The Great Divide Giving Up Excitement Of Seattle For The Love Of Spokane First Person: He Had It All, But There’s No Place Like Home

When I graduated from Lewis and Clark High School in 1971, the last thing on my mind was to return to Spokane. Upon graduating from college I was hired by a multi-state, international corporation in Seattle. During the next 15 years, I pursued a professional career as a confirmed bachelor living in one of the most exciting cities in the United States.

Then in 1990 a fateful event took place. I began a corporate romance with a woman who ironically was from Spokane. In fact, she grew up six blocks from me, but being eight years younger we never knew each other. I was delivering The Spokesman-Review when she was in diapers.

In 1991, we married in Spokane and began looking for a way to get back to our hometown. Finally, in 1994 the opportunity arose and we went for it. I left the Inland Empire in 1971 and returned to the Inland Northwest in 1994.

Being away for 25 years, I called our corporate relocation counselor to get an overview of what to expect. She indicated that the culture was closer to the Midwest than the Pacific Northwest. When I inquired as to professional dress, she said my spouse should watch reruns of ‘a’Charlies Angels,” and all I needed to know was no shoes with leather soles and no pants with belt loops. Natural fabrics are discouraged as well.

We relocated in the same neighborhood where I had thrown papers 30 years earlier. During the first six months the adjustment was severe. The sudden change from gourmet restaurants to ‘All You Can Eat’ was hard to stomach. Being an avid runner, my spouse obviously lacked that “big hair” look. It also took a long time for her to complete her wardrobe of stirrup pants.

With time we have come to appreciate the uniqueness of Spokane. There is distinct entertainment available: throwing nickels off the STA balcony, counting Suburbans on the South Hill, touring the Wheelabrator incinerator.

As irony would have it, two months ago my company downsized and I was given the choice of moving back to Seattle or getting a separation package. The reasons we left Seattle in the first place are still there: rising crime, gridlock, deteriorating schools, the Seahawks.

The reasons we moved back to Spokane are still here too: a sense of family, neighborhoods and caring. We are not leaving. We love this place.