Five Mile Prairie (incorporated)

Five Mile Prairie is an unusual neighborhood. It is a plateau, rimmed by cliffs, raised above the rest of Spokane by about 450 feet.

Why such an odd geological formation?

During the last ice age, natural dams full of glacial meltwater broke in Montana, causing violent floods to rush eastward across Washington. When the water reached Spokane, it was up to 500 feet deep at times. Only the areas with harder rock, such as basalt, could withstand it—everything else got scraped away. File Mile Prairie, along with the nearby Orchard Prairie, are made of basalt, from more ancient volcanic activity, and so survived.

Luckily, Spokane’s not expecting any Noah’s Ark-style floods again anytime soon. If they were, I'd head to Five Mile Prairie, because it still sticks up above the rest of Spokane, like a pedestal.

And it’s not just the elevation that’s higher here--the income levels of residents here are also much higher than the rest of Spokane, on average.

Homes here are newer and larger. They tend to have a 2 or 3 car garage, and 4-6 bedrooms. Whereas much of the rest of Spokane, with a few exceptions, is filled with modest, though comfortable, single-level homes, most homes on Five Mile Prairie are 2 or 3 stories.

No doubt this is a great neighborhood for those who can afford it, and it’s certainly more affordable than anything similar on the west side of the Cascade Mountains.

File Mile Prairie is right on the border of Spokane city limits, and the northern half is not incorporated. Students, even those that are in the incorporated part of Five Mile Prairie, will be part of the Mead School District, which is not part of the Spokane School District, and serves communities just north of the city limits.