Picture this: you watch one of the best college basketball teams in the country play, see the most current work from contemporary artists, ski on the local slopes, and enjoy a beautiful sunset with a pint of craft beer. All in one day, all in one place. Where could one hope to find such a diverse and active city? There’s probably a lot of places out there that fit the bill, but Spokane, Washington makes that cut too!
What do we love about Spokane? Well, we love…
1. Boo Radley’s and Atticus
Need a festive costume for your cat, novelty socks, and your morning coffee? You can get all of these things in the same 50ft stretch of downtown sidewalk at Boo Radley’s and Atticus. Boo Radley’s is a novelty pop culture shop and Atticus is a coffee and gift store with the best modern atmosphere any millennial could hope for. Beyond these two stores offering unique and wonderful services, their names are delightful. Boo Radley and Atticus Finch are both characters from Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mocking Bird. Even the demeanor of the shops align with their characters as Radley was a kindly shut-in with a fascination for unique objects and Finch was a stately lawyer with poise and wisdom.
2. Sooo Many Lakes (and rivers)
Pick a lake, any lake! In our county alone we’ve got *deep breath* Amber Lake, Badger Lake, Chapman Lake, Clear Lake (very creative name), Deep Lake (even more creative name), Downs Lake, Eloika Lake, Fish Lake (so there are fishes in the lake?), Fishtrap Lake, Horseshoe Lake (so there are horseshoes in the lake?), Liberty Lake, Medical Lake, Newman Lake, Silver Lake, West Medical Lake, annnnnd Williams Lake. And that’s not counting several nearby lakes that are in driving distance outside our county limits.
3. Go Zags!
Spokane is home to one of the best college basketball teams in the country, the Gonzaga Bulldogs. They’ve made it to the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet Sixteen 8 times since 1999 and were this year’s runner up. Whether you enjoy spectator sports or not, all of us in Spokane were excited for our team during the championship in April!
4. Diverse Interests
This reason comes from our Quality Assurance Champion, Krysta, who used to live in Lake Tahoe, one of the most toured regions for its outdoor activities. Krysta reports that it wasn’t uncommon to be turned away from camp grounds, trail heads, or restaurants as too many people were trying to enjoy Lake Tahoe in every season. Krysta feels that citizens of Spokane have enough varied interests that no place or activity is ever so overcrowded that people aren’t able to participate.
5. The Spokane International Airport is Wonderful
Our Graphic Designer, Hannah, listed this reason for her Spokane love because she comes from a town in the midwest where the closest airport is a 2-hour drive away to Chicago. On top of the travel time, Chicago airports recommend that passengers arrive 2 hours before their flights to allow for the long lines of security screenings. The concept of the close, quick, and friendly Spokane airport changed Hannah’s view of flying over the four years she flew back and forth to visit family in the Midwest while attending Whitworth University.
6. Good Traffic
Before moving to the East side of the state, Liz and Glenn founded BumbleBar closer to Seattle. This reason for loving Spokane belongs to them as they report driving the same distance to work here in 20 minutes compared to the 2 hours that same distance would take in Seattle. Thank you, Spokane traffic, for taking it easy on our CEO and COO.
7. Jim’s Here
This reason belongs to our buddy Patrick, who loves our Operations Manager, Jim. He’s a cool dude. I shall let our white board serve as Jim’s résumé for why you should also love Jim.
8. Chinese Lantern Festival
This annual 5-week celebration of Chinese culture consists of giant lanterns, incredible performers, and amazing food. And it all takes place downtown!
9. No Humidity
Funnily enough, a handful of our BumbleBar people have lived in the midwest and know the meaning of horrific humidity. It’s half of why our Graphic Designer chose to come to college in the PNW. Liz has family in Wisconsin, Hannah is from Illinois, and both Patrick and Jesica lived in different parts of Virginia at one time or another. We thank Spokane every day for not soaking us with hot air water.
10. Ski Resorts
There are four major ski resorts in Northwest Rockies, and Spokane has one of its own at the top of Mount Spokane. Mt. Spokane Ski and Snowboard Park offers five double chairs over 1,425 acres and 2,000 vertical feet, slopes for all levels, a mile-long park, and the best tree skiing in the area.
11. The Spokane Arts
Spokane has a wonderful scene for the arts anywhere between our larger scale opera house to our smaller local art galleries. Looking for theater? Try the INB Performing Arts Center, the Bing Crosby, or the Spokane Civic Theatre. Interested in gallery art? Visit the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture, the Jundt Art Museum, or the Saranac Art Projects. In the mood for comedy? Check out the Spokane Comedy Club or the Blue Door improvisation theatre. We have a little bit of everything on every level.
12. Education
Spokane has a variety of options when it comes to higher education. We have three universities, Whitworth University, Gonzaga University, and Eastern Washington University, as well as two community colleges, Spokane Falls Community College and Spokane Community College. On top of those five institutions, six of our hospitals will be taking on 100 medical interns by the end of the year.
13. Progressive City
We at BumbleBar are personally pleased to have a progressive city that gives us bike lanes, cares about park renovation, and invests in purifying the Spokane river.
14. The Food Scene
There are a few places here that fill different food shaped holes in our hearts, and we love them for it. Waddell’s has the best fries in town. The Flying Goat dominates the thin crust pizza scene. No-Li brews some of the best local beer and Sushi.com serves the most delicious sushi rolls we’ve personally ever had. Spokane is also doing a good job at making its food inclusive for those with allergies or dietary preferences. Nearly every restaurant has options for vegetarians and pescetarians, but restaurants such as Twigs, Wild Sage, and Manito Tap House can even accomodate individuals with Celiac’s Disease and can’t process gluten. It’s no wonder our gluten free, vegan BumbleBars are so well received here too. Tell us what your favorite restaurants are in the comments!
Photo Credit: The Flying Goat.
15. It’s a Good Place to Retire
Time recently named Spokane the best place to retire in the West due to its services, activities, and tax-friendly environment. We don’t have any state income taxes, housing is affordable, and property taxes are below average.
Those are a few reasons BumbleBar loves Spokane, but sometimes why you love your town goes beyond concrete reasons. Maybe you love Spokane because all of your happiest childhood memories are here or because it’s where you got your first job out of school. Or maybe you just can’t get enough of that urban evergreen canopy. What are some of your favorite things about Spokane?
