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Grafitti. Tagging. Street art. Call it what you will, but it exists in Spokane in a variety of ways. From the chaotic script left by a Sharpie, to the more time consuming stencil boldly sprayed on the sidewalk in front of Sterling Savings, we've seen a lot of it. Some of it in plain sight, but blending in just enough as not to be noticed.
On a drive through West Central today, we spotted this interesting neighborhood marker indicating the entrance to the historic Nettleton's Addition. Sited on a corner of Dutch Jake's Park, this thing must have popped-up over the weekend as we were just over here the other day and certainly couldn't have missed it.
My what a difference a year can make. Last year we held our first ever "Spokane's Best Vacant Lots". The overwhelming popularity (not really) convinced us we had to bring it back for a fun-filled second year.
This year we've changed two of the criteria. Like all good empty-nesters know, small is the new big. So accordingly we've downsized our acreage requirement to 'less than one acre'. We've also added in a new twist just for this year: The lots we nominate are located on prominent corners only.
Once again, here are the criteria we've used:
And with that we give you our top three in no particular order...we'll let you decide.
Continue reading "2006 Spokane's Best Vacant Lots - Corners" »
Spokane drivers are really no worse than anywhere else. There have been a number of times when driving, we've signaled that we need to change lanes and they've quite politely slowed down and let us move on over. A quick wave or a head nod and everyone is happy. The real problems begin when people here park.
Isn't she a beaut? A tipster alerted us the other day that another residential project was slated for the south side of the tracks. What we expected to hear: "Defunct warehouse being converted into luxury lofts. 1000 sqf units starting in the low $300s." What we heard: "Defunct warehouse being converted into 50 loft units for low income families." Pardon? Loft units? Low income?
Continue reading "South Side O' The Tracks - The Borning Building - Cornerstone II" »
Quite possibly the best evidence that Downtown Spokane is becoming more and more family friendly every day. This guy was riding with his young daughter in mid-day traffic downtown this afternoon. After complete astonishment faded, we watched as they made their way past the Parkade, changed lanes and headed off in the direction of Aunties Bookstore.
By any measure, parking in downtown Spokane is a breeze. Sure we've been here for a few years and have our favorite spots that are almost always guaranteed to be open. Lately though, even they seem to be on the radar of most saavy Spokanites. But we wonder about our often outraged suburban friends who leave the vast 'parklike' setting of suburbia for downtown and find (gasp!) NO FREE PARKING.
Not only does urban living have people flocking to downtown, but it
appears that outdated, large capacity grain storage facilities could be the new fad sweeping second-tier cities across the country. We present our readers with this beauty gleaned from Spokane's MLS: Division & Ruby St. Grain Silos.
Continue reading "For Sale: Ridiculously Large Grain Silos With Easy Access To The CBD" »
Twelve years ago, the word "action" on West 1st avenue had a whole different meaning. Nowdays, it refers to the flurry of construction activity, most currently in the form of a little demo-action of two buildings on Railroad Avenue.
Prium Companies recently released a few schematics of the planned Wall Street Condominiums at 153 Wall. It seems everyone is trying to hit the sweet spot before the Kendall Yards juggernaut comes online with it's first 500+ units.
It's our opinion that suburban developers could learn a few new tricks from the Garland District. Narrow streets, slow-moving traffic, and stores crammed in every nook and corner. Best of all it's pretty active place that sports two old-school taverns, a movie house, a few restaurants, and a theater. It also has two of Spokane's biggest icons - The Garland Theater & The Milk Bottle.
We spotted the elusive Tango downtown yesterday afternoon in front of Mizuna. The bright-red car parked perpendicular to the sidewalk was tough to miss. Curious pedestrians, unsure of what they were seeing, stopped momentarily for a closer look.
It's been awhile since we last posted to the good ol' blemish category. Given that the hour is getting late we'll make this one short. The owners of the circa 1912 Knickerbocker Apartments at Fifth and Howard need to pick up the slack.
"Cookie-Cutters Belong In The Kitchen"
- Comma-Q Architecture
A road-trip to Bozeman, Montana this weekend led us to some interesting housing discoveries. The Bozeman area is growing rapidly, as a result of its attractive setting, and is seeing housing affordability flying out the window (quite similar to Kootenai County). While there we happened upon a couple of newer residential subdivisions that caught our attention.
The council chambers were packed tonight for the public hearing on the proposal for the Kendall Yards planned unit development (PUD) over in West Central. Back in January of 2005 we attended the bankruptcy hearing for the former 78 acre slice of land then known as the Summit property, and now after 19 months, $12.8 million in real estate costs, $5.6 million in clean-up fees, and 230,000 tons of contaminated soil, it came down to a long evening of testimony. Time flies.
Continue reading "Kendall Yards - YIMBYs With a Few Questions..." »
There' s a lot happening in the upper floors of two of Spokane's mid-century gems. The Lincoln Plaza (1963) and The Fidelity Building (1952) have been undergoing some exterior improvements over the past few months.
Continue reading "Upgrades Up Above - Lincoln Plaza & The Fidelity Bldg" »
