed, the police get bored
Davenport pros: Same as Reardan
Davenport cons: 30 to 45 minutes from Spokane if you need anything major

If you are looking to get some land; Reardan, Davenport and the Lake Roosevelt area are great.
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Maj Chris Nelson
Maj Chris Nelson
9 y
Great info! We are focusing on the area that falls into Shadle Park High School area. THINK it is in the NW area/quadrant of Spokane. Looks like crime rate is low in that area, the school looks to be a good one. Close to the VA Hospital, and not far from a couple other hospitals. Universities are not RIGHT THERE, but not far away, and the base appears to be within striking distance if/when we want to go there. We are going to be checking out the area in greater detail may 14-17. Looking forward to learning more about the area!
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Cpl Kristoffer Mischel
Cpl Kristoffer Mischel
9 y
Shadle Park is a pretty good area, I have a cousin that lives there. Directly around there is a Walmart, the Northtown mall is pretty close and a ton of restaurants. The VA hospital is maybe five minutes away from the main living area. The issue I have, being a country boy, is it can be tight living quarters, but if you don't mind neighbors it should do you just fine.
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SPC Military Police
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Washington state is absolutely stunning sir. I was born and raised in Everett
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SGT Richard H.
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Edited 9 y ago
My uncle lived not far from Spokane (Colville) when I was growing up. Admittedly, I haven't spent a ton of time there, but enough. I always liked the area.
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