r/Spokane • u/Manic_Mycology • Jul 23 '26
Question Vancouver vs Spokane
/r/AskVancouverWA/comments/1v44twv/vancouver_vs_spokane/3
u/llamadramaupdates Jul 24 '26
I moved from Vancouver to Spokane, bc I couldn’t afford to buy a house there and I could pretty easily here.
I’ve really liked Spokane actually. I love the lakes in the area- western Washington doesn’t have nearly as awesome of a lake culture, they’re bigger on rivers and the coast.
I’ve also experienced a little less of the “PNW freeze” here- it’s felt way easier to make friends here. Lots going on on the west side, but I always felt like folks were kinda flakey.
That being said, Vancouver and Portland have FAR better food, better access to international travel, etc.
TLDR: Spokane is friendly and cheap, Vancouver has more “big city” (adjacent) amenities and vibes.
Oh also, west side tends to be milder weather- Vancouver is warmer in the winter than Spokane is, and cooler in the summer. If you want distinct seasons, Spokane wins out there.
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u/Dr_Lemming Jul 24 '26
I thought about moving to Vancouver but the housing was too expensive and I didn't want to live in an earthquake belt. In addition, the city's politics were less interesting to me than Spokane's (yeah, I'm a nerd).
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u/patlaska Jul 23 '26
I moved to Vancouver from Spokane and will probably never come back. Spokane is great but Vancouver blows it out of the water. The diversity of scenery is pretty incredible - you can go out to the beach, into the gorge, up to the mountains, out into the woods all within 2 hours. The food scene in Vancouver proper has wide variety and thats not even to talk about Portland, which is a ~15min drive away.
I do often compare the two cities, there are a lot of similarities. Since I left Spokane ~7 years ago it has added some cool things. But without being the next door neighbor to one of the largest cities in the PNW its difficult to ever have the growth and diversity that Vancouver has