#22 Spangle, Washington

Metro Spokane Places to Live

2020 population: 330
Drive time to downtown Coeur d’Alene: 55 minutes
Drive time to downtown Spokane: 20 minutes

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

Spangle Community Description

Spangle has many qualities in common with Athol, Idaho. Both have names that need improvement; both are small communities just far enough outside the urbanized area to still maintain a sense of traditional identity, yet both are just close enough that the real estate development market is on the horizon; both have under-developed town infrastructure; and both have quick access to some amazing recreational space.

From an overall health perspective, at least in terms of market health, Spangle is a bit more functional than Athol. For instance, Spangle has a main street. There’s only a couple of businesses operating on it, grant you, but the bones are still there. Spangle also has something close to a normal, functioning neighborhood located on its east hill with pleasant homes and a grid street pattern. Sidewalks and tree lined streets, however, are a luxury in Spangle because there are few to be had.

Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge is only a short drive from Spangle. At some point, I think an incredibly handsome, charismatic, intelligent, and gifted blogger should make an effort to rank all the public recreational access within one hour of downtown Spokane. Until that time comes, however, let’s just say Turnbull is definitely a more unique recreational destination than our garden variety lakes that surround metro Spokane, and any sentence that trivializes a region's lakes says a hell of a lot about that region. It also says something about Spangle's access to world class recreation.

Finally, Spangle is one of the few small towns on this list that is not subject to the dictates of the Washington State Department of Transportation by virtue of one of their highways cutting through town. Local control is a huge asset for Spangle in the event they choose to beautify and improve main street.

(Featured photo courtesy of Jim Choate)