Downtown Spokane
Downtown Spokane
Riverside | |
---|---|
2010)[1] | |
• Total | 3,071 |
• Density | 3,100/sq mi (1,200/km2) |
[2] | |
ZIP Code | 99201, 99202 |
Website | downtownspokane.org |
Downtown Spokane or Riverside is the
Located at a traditional
The neighborhood has a residential population of 3,071 people. The K-12 public education of the neighborhood is served by
Geography
The Riverside neighborhoods is bounded by
Downtown Spokane straddles Sprague Avenue, which divides the city into North and South and on the eastern end of Downtown, Division Street, which splits the city into East and West. Infrastructure such as the railroad tracks and Interstate 90 cause noticeable obstructions to the continuity of the built environment and neighborhood. The presence of the railroad separates parts of the downtown core and creates a long, straight, and often blighted alleyway called "Railroad Alley" between 1st and 2nd Avenue between Wall Street and Adams Street; since the alleyway is wider than typical, many see potential in the space and the community has discussed it as a possible place for pocket parks or even a pedestrian or alternative transportation retail corridor with murals.[4] Railroad Alley/Avenue was where the Northern Pacific tracks used to be located.[5] Interstate 90 is elevated through almost all of downtown, often with parking lots underneath, but occasional blocks are solid cement, forming a barrier at the southern end of Downtown.
Districts and areas
Immediately south of the Interstate, the high density area continues into the Lower South Hill and what is known as the Medical District where Spokane's major health-care facilities are located, including Spokane's two largest hospitals,
To the west is the National Historic District of Browne's Addition, one of Spokane's oldest neighborhoods as well as the most population dense. Although they have an almost identical number of residents, Browns Addition has more than double the population density of Riverside with more than 8,000 residents per square mile.[8] It is noted for its array of old mansions built by Spokane's early elite in the Queen Anne and early American Craftsman styles.
Across the river from Gonzaga and directly east of downtown is the University District, which has branch campuses of Eastern Washington University and Washington State University. Division Street separates Downtown from the University District. Also included in the University District is the Gonzaga University campus, located on the north bank of the river.
Aside from location, Spokane's city center has many areas that can be distinguished by belonging to one or more districts with a theme, where there is a cluster of similar buildings or businesses, some more defined than others. Examples of these areas and districts include the downtown core, the Davenport District, Riverfront Park, and the "Cork District", and the areas surrounding the Spokane Convention Center and Spokane Arena, which are feature a heavy presence of public venues for convention and sport activities that are maintained by the Spokane Public Facilities District.
Riverfront Park
Riverfront Park is a 100 acres (0.40 km2) park just north of Downtown Spokane. Also located in Riverside, the park is the site of some of Spokane's largest events.[9] The park has views of the Spokane Falls, and holds a number of civic attractions, including a Skyride that is a rebuilt gondola that carries visitors across the falls from high above the river gorge, a 5-story IMAX theater, and a small amusement park (which is converted into an ice-skating rink during the winter months) with numerous rides and concessions.[9] The park is host to a full schedule of family entertainment and events such as the Bloomsday Post-Race Celebration, Hoopfest, Spokane Music Festival, Pig-Out in the Park, Restaurant Fair, Pow Wow, First Night Spokane, plus many outdoor concerts and other community activities. The Park also includes a hand-carved carousel created in 1909 by Charles I. D. Looff as a wedding present for his daughter.[10] The carousel still operates in Riverfront Park, where riders can participate in an old-time ring toss. The carousel continues to offer a free ride to the rider who grabs the brass ring. Riverfront Park extends to the north bank of the river where the North Bank park features an ice age floods themed playground, Hoopfest basketball courts, the Skate and Wheels Park, and a climbing boulder as well as the Howard Street Promenade which showcases ample views of the Spokane falls and other water features (some man-made) of the Spokane River.[11]
Downtown Core
The Downtown Core is the heart of Spokane and is generally considered to be the several block vicinity surrounding Spokane City Hall, River Park Square, the STA Plaza, and the Davenport Hotel. A majority of Spokane's high-rise buildings are located in this core area. Spokane's
Davenport District
Located south and west of the Downtown Core, the Davenport District hosts many concerts, plays, galleries, and other shows. This area is home to hotels, live entertainment venues, and art galleries. These events are hosted in a variety of venues including the Fox Theater, The Bing Crosby Theater, and the Knitting Factory.
This arts and entertainment district has a number of large historic buildings. Many of these buildings have been renovated, and capture Spokane's "Age of Elegance" at the turn of the 20th century. More recently, this area has become a hub for breweries. There are multiple tasting rooms between Lincoln and Cedar Street along First and Second Avenue, making it a popular destination for brewery tours.
Convention Center District
The Convention Center District is situated to the east of the Downtown Core and is anchored by the Spokane Convention Center and First Interstate Center for the Arts. Its location is directly adjacent to Riverfront Park; an advantage that has been embraced through careful planning and architectural design of buildings in the district which allows the buildings to interface with the park, the river, and recreational trails (including the Centennial Trail) that run along it. The district was born out of Expo '74, which developed the original structure that ultimately became the First Interstate Center for the Arts and the Spokane Convention Center. The convention center has been expanded several times since its original construction, stretching the bounds of the district farther east, where it ties into the University District.
Much of the other development around the Convention Center District stems from the Spokane Convention Center and the First Interstate Center for the Arts, including restaurants, retail, and hotels. Spokane's largest and tallest hotels, including the DoubleTree, Davenport Grand, and Red Lion Hotel at the Park are located in or immediately adjacent to the convention center district. The business types located around the Convention Center District provide a common overlap with businesses supporting the adjacent University District as well, helping to alleviate some of the "urban dead zones" that are all too commonly created when the convention centers - particularly large ones in major cities much larger than Spokane - are not in use.
North Bank
The North Bank area is located to the north of the Spokane River and Riverfront Park. It is home to a variety of uses including civic, residential, shopping, dining, and lodging. Destinations include the
Historic districts
Downtown Spokane is home to three historic districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[15]
- East Downtown Historic District
- Riverside Avenue Historic District
- West Downtown Historic Transportation Corridor
Kendall Yards
Located along the southern edge of the West Central neighborhood just across the Spokane River from Downtown Spokane is Kendall Yards, a
The neighborhood is one of the largest urban infill development projects in the city's history and has reclaimed a brownfield formerly occupied by rail yards. The site of Kendall Yards used to be the main entry point of the railroad into Downtown Spokane before alterations to the downtown area in preparations for Expo '74 relocated the railroads south of the Spokane River. The 78-acre (0.32 km2) site sat vacant from that point on for another three decades until 2005, when a brownfield cleanup took place in preparations for the groundbreaking of the development.[16] The cleanup, which won a US EPA award, took approximately one year and removed over 223,000 tons of contaminated soil from the site.[17]
The initial proposal for Kendall Yards called for 2,600 residences and 1 million square feet of commercial space, worth up to $1 billion. The development broke ground in 2007, however, the impending Great Recession bankrupted the project's developer before any buildings were constructed. The now cleaned-up site continued to sit vacant for another few years until a Spokane-based developer, Greenstone Corp., purchased the site in 2009 and began construction in 2010.[18] In response to the economic conditions at the time, the original plans for the development were scaled back; the proposed density, residential unit count, and commercial square footage were all reduced to approximately one-half of the original scope. However, the scaled-back plans did have its advantages; the development was more likely to be successful, the more land would be available for open green space, and the reduced density would be more compatible with the existing fabric of the adjacent West Central neighborhood to the north. Construction of the development is phased and is expected to be ongoing through the mid-2020s.
Designed on
History
The
On August 4, 1889, a fire, now known as
The transition from rail travel to the personal automobile was complete in 1936 when Spokane's streetcar service was ended and had a negative impact on the vitality of the downtown core as a destination.
Following more decades of lackluster growth and the continuing effects of post World War II
Demographics
As of 2017, the population of Riverside was 3,071 in 1,938 households, 96% of which are rented, compared with 45.3% for the city. 5.7% of Riverside residents are 19 years or under, compared to 21.9% citywide. 19% are age 65 or above, compared to 14.5% citywide. 14.1% of people in Riverside identify as people of color, compared to 15.1% citywide. The median household income in Riverside is $13,433 compared to $44,768 for the whole city.[2]
92.3% of residents were born in the United States. Of foreign born residents, 25.7% came from
Education
Riverside is served by Spokane Public Schools but has no schools physically located within the neighborhood. Roosevelt Elementary in the Cliff/Cannon neighborhood serves the student population south of the Spokane River while Garfield Elementary in Emerson/Garfield serves neighborhood children living north of the river.[35] The middle and high school boundaries are demarcated along the same boundary with children south of the Spokane River and attending Roosevelt Elementary graduating to Sacajawea Middle School in the Comstock neighborhood and then feeding into Lewis and Clark High School, which is located on 4th Avenue, just beyond the neighborhood limits in Cliff/Cannon.[36] The students north of the Spokane River and attending Garfield Elementary go on to attend Yasuhara Middle School located to the northeast in the Logan neighborhood and return to Emerson/Garfield to attend North Central High School.[35][36]
Architecture
Downtown Spokane contains a wide range of architectural styles that reflects the tastes of the times in the built environment from the 1890s to today. Most of Spokane's notable buildings and landmarks in the Riverside neighborhood and the downtown commercial district were rebuilt after the
In contemporary times, one of the city's foremost and influential architects has been Warren C. Heylman, who helped give the city a great breadth of mid-century architecture.
Other well-represented architectural styles downtown include
Buildings
Fifty percent of Spokane's downtown is designated as historic and the downtown area contains three National Register Historic Districts.[5] The tallest building in the city is the Bank of America Financial Center at 288 feet (88 m), completed 43 years ago in 1981.[37] The nearby Wells Fargo Center is the second tallest at 243 feet (74 m), and opened a year later. Other significant public facilities in downtown include the Spokane Convention Center, the First Interstate Center for the Arts, and the Spokane Arena.
Law and government
The city center is the site of several governmental facilities. At the city level, the city government offices, Spokane City Hall, is located just west of Riverfront Park at 808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. while the
The
Media
The downtown and its periphery is the location for several local media outlets. For print media, Spokane's only major daily, The Spokesman-Review has its offices in the Review Building at 999 W. Riverside Ave. For broadcast media, KHQ-TV, the city NBC-network affiliate station has its studios in the downtown core as well. Both The Spokesman-Review and KHQ are properties of the Cowles Company. Spokane's ABC affiliate, KXLY-TV has its studios north of the Spokane River on Boone Ave.
Transportation
Mass transportation throughout the Spokane area is provided by the
Downtown Spokane's city streets use a
Bridges
There are five automobile Spokane River crossings and one named pedestrian bridge in the Riverside neighborhood:
- Division Street Bridge
- Washington Street Bridge/Stevens Street Bridge
- Howard Street Middle Channel Bridge (pedestrian bridge)
- Post Street Bridge
- Monroe Street Bridge
- Maple Street Bridge
Cityscape
References
- ^ "2010 Census Interactive Population Search". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
- ^ a b c "Riverside Neighborhood Snapshot" (PDF). spokanecity.org. City of Spokane. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
- ^ "City of Spokane Downtown Core Map" (PDF). City of Spokane. Retrieved May 1, 2022.
- ^ Walters, Daniel (May 16, 2019). "Could improving Spokane's alleyways lead to a prettier downtown - and maybe even a safer one?". INLANDER. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
- ^ a b c d "Spokane History". City-County of Spokane Historic Preservation Office. Retrieved December 9, 2021.
- ^ McLean, Mike (February 13, 2014). "WSU Spokane starts work on master-plan update". Spokane Journal of Business. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
- ^ Stucke, John (March 17, 2013). "Providence, CHS have split Spokane's health care system". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved October 12, 2014.
- ^ "Population of Riverside, Spokane, Washington (Neighborhood)". Statistical Atlas. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
- ^ a b "About the Park". Riverfront Park. Archived from the original on 2009-08-18. Retrieved 2009-01-25.
- ^ "Natatorium Carousel/ Looff Carousel". City-County of Spokane Historic Preservation Office. Archived from the original on June 10, 2008. Retrieved 2009-01-25.
- ^ Trau, Morgan (May 21, 2021). "Riverfront Park's North Bank, part of $75M downtown Spokane revitalization project, has grand opening Friday". KREM. Retrieved July 4, 2021.
- ^ "Skywalk Spokane". Spokane Chronicle. (advertisement). December 3, 1987. p. A9.
- ^ "Spotlight on one of the largest Skywalk systems in the US". ByCityLight.com. Retrieved November 2, 2014.
- ISBN 978-1-55650-844-8.
- ^ "Spokane City and County Historic Districts and Properties". historicspokane.org. City - County of Spokane Historic Preservation Office. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
- ^ Breemer, Chris (August 3, 2006). "Spokane does brownfields on a grand scale". Seattle Daily Journal. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
- ^ Prager, Mike (March 29, 2006). "Railroad cleanup gets EPA award". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
- ^ Caldwell, Bert (April 22, 2010). "Work begins on Kendall Yards housing". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
- ISBN 0-8061-3761-4.
- ^ Idaho Yesterdays. 15 (1). Boise, Idaho: Idaho State Historical Society: 19.
- ^ Wilma, David (January 27, 2003). "J. J. Downing and S. R. Scranton file claims and build a sawmill at Spokane Falls in May 1871". Essay 5132. HistoryLink. Retrieved June 1, 2021.
- ^ a b c Arksey, Laura (March 20, 2006). "Great Spokane Fire destroys downtown Spokane Falls on August 4, 1889". Essay 7696. HistoryLink. Retrieved June 1, 2021.
- ISBN 0-938314-53-X.
- ISBN 0-938314-53-X.
- ISBN 978-0-87422-277-7.
- ^ a b c d Kershner, Jim (June 25, 2017). "A brief history of Spokane's downtown, through the decades:". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved December 9, 2021.
- ISBN 978-0-87422-277-7.
- ISBN 978-0-87422-277-7.
- ISBN 978-0-87422-277-7.
- ^ Wilma, David (January 27, 2003). "Expo 74 Spokane World's Fair opens on May 4, 1974". Essay 5133. HistoryLink. Retrieved June 1, 2021.
- ^ Kershner, Jim (March 30, 2007). "Spokane Neighborhoods: Old Chinatown -- Trent Alley -- Thumbnail History". Essay 8120. HistoryLink. Retrieved October 4, 2014.
- ^ Kershner, Jim (January 8, 2007). "Spokane's Japanese Community". Essay 8048. HistoryLink. Retrieved September 13, 2014.
- ^ "Hotel History". The Davenport Hotel and Tower. Archived from the original on 2008-12-10. Retrieved 2009-01-25.
- ^ Thomas, Virginia (November 4, 2021). "An avenue to improvement along Third". Spokane Journal of Business. Retrieved June 13, 2021.
- ^ a b "Elementary School Boundary Map" (PDF). spokaneschools.org. Spokane Public Schools. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
- ^ a b "High School Boundary Map" (PDF). spokaneschools.org. Spokane Public Schools. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
- ^ a b c "Spokane". Emporis. Archived from the original on October 6, 2013. Retrieved November 3, 2014.
- ^ Schmeltzer, Mike (September 24, 2017). "Spokane a city of Modernist architectural gems". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
- ^ Deshais, Nicholas (July 10, 2016). "Warren Heylman's architectural vision 'all over' Spokane". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
- ^ Tinsley, Jesse (July 2, 2018). "Then and Now: Spokane's Tallest Buildings". The Spokesman-Review. Cowles Company. Retrieved June 13, 2021.
- ^ "Frequently Asked Questions". Spokane Transit. Archived from the original on December 12, 2014. Retrieved December 7, 2014.
- ^ "Amtrak Stations – Spokane, WA (SPK)". National Railroad Passenger Corporation. Retrieved December 7, 2014.
- ^ "Living in Riverside Spokane". Walk Score. Retrieved July 4, 2021.
- ^ "Spokane Streets: The History of the 10-Year Street Bond Program". City of Spokane. Retrieved September 13, 2022.
- ^ "MapSpokane". City of Spokane. Retrieved October 11, 2014.
- ^ Official State Highway Map (PDF) (Map) (2008–2009 ed.). 1:842,000. Official State Highway Maps. Cartography by United States Geological Survey. Washington State Department of Transportation. 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 11, 2011. Retrieved December 7, 2014.