Spokane not a college town, but Gonzaga’s influence spreading

What makes a city a “college town?”

There’s no standard definition, but most places that spring to mind, like Pullman or Eugene, Oregon, have one large state institution that serves as the community’s main employer, and where students make up a sizable slice of the population.

In that sense, Spokane will never be a typical college town. The city is home to 213,000 people and about 11,700 students between Gonzaga, Whitworth and WSU Spokane.

Fairchild Air Force Base remains the county’s top employer, followed by Sacred Heart Medical Center and various school districts and government agencies. Gonzaga is 12th on the Inland Northwest Journal of Business’ list for 2016, with 1,232 full-time employees.

While Pullman (population 32,650, 64 percent of whom are WSU students) empties out in the summer when classes aren’t in session, life in Spokane carries on year-round.

But higher education has grown in Spokane over the past decade, from the growing WSU Spokane campus to an increase in the number of students attending Gonzaga.

In 2007, 6,873 students attended Gonzaga, with 386 faculty members teaching them, according to the school’s common data set. This fall, the number of students had grown to 7,567, with 438 faculty.

As an employer, Gonzaga has surpassed EWU in the past decade, from 961 employees in 2005 to 1,232 in 2015.

In the university district, WSU Spokane enrollment has grown too, to 1,493 students last fall, up from 1,223 in 2012.

That growth has been felt in the Logan neighborhood, where Gonzaga has made an effort to engage more with other residents over the past few years.

That includes a “Bulldog Bucks” system where students receive vouchers that can be spent like cash at about 20 nearby restaurants.

The college has also organized an annual block party in September to introduce students to the neighbors, and cleanups where students volunteer to rake lawns and pick up trash.

“We’ve really made some important headway in our relationship,” said Mary Joan Hahn, Gonzaga’s director of community and public relations.

Those efforts have made neighbors happy with the students, even as Gonzaga’s enrollment has grown.

“I really like living in this neighborhood, the Logan neighborhood, partly because of them,” said Hazel Jackson, a member of the Logan neighborhood council who organizes cleanups and other events.

Karen Byrd, a member of the Logan neighborhood council who has lived on East Sinto Street for 30 years, said having students around has always been a perk.

When classes are out, it’s quieter around her house. That’s nice for a bit, she said, but then she misses the students.

“It’s just such a positive to have a variety of ages in a neighborhood,” Byrd said.

Having a successful basketball team has increased interest in Gonzaga, Byrd said. She has friends in Montana and Seattle who ask about the Zags or travel to Spokane for home games, if they can get tickets. She believes the interest in the team has increased interest in the school.

Byrd and her son are longtime Zags fans. After the Zags clinched their spot in the Final Four by defeating Xavier, she put on ‘We Are the Champions’ to celebrate.

Living in Logan just adds to the excitement. Byrd can hear Gonzaga students celebrating from her house.

“I love hearing them cheer and scream,” she said.