the downtown waterfront reopened to the public after undergoing a major $20 million renovation that transformed it from a park with baseball diamonds into a multi-use park with a variety of athletic facilities, a playground, and a dog park. The state of Idaho is the fastest-growing state in the country. According to Census Bureau data in 2018, the city and county were among the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the nation with a net migration of about 3,200 residents from 2015 to 2016. The newest transplants are still mainly from other western states and are moving for economic as well as political reasons, seeking a lower cost of living, more affordable housing, an outdoor lifestyle, and a place that is more conservative. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water. Coeur d'Alene is east of downtown Spokane, Washington, and east of Seattle. The city is part of the Spokane–Coeur d'Alene combined statistical area and the Inland Northwest region, consisting of eastern Washington, northern Idaho, northwestern Montana, and northeastern Oregon. The city is located on the north shore of Lake Coeur d'Alene, near the outlet of the Spokane River, and is in the Northern Rockies ecoregion. Lake Coeur d'Alene is a natural dam-controlled lake that is long and to wide and fed by the Coeur d'Alene and Saint Joe rivers. Although the Post Falls Dam on the Spokane River near Post Falls controls the lake levels, the lake is usually kept at natural levels from January to June. To the immediate southeast is Fernan Lake and to the northeast of the city is Hayden Lake and even further northeast in northern Kootenai County is Lake Pend Oreille, which is among the largest and deepest natural lakes in the western United States with a surface area of and maximum depth of . These lakes, like others in the Spokane Valley and Rathdrum Prairie, were formed by the Missoula Floods, which ended 12,000 to 15,000 years ago. The Coeur d'Alene Mountains of the Bitterroot Range rise to the east of the city to a maximum elevation of at Cherry Peak. The wooded lands east of the city, the Coeur d'Alene National Forest, have been designated for protection and management by the Idaho Panhandle National Forests. These thick forests include groves of ancient western redcedar and host over 300