What’s With the Spokane Contempt?

“Spokane Doesn’t Suck.”

Did it take a young, Texas migrant who moved here recently to defend his new home by marketing apparel decorated with these words? Derrick Oliver loves Spokane.

Spokane is Washington state’s second largest city—for now—with over 200,000 residents. It could be overtaken by Tacoma any day now. Yet, if you ask folks around here what they think of Spokane, basically ‘it sucks.’ Travel & Leisure magazine didn’t do the city any favors last year by declaring it as the third least attractive big city in America. It was referring to the residents. Why would a publication conduct such a survey, let alone exactly how it ranked the 10 cities on the list?

Spokane just don’t get no respect.

My wife and I felt it was time to visit Spokane. Previously, we had only once come here many years ago; it was driving through at night on our way back to California (where we lived) from the Canadian Rockies. We’ve been living in Washington for over 30 years so far, and not once did we go. I have to be honest that even now Spokane wasn’t a destination so much as a waypoint to Glacier National Park. Still, we decided to spend three nights here.

We were happy we did.

Our motel was in the downtown area. It would turn out to be a great place to stay, for not once did we need the car except on the last day. We walked everywhere we needed to go. Riverfront Park was only blocks away. Nearby there were plenty of restaurants, breweries, cinema and bookstore.

Downtown is a curious animal right now. In some perverted way, I could say it was deserted. Big name stores are moving in, redevelopment is in full swing and all the elements of a commercially vibrant core are in place. Yet, I never got the feeling of big city frustrations, like traffic and crowds. Literally, a traffic jam is five cars in a row. Why are there so many one-way streets? Surely, city planners are preparing for the future, because I could almost always cross the street without a single moving car in sight, whether it was ‘rush hour’ or the weekend. A fleet of sparkling clean, modern buses bunch up at the transit center, ready to take passengers to all corners of the city, but there didn’t seem to be many riders. There are very few people walking the streets. The situation is like a dream for tourists. It was as if downtown was all mine.

Riverfront Park is Spokane’s biggest attraction. Its 100 acres sits prettily by the Spokane River, featuring a clock tower, carousel (currently closed and being renovated), IMAX theater and miles of footpaths, including a portion of the Centennial Trail that continues on for over 20 miles all the way to Idaho.

The most famous part of the park is Spokane Falls. What a spectacular feature to have in the middle of the city. Crossing the foot bridges over the river let us see up close the waters roaringly cascade over several volcanic rock ledges. There is enough energy in these falls that the city at the turn of the century decided it was a source for generating electrical power.

On the north side of the river, in the Kendall Yards neighborhood, we visited a new market that would be the envy of any city. Open for only two weeks, My Fresh Basket has a wonderfully designed, lofty interior housing the various departments over its generous floor space. One of the grocery employees was busy polishing each mini watermelon. The store was obviously a source of pride among employees. There appears to be considerable redevelopment in this part of town that used to lay idle for a time after a history as a nexus for rail yards.

Auntie’s Bookstore is an independent bookseller with a large stock of books, both new and used. In feel, it lies somewhere between Seattle’s venerable, multi-storied and rambling Elliott Bay Bookstore (the original Pioneer Square store) or Powell’s City of Books (in Portland) and a typical, characterless Barnes & Noble. It was fun to roam through the store. I can only hope it won’t be forced to close its doors in the face of the Amazon onslaught. I did my bit by buying a few books.

A local arts-loving developer saw fit to purchase the old Clemmer Theater and convert it to the Bing Crosby Theater, presumably in tribute to Crosby who both grew up in Spokane and performed at the Clemmer.

We finally hopped in our car to visit the engaging Manito Park and its beautiful gardens. Flower lovers and photographers will have much to admire within its 90 acres: conservatory, European Renaissance-style garden, perennial, rose, dahlia, butterfly and Japanese gardens. The park is surrounded by historic homes along lovely tree-lined avenues.

If you’re a sports fan, and especially if you follow college basketball, you’d know that Gonzaga University, in Spokane, consistently does well in men’s NCAA basketball. In fact, last year, it reached the Final Four. Gonzaga, you ask? It’s not in the Big East, not even in the Pac-12, but in the West Coast Conference. The success of the team, a David among Goliaths, could be a metaphor for the town it represents, a little town making its mark, full of potential, and ready to take aim with a slingshot.