Spokane is a vibrant metropolitan center serving as the cultural, economic, educational and social hub of the Intermountain Northwest. Between 2013 and 2020 over $300 million will be invested in public infrastructure and facilities in downtown Spokane.
Downtown Spokane offers an accessible city experience that combines civility, livability and simplicity. With over 500 new residential units planned for 2017 including a $150 million dollar investment in the adjacent mixed-use neighborhood, Kendall Yards, downtown offers a robust urban living market poised for future growth. Known for its rich shopping experience, its inspired restaurateurs, award winning microbreweries and winemakers, downtown is home to four James Beard chef-nominated restaurants and in 2015, Spokane was listed as one of the Six Great Small Cities for Food Lovers by the Wall Street Journal.
Spokane is a community of get-it-done dreamers with its abundance of rich, historic architecture; its recent opening of two new medical schools; and its launching of inventive and ambitious events that bring in over 500,000 visitors to downtown Spokane on an annual basis. In 2016, the Spokane economy brought in over $995 million in visitor spending. Punctuated by a powerful urban river gorge, second in size only to Niagara Falls, downtown Spokane has direct access to year-round recreational opportunities including the 100-acre destination park, Riverfront Park; the 37-mile Centennial Trail; and the Spokane River for kayaking, fly-fishing rafting and paddle boarding. In 2014, Spokane was ranked by Outside Magazine of the country’s Best Towns.
Access to Spokane’s restaurants, shopping and recreational activities is easy. Spokane offers a hassle-free antidote to the friction of modern living with an overall average commute time of less than 20 minutes, and with direct access to over 50 miles of urban bike lanes and 38 public transit routes. A newly planned six-mile bus rapid transit route planned through the center of downtown will continue to interconnect the region’s livability, healthcare, commerce and education.
2021 Economic Report Development Map