I would tell drivers to really pay attention to the one way roads down town. I would also say to try to avoid division street. It's a slow mover with a lot of lights.

I was driving downtown Spokane and there are a lot of one way roads. My husband and I were still freshly married and we had a baby in the back seat. I was still trying to learn all the ins-and-outs for all the one way roads. One day my family and I were driving westbound on one of those roads and I made a right hand turn to head north at an intersection that put us on one way southbound road. As soon as I made the turn and saw ALL the head lights ahead of us, I realized what I had done and quickly made my exit plan. My husband on the other hand, who couldn't see this exit plan in my head, screamed like a little girl. It has been a moment I have never forgotten. I was able to follow through with my exit plan and successfully exit the road. However, I will never let my husband forget that day he screamed like a 13 year old little girl. It's a great memory.

I90. I like I90 because the speed limit is 60 and you can just cruise from one end of the city to the other. It has several lanes and even during the rush hour, it still tends to move fairly freely. That is of course, unless there is an accident up ahead.

As far as my experience goes (and we visit a few times every year) any sort of regular sized car like ours (a Forester) will do well in the city. Many people seem to drive cars like that there. The city seemed to us a little sprawling if you want to explore it and there is also a lovely holiday town nearby Coeur D'Alene, so it is possible you might want a hardier car or one that is better on gas mileage so you can travel. The city is next to the I-90 so it's pretty easy to travel to other cities quickly.

We did not buy our car in Spokane, but we did purchase it at McCurley's in Pasco, which is a few hours away. We were very happy with the deal we received for the car. There is an auto mall in Pasco so there is lots of choice. I imagine the searching advertisements would also work fairly well, though I have never purchase a car that way. I believe there is a Subaru dealer in Spokane and a Honda dealer (I had friends that shopped at these dealers) and they seemed reputable, though I don't have personal experience with them. I would always prefer to go to a dealer, and I like auto malls because there is more choice.

Well my most intense memory is my first visit to Spokane. It will always fit in my memory. My husband had had a heart attack (we live in Walla Walla) and he was taken via helicopter to Spokane to Sacred Heart hospital. I had to drive to Spokane myself with my daughter to meet him before surgery. I felt panicky until I drove into the city. I am bad with directions and was unsure I could find my way around, but the city was so friendly and well designed, and Sacred Heart loomed above it, almost like a sacred space, that I saw it as soon as I arrived. We were able to drive quickly to the hospital and also around the city later that day as we looked for a place to stay. Every street seemed friendly and energetic, but not super busy (like some large cities). It was built on a grid, so we had no navigational issues. Many of the buildings we passed looked historic. I remember driving past a lovely park and lake with a clock tower. When we returned to Walla Walla, we decided we would continue to visit Spokane as a family for fun. It was a bright, joyful space to drive in (my husband is fully recovered).

Main Avenue. I love driving along with wide streets in the downtown area especially Main Avenue. The city is small enough to make it seem like a small town (and has unique little shops) but cosmopolitan enough to seem like a big city, with a lovely mall downtown. I love that the downtown streets are tree lined and the cross streets are well mapped out and easy to find. It's not a super busy city to drive in either. The traffic is quite busy but manageable and parking is pretty easy to find.