Spokane is a city of about 200,000 in far eastern Washington State, about 270 miles east of Seattle and near the Idaho border. The city first boomed with the completion of the Northern Pacific Railroad in the 1880's.
Spokane is the second largest metro area in Washington State after greater Seattle, and the fourth largest metro in Pacific Northwest, after Seattle, Portland, and Vancouver.
These photos were taken between from 6:45-8:00am on a Sunday. It was likewise very, very quiet.
Spokane boosters will probably hate this thread. The city comes off looking grittier and more deserted than is the case, but this is just how the city presented itself to me this early morning.
this big beautiful stepped building caught my attention, looks like either an old railroad or telephone office building to me.
Spokane looks a deal heavier street level than I would have imagined - like a "lost" sun drenched major great plains/western midwest heavy duty rail town, what with those "full size" pre war office buildings. Also, man they could have done a lot more damage with I-90...that's kind of a minimal approach there, I guess the metro population being what it was at the time, a bunch of stupid spurs wasnt deemed important. Nice city there with some good bones city wide and some respectable neighborhood commercial districts, I'm kind of geeking out over this one.
Last edited by Centropolis; Oct 8, 2010 at 3:46 PM.
Thanks for the tour. I drove through there last August and while I wanted to stop and have a boo I was pressed for time. This takes a bit of the sting off.
The five lane one way streets are reminiscent of Hamilton, Ontario.
__________________ RECENT PHOTOS: TORONTO • SAN FRANCISCO • ROCHESTER, NY • HAMILTON • GODERICH, ON • WHEATLEY, ON • COBOURG, ON • LAS VEGAS • LOS ANGELES
In Washington, Spokane is like the anti-Bellevue. It's old and gritty. There are no new shiny skyscrapers. That being said, it has an amazing stock of older buildings and some great bones. That stepped building is the Paulson Building - my childhood dentist was in that building (it's a collection of medical/professional offices) and I remember hating the dentist visit but loving that building. The lobby is amazing. Despite the hard time those west of the Cascades like to give Spokane, it's a pretty cool town.
Is it spo-KAYNE or spo-CAN? (I've heard it both ways...)
Little bit of grit never hurts. Lookin' good!
The latter.
I used to visit my grandparents in Spokane in the '70's. They lived up the hill south of downtown in what I remember to be a beautiful neighborhood. We used to take the bus downtown and I remember it as a busy place. In 1974 Spokane hosted an Expo and the town was crazy active and alive.
This thread contains some excellent photos, but it does not represent the Spokane that I recall, to be fair.
Great Photos of Spokane! Been at least 5 years since I was there last for a visit. The only things that ever seem to change in Spokane are the odd new paved road or the local malls get a makeover with the help your neighbours to the north. With a strong Canadian dollar that nears par and expected to surpass the American greenback soon, Spokane can expect to see more visits from Canadians looking for deals. This resurgence of Canadian visitors should help to prop up the local economy in the near future.
Location: Greenville, SC - "Birthplace of the light switch rave"
Posts: 13,801
I think grit makes a city look functional and lived-in, and not like some tourist playland. Spokane looks appealing to me... I like cities that are just large enough to look and feel big.
__________________ “It was miraculous. It was almost no trick at all, he saw, to turn vice into virtue and slander into truth, impotence into abstinence, arrogance into humility, plunder into philanthropy, thievery into honor, blasphemy into wisdom, brutality into patriotism, and sadism into justice. Anybody could do it; it required no brains at all. It merely required no character.” -- Joseph Heller, Catch-22
Great thread. It looks like you spent most of your time on the east part of downtown (it shows hah). Did you go over to the river at all? It certainly gives a different look to downtown.
__________________
What we've got here is failure to communicate
Nice pictures. It does look grittier than I think I've seen before. A friend of mine spent some time there for work and stayed at a nice hotel and said that the city was pretty nice.
Prev
Linear Mode
