Spokane

[updated september 2024]

SO, roomiematch.com's Spokane roommate rundown:

Spokane is the state of Washington's second most populated city, but it's not a suburb. Tacoma's near Seattle, while Spokane is far east. That's very near the Idaho border, about 90 miles to Canada, 300 to Seattle . . . over the Cascade mountain range.

So if you'll love living here, you're likely into outdoor mountain-related recreation. Spokane's "Children of the Sun" definitely have that going on, along with fishing Washington's native rainbow trout.

Dozens of golf courses abound near the city center, some award winning, some public, some even both.

And all the sportsmen love a brewpub serving a local ale after all that mountaineering. Or rugged golf. The ones that don't maybe love all the wine tastings throughout the city, focusing on the Columbia, Walla Walla, and Yakima wine regions. But you may need a designated driver. Or just walk?

Spokane Transit Authority operates over 150 buses. There's decent bicycle infrastructure with some protected bike lanes and separated bike trails, and a lot of bike parking downtown. There's also a skywalk system covering about a dozen blocks, making that part of downtown comfy to walk around in colder weather. You and your roommates could attend a local tasting, then just stroll around?

Local forests blanketed with ponderosa pine are still beautiful, but asthma sufferers should beware when they sometimes massively catch on fire. Wildfire events lead to a blanket of smoke over the area, occasionally causing respiratory difficulty.

But at least Spokane also sports all the medical help. Spokane is now an economic hub of health care facilities, including several public hospitals, and the Spokane Veterans Affairs Medical Center. So local focus has shifted slightly away from miners, farmers, and lumberjacks to . . . education and medicine?

But you'll be happy to have a man who's handy with an ax around, when the trees start burning down!

Don't forget to show your love for your native lumberjacks!

The rest of the Spokane roommate lowdown:

• about 200,000 residents in the city, about 600,000 in the greater metro
• Spokane's summers are mild, while winters are harsh with some snowfall. The weather is often highly variable even in the course of one day - always bring a jacket, even in summer!
• home to Gonzaga University, Whitworth University, Washington State University (Spokane), and Sacred Heart Hospital
• hub of health care facilities in the Inland Northwest, including several public hospitals and the Spokane Veterans Affairs Medical Center

After you're settled down, you and your roommates should experience Spokane's:

• Centennial Trail: Favorite among bicyclists and runners, runs along the Spokane River, Riverside State Park, Spokane Falls, then to the Idaho border, and they're still expanding even more.
• Riverside State Park: Over 9000 acres along the Spokane and Little Spokane rivers. Hiking, biking, paddleboating, kayaking, bird watching. Camping and fishing are allowed, and both dogs and horses are welcome!

Here's the city of Spokane's official .org for moving around, including closures, snow removal, potholes, and traffic.

Notes

1.   The non-traditional roommate rent average for this city we've experienced over the last 3 years. We can't predict future rental availability, because we're neither in control of any rental market nor psychic, sorry!

But in most cities most of the time, the recent and relatively recent past are the best predictors.


2.   This idea came from smartasset.com's ranking of what a roommate saves you in 50 cities. They ranked where roommates will save you the most money, based on the average cost of a 1BR as opposed to a 2BR ÷ 2. Unsurprisingly, the more expensive the city, the more you can save, but the savings are significant in all larger metros. So we got the data for the rest of our cities from Zumper too.

This is really the minimum you could save, as you could live with more than one roommate, split more services, share food or other supplies, etc. More sharing tends to lead to more savings too, as per our roommate roadmap.

As per the rest of the description at the top of this page, we're calling this "traditional" roommate rent.


3.   From zumper.com.


4.   Directly quoted from the Trust for Public Land's parkland rating system.

"The ParkScore index awards each city up to 100 points for acreage based on the average of two equally weighted measures: median park size and parkland as a percentage of city area. Factoring park acreage into each city’s ParkScore rating helps account for the importance of larger “destination parks” that serve many users who live farther than ten minutes’ walking distance."

While each city's rundown already includes their individual ParkScore, nature lovers might like to see all roommate cities ranked for parkland.


5.   Directly quoted from Walk Score's Cities and Neighborhoods Ranking. They've ranked "more than 2,800 cities and over 10,000 neighborhoods so you can find a walkable home or apartment."

While each city's rundown already includes their individual Walk Score, dedicated pedestrians might like to see all roommate cities ranked for walkability.


6.   From various lists here on our own best roommate cities.