The 2010s brought groundbreaking change.
Voters in Washington approved same-sex marriage and recreational marijuana legalization. The Supreme Court later brought same-sex marriage to the rest of the country. Marijuana legalization continues its spread state-by-state.
The Teens brought Spokane a revitalized skyline with the new Gateway Bridge, a revamped U.S. Pavilion that colors the sky and the Davenport Grand, now the largest hotel in town.
This decade brought new schools to Spokane, and greatly expanded medical education.
And there's much more.
A national championship for a certain athletic team? Completion of major transit projects? Shopping for groceries in augmented reality? We asked local experts what to expect in the coming decade.
For the Gonzaga women’s basketball program this past decade, the ride never stopped.
Sold-out shows from some of the biggest national artists, the debut of a local, annual exhibition of local art and new buildings, people and shows in the theater scene. They were all part of the busy 2010s in arts and culture in the Inland Northwest.
When 2010 began, the nation was still clawing its way out of major economic decline, and downtown Spokane was a different place. Now, as the decade closes, downtown is in the midst of a yearslong growth spurt and everything’s changed.
During the past decade, the Spokane area has seen gains in employment, wages, population and housing as the U.S. economy grew for 121 continuous months beginning in June 2009.
In Spokane, schools were built and new standards enacted even as educators were challenged by violence and the vaping epidemic and curriculum changes – ensuring another interesting decade ahead.
Washington voters – not their elected officials – made many of the biggest changes to the state in the second decade of the 21st Century.
Spokane’s dining scene – once mostly meat and potatoes, burgers and fries, and national chains – is coming into its own.
Health care has undergone some dramatic changes in the Spokane region, from new provider groups entering the market to the expansion of medical education east of the Cascades. The landscape of health care in the community looks significantly different than it did a decade ago.
The decade saw the visit of presidential hopefuls, the death of an elder statesman and voters’ creation of a completely new industry. Meanwhile, local governments have been grappling with their responsibility to shelter the homeless and how to respond to changing state formulas on funding for basic education. The 2010s were defined by landmark individual accomplishments by local lawmakers, as well as continuing challenges that future lawmakers will still be tackling in the next decade.
