Moran Prairie offers hot eateries and a cool pool

As the sun rises over Browne’s Mountain, it reveals everything Moran Prairie residents love about their neighborhood.

Enticing parks, great schools, safe neighborhood and restaurants for almost every taste … the southeast corner of Spokane has it all.

And it holds them in the best location: 8 miles to downtown Spokane and even closer to some of the best hiking and biking trails in Spokane County.

Want to cool off on a hot summer day? The county-owned Southside Aquatic Center is among the best in the area. At 65th and Regal, canines and their owners enjoy one of the top dog parks in the county.

From Glenrose to Hangman Valley to the bluffs off High Drive, trails beckon and hundreds answer, every day and all day long.

That much has never changed despite a whirlwind of change in the Southgate neighborhood. Five generations ago, Mullan Road, and later the railroad, opened the area for pioneers and fruit orchards that spanned the Moran and Glenrose prairies.

Barely 20 years ago, the Spokane city limits ended at 44th and Regal. Cows grazed at one corner and the nearest stoplight was in Lincoln Heights. The dining choices were upscale Luna and McDonald’s, with almost nothing in between.

Now there are 21 restaurants within half a mile of 44th and Regal. Three are inside the strip mall that’s anchored by a Target store – a project that was either long overdue or totally unnecessary, depending on your point of view.

Yes, the Southgate neighborhood is growing up. East of the strip mall, high-density apartment complexes straddle the Old Palouse Highway. Traffic is becoming high-density as well, which poses a question: What next for the prairie?

Ted Teske, chairman of the Southgate Neighborhood Council, points out that Moran Prairie is the only district center in Spokane that isn’t already built out.

“It’s one place where you have the potential to realize what that core can be,” said Teske, who hopes the city shares his group’s vision for a pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use neighborhood like Kendall Yards.

“We’re doing what we do to encourage development to happen without vehicles, and there are some good people in the city who want to work on that,” Teske said.

The 44th Avenue Trail project is a step in that direction. It already stretches from Ben Burr Park to Freya; soon, apartment dwellers will have another enticement to walk to nearby businesses.