#12 Medical Lake, Washington

Written on

August 5, 2020

in

Metro Spokane Places to Live

2020 population: 5,004
Drive time to downtown Coeur d’Alene: 1 hour
Drive time to downtown Spokane: 20 minutes

Medical Lake is in the West Plains of Spokane County, Washington

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

Medical Lake Community Description

Medical Lake is a historic town about 20 minutes from downtown Spokane. Downtown Medical Lake is one block off of the actual water body.

It feels a little dead in downtown Medical Lake, like it’s one of those old towns far away from the metro worthy of a Sunday drive. Trouble is a tsunami is coming. Medical Lake is, without question, the next municipality in the metro to suburbanize, the next domino to fall, the next fat lady that sings.

If you have low blood sugar, Medical Lake has a cure for what ails you.

A hell of a product. Did I mention that old main street is one block off the lake itself? Of all the cities on this list, it’s Medical Lake that has the most potential for improvement. Located on the West Plains of Spokane County, there are a number of lakes within 10 minutes of Medical Lake, both the city and the water body.

From a market perspective, Medical Lake has yet to be discovered, so I feel like I’m letting a cat out of a bag. As we sit, what is holding Medical Lake back is a contingent of anti-growth citizens. They don’t want growth. They like Medical Lake just fine, thank you very much. Trouble is market forces will overtake their perspectives, as will entropy.

Thus, the time is now for Medical Lake to plan for the future. A future, indeed, that includes rapid growth. What do you want to be when you grow up, Medical Lake, a real city or a suburb? The choice is yours. Do you want to prep for the tsunami or will you allow it to overtake you?

Despite its somewhat dead feeling, your main street is solid gold, it's just hidden in a vertical column of granite. You are still your own thing, and you can always be your own thing but you have to set the vision now, or else outside money will set it for you. You’re on a the development clock. You either set the menu, Medical Lake, or you're on it.