Spokane7
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July 5, 2010 in Features
Spokane stands out as family-friendly city
Now that I have two kids in tow, Spokane has become the ideal place to live.
In a mid-size community like ours, we have all the benefits of downtown and other big-city amenities. But at the same time, we’re still only minutes away from places such as Riverside State Park, the South Hill bluff, the new Fish Lake Trail and other areas where our entire family can hike, bike and enjoy the outdoors.
I’ve always told my friends in Seattle and Portland that Spokane is one of the Northwest’s best-kept secrets, but apparently people from all over the country are finally discovering that, too.
In the past decade, families from California, the East Coast and other areas have made Spokane their home. Many are astounded at the affordability and the quality of the schools. Others tell me they’re happy to find a community where strangers take the time to say “hello,” where neighbors support one another and where people seem to have a sense of place and history.
Each year, Parenting.com conducts surveys of parents from all over the country to come up with a Top 10 list the editors call “Best Cities for Families.” They base their rankings on health, safety, education, economy and recreation.
Among the top five this year: Arlington, Va.; Austin, Texas; Madison, Wis.; Ann Arbor, Mich.; and Lexington, Ky.
They also thought highly of our fair city – which ranked seventh overall. Impressively enough, Spokane was ranked at the top in the schools category for being “education friendly.” The editors also described Spokane as “a pristinely clean, friendly and very affordable city.”
Here are some other notable qualities that made Spokane stand out:
• An average commute of 19.7 minutes.
• Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital and Shriners Hospital for Children.
• Parks, playgrounds and pools.
• Places to enjoy the outdoors, including the Centennial Trail.
• Mobius Kids.
• The Radio Flyer wagon, the Carrousel and other kid-friendly features of Riverfront Park
Parents: What does your family love about Spokane? Do you agree that it’s a great place to raise families? If not, what needs to happen to make it better?
– Posted by
Virginia de Leon
Join the conversation at www.spokesman.com/blogs/parents.
Horoscope 
DP4Dodgers9 on July 05 at 3:02 p.m.
Spokane needs to provide for their young baseball players. The CIty invested 8 million to biuld an adult softball complex at Albi, yet had to be forced to include 3 million to upgrade some park fields to baseball fields (most fields are in the East Central area). Even so, they have decided to build softball fields and make them available for baseball organization. They are also charging a fee for every time they are used. They have made Franklin Park and the new complex at Albi available during restricted time periods and, again, at a cost per each use. This does nothing but drive up the cost of youth baseball to line the pockets of the City.
We have offered to rebuild Franklin Park at our cost into a youth baseball complex. The City has refused to consider it because they want the money to line their pockets.
If Spokane really wants to be considered kid friendly, let’s build a youth baseball complex at Franklin Park for the 3000 kids that play youth baseball. We’ve built one for the adults and since when should the adults get 2 complexes before the kids get even 1?