MetroSpokane

WWJB?

There was a time in Spokane's history when the places of worship were among the most grand and well-crafted structures in all of the city.  St. John's Cathedral (pdf) on the South HIll, the Westminister Church on the lower South Hill, or Grace Baptist in West Central.   The congregations raised and spent monies to create a building that in itself was an altar.  Take some time to explore the beauty of the stained glass in St. John's Cathedral on a sunny summer afternoon and you'll see what we mean.  The heavy, dense building materials, symbolic of the rock in their lives that was their faith, have allowed these structures to endure well over a century in this city.

With this in mind we present the latest blemish in Spokane - Life Center Foursquare Church. The overall piece of land was around 130 acres and is nestled between Government Way and the Spokane River.  The views of downtown Spokane are some of the best you can find, but unfortunately, Metrospokane finds little to praise about the structure itself.  Basically it is big, bland, and will hold lots of people.  The church itself is 'intimately' sited on 30 acres of land and it stands in place of a former Central Pre-mix gravel and concrete operation.  Although heavy industrial, the Pre-mix plant might have given this mega-church a run for its money in the aesthetic's department.

Approaching the church from Government Way, it is difficult to discern exactly what the structure is.  Perhaps that was intentional; to confuse drivers-by of what it is that occupies their entire field of view.  It appears as if the design concept was to borrow elements from those present in most turn of the century barns.  We're not certain why this is, but it may be that there was some concern over people  confusing it with the Veteran's Arena.  As it is, this appears to be the biggest structure within sight of downtown. And what a sight it is.  One thing is for certain - It is white and it is huge.  Unfortunately it really doesn't possess any elements to anchor itself to the site or to frame the road that runs along its eastern property line (think of the new convention center).  Instead, it sits adrift in a boiling sea of asphalt on a 30 acre plot of land almost in defiance of all the other Spokane Churches that have come before it.  Whatever happened to churches being "embedded in their neighborhoods"?  Are those the bells of St. Aloysius?

Chalk this up to another missed opportunity. 

A Streetcar Named Economic Development

Transit critics are up-in-arms over an article [here] published last month in the Spokesman Review.  The article focuses on a study underway regarding the feasibility of bringing the streetcars back to the urban core of Spokane.  It appears the initial phase would be a 2-mile loop, but the exact route is as of yet undetermined.  Sponsors of the study include the Spokane Transit Authority, Dowtown Spokane Partnership, and the Spokane Regional Transportation Council. 

This could have huge implications for some of the older first-ring suburbs [West Central, West Hills, East Central, South Perry] surrounding the central business district of Spokane.  If implemented, the streetcars would add a unique attribute to these struggling neighborhoods and business districts.  One letter writer in a follow-up laments that rail systems do, "little to promote economic development."  It's not clear where he's found this epiphany, but clearly streetcars can have profound economic impacts.  In Portland, a new streetcar line in 2001 has resulted in a development-to-transit-ratio of 18:1.  In other words, for every $1 spent on the streetcar, it resulted in $18 of development in the immediate area. This may be an extreme example, but still needs to be considered.   Memphis, Tennessee implemented a similar streetcar in 1993 and now has over 7 miles of line in operation [link to MATA].  The city estimates to-date development activities at over $2 billion and emphasizes the amount of commercial development ocurring along the streetcar tracks. 

This is one type of economic development strategy that Spokane needs to focus on implementing.  The reasons?  Simply put, it provides these neighborhoods a niche, and in marketing talk, that means not competing head-to-head with the glut of new, low-density, auto-centric, big-lot neighborhoods and commercial developments at which, we in Spokane seem to excel.  It also gives first-ring neighborhoods a sense of permanence and enhancement; as if the city and we citizens care about these places and are willing to pony up to make this place better by investing in and improving what we have.  Sure it's not the complete solution to our urban woes or traffic congestion...but rather a part of a strategic mix of solutions.

Links: 

• Portland Streetcar
• Kenosha Streetcar
• Memphis Trolleys
• Tacoma
• Even Issaquah?
• Index to Existing Systems