MetroSpokane

Public Meeting: Sprague/Appleway Revitalization

Fast on the heels of last week's comment-o-rama, comes the news that the Spokane Valley is having a Public Meeting regarding the transportation/revitalization plans for the proposed city center and Sprague/Appleway corridor.  The meeting takes place on Tuesday, August 19th at CenterPlace, 2426 North Discovery Place in the Spokane Valley.

The transportation plan is proposing a revamping of Sprague and Appleway from one-way couplets to create two, two-ways for large portions of the six-mile corridor.  The addition of a true city-center is also being proposed.  If you've been paying attention as the plan has been developed over the past year it's provoked ample discussion about the future of our neighboring city.  Some like the status-quo of Sprague Avenue, while others feel it's high time it becomes more than what it currently is.

Watch Wal-Mart spread...

Following up on Monday's post showing a time-lapsed view of development in the Spokane area, we found a new one.  This time the visualization is of Wal-Mart's forty year jaunt across the United States.  Using a similar technique to Trulia Hindsight and data of store openings, Flowing Data has created a time-lapsed version of Wal-Mart's forty year jaunt across the U.S.  By 2007 nearly the entire eastern half of the U.S. is consumed.  Fascinating work.

• Monday Morning Timesink:  Trulia Hindsight [MetroSpokane]
• Flowing Data [website]
• Watching the growth of Wal-Mart across the US [Flowing Data]

Transportation and housing: What do they cost you now?

A tip from a reader led us to the topic of transportation costs and how drastically they've changed from 2000 to 2008.  The reader supplied a link to a nifty calculator from the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) that compares housing and transportation costs from 2000 to 2008 (sorry Spokane's not listed) for major metropolitan areas.  Generally speaking, those residing closer in to the city center spend much less of their annual income on housing and transportation.  Significantly less.  With cheap gas prices, that 20 minute drive provided a nice, new, and affordable home.  But now?

Tacoma you too shall fall...

We kid.  We kid. Spokane's Out There Monthly has raised a shrill call of WTF with the news that Tacoma has made the list of Outside Magazine's list of "Where to live now: The twenty best cities."  Congrats to Tacoma, but c'mon.  As Outside defines their list:

"20 great American towns that have withstood hard times and reinvented themselves as havens of the good life. Why not make a move?"

How competitive are we?

Awhile back KPMG, the big consulting firm, release its 2008 Competitiveness study meant to compare business locations in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific.  Wondering how our region (and city) fared against others in the Pac NW we drilled down in the data a bit.

The table above is the result.  We looked at Portland and Boise to simplify.  Seattle was left out of our comparison because for some of the data above (GDP and R&D expenditures) they were included with Spokane in the analysis.

Fire up the grill - Spokane is a Cookout Capital

We delve once more into the vast collection of useless lists meant to quantify cities across this great nation.  The latest ranking comes from Blue Rhino the leading brand of propane tank exchange.  For the past two years they've ranked the Best Grillin' Cities over 50K in population.  This year Spokane broke the top ten and landed at lucky number 7, beating out Boise(10), Seattle(11), and Portland(12).

Forget Forbes, Men's Journal loves Spokane

Yeah, yeah.  Another list, another pat on the back for good ol' Spokane.  Men's Journal has finally hopped on the bandwagon with their own version of the "Best Places to Live 2008".  The methodology on this one is muddled at best, but for the skeptics their basis for the rankings is simply that

"Physical community still matters, and so does being able to log off and get lost. Truly, you are where you live."

No, Spokane didn't make that list.  Instead we made something a little more telling about our neck-o-the-woods...The Comebacks. 

Local Spokane designers plentiful on Etsy.com

If you find yourself wanting to support the local economy and to keep those dollars circulating within our borders just a little bit longer you might try Etsy.com.  Basically Etsy.com is a clearinghouse for handmade goods people can create and put up for sale. 

We found that Etsy's Shop Local search option a great way to see what people around here were making.  Spokane has over 95 individuals with their own storefronts up on Etsy.com and the variety of products being sold was pretty cool.  We even found our fave Spokaloo T-shirts had items listed for sale as well.  So what are you waiting for?  Support your local designers.

• Etsy.com - Your place to buy and sell all things handmade [Etsy.com]
• Spokaloo Suction Goat [Spokaloo at Etsy.com]
• Year of Plenty [Spokane Locavore blog]

USA Today - Please. Stop. Don't.

Dear USA Today, 

Please, no more favors.

We read with great earnest your article on the housing and economic conditions in the Spokane area.  We've always been big fans of your cute little graphics/charts on your front page, however we think your in depth analysis should really stop there.  We're not quite sure what elite group of writers you have working on this drivel, but the comparison of the most expensive house for sale and a median-priced house was classic.  As one commenter put it, "A 1949 house with bars on the windows for $177,000. Hold me back."

Best Regards,

MetroSpokane

 

• Diversified Economy helps Spokane home prices hold up [USA Today]

Question: Gas prices have you second-guessing yet?

[Photo courtesy of the Bicyclists next to Gas Stations pool on Flickr]

We're curious:  Where are you at with this whole gas price thing?  Low prices for Regular gas are hovering around $3.45 while Premium is upwards of $3.89.  So the question is, have prices hit a point where it's changing your behavior or approach towards driving in any way?  Seeking alternatives?  Driving less? Carpooling?  Transit? Cutting back elsewhere, but driving the same?  If not, what level do prices have to reach to begin to affect your current routine?  Complete the poll and leave your comments below.