Seattle’s smaller country cousin, undeservedly overlooked for years, now attracting refugees from California and the Puget Sound region
• Many classic neighborhoods offer shaded streets and down-to-earth prices on great old homes
• A chain of parks, many laid out by the legendary Olmsted brothers, are scattered throughout the city
• The centerpiece of the Olmsteds’ 1913 plan, Riverfront Park, was finally reclaimed from abandoned rail and industrial facilities as the site of Spokane’s Expo ’74
• Now the park provides both a green sanctuary and dramatic views of the swift-running Spokane River right in the heart of the city
• Downtown is a historic treasure with 80 blocks of mostly intact early-20th-century buildings
• Strong local tax incentives for historic preservation are widely used
• Sprawl to the east is a serious and growing problem, but there is earnest discussion of building a light rail line to link destinations there with downtown Spokane
• There’s easy access to the great outdoors all around for world-class skiing, kayaking, hiking, fishing, and pleasure boating.
By Peter Katz, Utne Reader |
