MetroSpokane

Big Brother is watching...

If you're using at least Internet Explorer 5.0 take a visit over to camerawebpage.com.  For whatever reason, Toshiba has mounted video cameras on a building near downtown Spokane.  All are accessible via the comfort of you're home/office/etc. and provide for some serious time killing...on your lunch hour of course.  The screen-grab above was taken from one of the cams.

Lilac Bikes...Time to bring 'em back...

Nearly ten years ago a dramatic social experiment was taking place in downtown Spokane and it centered around the concept of 'free bikes'.  One of the owners of Bikeworks located at Lincoln and 2nd Ave fixed up 50 bikes, painted them purple, and left them to fend for themselves on the mean streets of Spokane.  And mean they were.  Most ended up in the river, were stolen, or just plain beat down in the alleys.

Spokane Streets...At Night

[Photo contributed by Ben Delaney via the MetroSpokane pool]

People use Spokane's urban spaces in a variety of ways.  Given that our urban core is only now seeing an increase in population, downtown is pretty much abandoned after the restaurants have closed and the last movie shown.  What some might see as desolate, others see as wide-open territory for exploration.  The character of these places is drastically different at night.  No traffic.  Few people.

The importance of 3rd places in Spokane

Ray Oldenburg coined the term "The Third Place."  The first place is one's home; the second place is one's office;  Third places are those other public locations where informal gatherings and meetings occur.  Years ago relaxing and leisure took place in such public locations, and Spokane, like most cities, has a long history of well known ones.

Spokane River: The Ultimate Urban Amenity

Photo courtesy Tsack on Flickr

What do these news stories have in common?

• Phosphate ban urged In Spokane County - Seattle PI
• West Plains aquifer falling - SR
• Study of aquifer too late - SR
• Avoiding a lake mistake - SR
• City may raise water rates in bid to boost conservation - SR
• Avista, Activists argue over Spokane Falls - KXLY

Hmmm...this river of ours is sure taking a beating.  But let's keep it all in perspective - what's important is the Upper Falls Condominiums maintaining a year-round, full-scale water feature...

From the City of Spokane Water Department Website:  "Daily water usage varies from 30 million gallons a day in the winter to a peak of 180 million gallons a day in the summer."

2007 Top 5 Trends & Predictions

The Inland Northwest witnessed a frenzy of construction and development activity in 2006 (and we hope the fun isn't over yet).  While most of the proposed projects have yet to break ground, clearly our little neck of the woods has been discovered.  We have therefore given some thought to the Top 5 Trends and Predictions that will play out in our region over the next twelve months.  At first read, it's a tall order, but we think a good number of these have a pretty good chance at happening.  We'll get back to you in 12 months..

Advertecture comes to Spokane

The excitement continues down at the construction site on 1st and Post.  We now know what the true purpose of the massive west-facing blank wall on the Davenport Tower - Billboard Ad Space.

An exciting new trend for downtown Spokane the breathtaking 4-story banner gracing the side of the soon-to-be-complete Tower has a tag-line that reads:  "The adventure begins January 2007."  We should look to New York for inspiration in the exciting new field of "Architizing"-consider the Flat Iron Building ad.

Who says Christmas comes but once a year?

Spokane loses another icon: Downtowner Motel

Read it and weep, friends.  Spokane's dwindling inventory of classic 1960s signage just lost another foot soldier.  In an apparent attempt at "classing-up the joint" (emphasis ours), the owners of the Downtowner Motel have replaced their iconic sign with this plastic, back-lit POS.  You'll understand the damage that's been done the next time you happen by 2nd and Washington.  That sign was the only thing keeping the building somewhat respectable.

Dammit!  We're taking this harder than losing the Rookery.  They certainly won't be getting any of our business (not that they ever did).  WHY GOD?  WHY?

City Comforts

You might say it's the little things that make life interesting.  The same holds true for making cities interesting and easy places to live.  Consider the dog dish.  We took this picture last summer in DC outside a bar.  The place was nothing special; just another pub embedded in an neighborhood business district.

Public Art Scavenger Hunt...

View the Slideshow

If you ever find yourself admiring a piece of public art downtown, there's a good chance it's a piece done by local artists Harold Balazs or Ken Spiering.  These guys' works grace buildings, Riverfront Park, they float, spout water, are set in concrete, carved into brick, or colorful baked-enamel.  But there's also a huge amount of other work by lesser known artists placed here and there around the core.  It's worth your time to take a closer look at the public & private art that is part of the city's permanent collection.  Once you start looking you'll see it's everywhere.  We have to think that downtown is better off because of it.