Our city can learn from others’ successes

We see what we want to see.

Earlier this week, my wife and I took a trip from our home to Spokane Valley Mall. On the way, we passed a neighbor’s house – one whose yard is overgrown with weeds due to years of neglect. My wife commented on it. However, I didn’t notice it. I’ve gotten so used to it that I don’t see it any more.

This set me to thinking about how each of us becomes comfortable in his/her world and how, if we are to be successful as a city, we need to examine what others are doing, especially in their business districts.

We continued on our trip to the mall. There, I drove on a curved street, one which slows down traffic so we can actually observe the businesses around us. I was able to drive to my destination without going around the block, as I would have had to do on a one-way street. With two lanes of traffic instead of five, it was an easy, comfortable drive. The street was welcoming with its well-manicured, landscaped median. I noticed businesses placed next to the street giving me the feel of “community” and welcoming me to their well-landscaped premises. Parking lots were generous with their space, while having trees and grass that give me cool, comforting surroundings.

Monument signs announced the business locations. Here, Sears, one of the anchor tenants, draws and conducts business without a garish pole sign. Their wall sign announces their presence. No “battle of the signs” fusing multiple pole signs into a cacophony of obfuscation and confusion, making it almost impossible to locate a business.

Recently, I took another trip, this one to Hillyard, to participate in its grand revitalization. Here, you see a one-way street and sidewalk pavers marking wide pedestrian paths, with parking in front of the businesses, and bulb outs to reduce the pedestrian path across the street. Street-fronting small businesses make it a pleasure to stroll the sidewalk and drift into their small shops. I noted that this is an atmosphere completely missing from Spokane Valley, one which we could replicate in Spokane Valley if we choose.

I thought about a previous trip to Connell, Wash., to visit City Administrator Steve Taylor. Within their city center there is parking along the three-lane main street. Trees lined the clean, wide sidewalk giving it an atmosphere of community and welcoming. Steve told me I had just missed the blossoming of the trees; what a sight that must be for those citizens.

I recalled a visit to Vancouver where the downtown has been brought alive with new housing and increased business through investments and streets being converted from one-way to two-way. We walked through a downtown park that had been full of weeds, dominated by transients, one of which told the mayor, “Get out. This is our park.” Now it is a place where children play in a manmade stream and carillon bells are enjoyed by all.

Thus, I thought, we have a choice. We can each continue to live in our own comfort zone, not noticing what others are doing around us in their business districts. On the other hand, we can question, observe, and, like Robert Kennedy, ask the question, “Why not?”