Anyone been to Spokane recently?

[D'z Nutz]

I'm the type of person that searches before asking, but the funny thing with the posts on here is that any from 2009 and earlier says Spokane's fun and has a lot of good shopping, but any posts after say the place is a dump (even opinions from the same posters change after this time). So has anyone been to Spokane in like the last year or two? How is the shopping and sight seeing situation?

And before anyone suggests it, Seattle is out of the question for this trip. I've been there many times and love it, but with our time line it's not going to happen.

[npham]

We drove through Spokane, went to the grocery store, lunch etc on our way home from Seattle and it wasn't anything special. I noticed while we were shopping in the states that there isn't a huge price difference anymore on smaller ticket items and clothing. But based on what I saw, I'd rather go to Vancouver and pay the extra PST+GST because it's so much nicer. The drive is pretty boring and it seemed like Spokane is a dump. The GF has been there a few times when she was much younger and says it hasn't really changed(think Edmonton), which means it's dated and getting run down. I'd personally avoid it if I had the choice again.

[darthVWader]

I stayed in the Spokane Valley last year when I took my kid to Silverwood for a few days. The shopping was less the good. Any mall we did find had more then half the shops closed. We found Coeur d'alene to be a lot nicer. Next time we go we will be staying there.

[lasimmon]

Drove through Spokane yesterday. Went through the main park and it was nce, got some nice pictures. Lots of waterfalls and what not on the river. Bought like $175 worth of clothes for like $50 which was nice.

[Gainsbarre]

Only stopped in Spokane for a few hours on the way to Seattle three weeks ago, and the place certainly seemed like a dump to me -- rundown houses / buildings, parks that were not maintained, garbage everywhere...

Coeur D'Alene did seem nicer, although I only stopped for gas and some quick grocery shopping at the Fred Meyer there. The gas prices were slightly cheaper in Idaho too.

Spokane and Coeur D'Alene were only a 20 to 30 minute drive from each other (from what I recall)...they were really close.

[sputnik]

Spokane isn't bad. However its not exactly a destination city like Seattle or Portland.

Think of it as a better version of Great Falls MT and you will be happier you drove the extra hour and a half and had a nicer drive to boot.

The shopping and eating is decent in Spokane. Most of the major US chains are there. The downtown mall (www.riverparksquare.com) is small but has the big Macy's and Nordstrom department stores along with some higher end shops and the suburban mall (www.spokanevalleymall.com) has the rest.

There are some decent restaurants downtown and there are some shops that are pretty cool. However downtown Spokane is kinda like downtown Calgary in that it seems pretty dead on the weekends and in the evenings. The river valley is neat to see and there are some pretty picturesque parks within the city as well that would be worth wandering through.

Again, I am not saying that Spokane is some amazing city like Portland, but it makes for a decent weekend trip to do some cross border shopping.