#16 Hayden, Idaho

Metro Spokane Places to Live

2020 population: 16,012
Drive time to downtown Coeur d’Alene: 15 minutes
Drive time to downtown Spokane: 50 minutes

Overall Character: ★★☆☆☆
Urban: ☆☆☆☆☆
Suburban: ★★★★★
Walkability: ★☆☆☆☆
Market Activity: ★★★★★
Farm Town: ☆☆☆☆☆
Timber Town: ☆☆☆☆☆
Lake / River Town: ★★☆☆☆

Hayden Community Description

Hayden is a gleaming new-ish suburb directly north of Coeur d’Alene. Whereby once a few empty fields separated Hayden and Coeur d’Alene, those days have long past and, in their place, are huge strip malls, subdivisions, and surface parking lots. If you like the suburbs, Hayden is livable enough.

Hayden once had an old main street but these days there are few historic structures to be found. Good news is city leadership is wise enough to place value in developing walkability for central Hayden. Bad news is they are far from accomplishing this task and what they boldly pronounce as being downtown Hayden is nothing more than a few ornate strip malls. On the upside, there is nice public landscaping, detached sidewalks, and street trees, so hope remains.

The greater Coeur d’Alene urbanized area has rapidly suburbanized and the city of Hayden is one of the primary perpetrators of these acts. As is true with the entire Spokane metro, living in the suburbs ain’t so bad because you always have quick access to trails, lakes, and rugged country. Hayden is no exception, particularly considering its quick access to the region's largest lakes. Someday, Hayden might actually become a real city from a functional sense of the word. Until that day comes, however, Hayden’s garden variety strip malls and subdivisions will define the community.

(Featured photo by Stan Peterson)