Monthly Archives: June 2012

Area 58 Closing

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We’re saddened to share the news that Area 58 [map], one of Spokane’s most colorful secondhand and vintage stores, is closing.

As part of their pre-closure inventory liquidation, everything is 50% off. Their impressive selection of secondhand books is priced at $1 per hardback and 50¢ per paperback.

Their last day of operation is this Saturday, June 30.

In a brief conversation with the owner, the reason for the closure comes down to flatlining (as opposed to falling) profits over the past three years. She said that more competing secondhand shops have opened on account of the poor economy, and the improvements in parking and pedestrian traffic that N. Monroe Revitalization might have brought are still some years off.

But the case of Area 58 highlights how vital it is to our neighborhood economy that the revitalization be carried out in an intelligent, holistic way — not one that just benefits vehicles. Faster-flowing traffic would not have helped Area 58 or any of the dozen other N. Monroe business that have closed in the past year. More pleasant and convenient pedestrian access would have.

It also highlights how important it is that N. Monroe business owners band together and engage in cross-promotional activities like sales and special events. Organizations like the North Monroe Business Association are eager to get things like that off the ground, but the level of participation seems to suggest that N. Monroe business owners would rather close their doors than collaborate.

Several Headlines of Note

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The city just issued several press releases that are of particular interest to Emerson-Garfield residents and businesses:

Spokane City Council Unanimously Approves Coal Train Resolution

This was a significant topic of discussion when councilman Steve Salvatori spoke at the June 13 EGNC meeting. Spokane could see up to 50 additional open-topped coal trains per day, creating dust, exhaust, noise, and halting traffic.

Traffic Calming Projects to Be Built Using Red Light Camera Dollars

Some of this money is funding new sidewalks on Post Street in Emerson-Garfield. The use of Photo Red money exclusively for traffic-calming measures was also a topic of discussion at the June 13 EGNC meeting; councilman Salvatori had proposed an exception to this rule in order to establish a COPS Shop in northern Spokane.

Cantwell, Murray, McMorris Rodgers Announce $10 million USDOT Grant for North Spokane Corridor

The North Spokane Corridor (or: WSDOT site) will be well east of Division but could potentially lead to less traffic on N. Monroe. Only after completion will we truly be able to gauge how it affects drivers’ habits and freight routes — but the possibility of fewer vehicles ought to have an impact on North Monroe Revitalization.

Corbin Park Swing Set Proposal

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We received the following e-mail from Garrett Jones at the City of Spokane Parks & Recreation department:

The City of Spokane Parks and Recreation Department Operations Division is looking at updating a number of swing sets in the park system.

One of our highest priorities is addressing the swing structure at Corbin Park. Our proposal is to replace the existing swings next to the tennis courts and replace them with a two bay (four swings total) arch swing structure. We would like to relocate the new swings closer to the existing play structure to accommodate families and maintenance needs. The project would include the new swing structure, concrete containment curb and resilient surfacing (engineered wood fiber). There would be at least one toddler swing.

I have attached a general concept of the area we would possibly locate the swings [image below]. I have outlined two possible locations. The preferred location will be selected that will have the least amount of impact of existing conditions. I have also included a picture of type of structure we are proposing. This picture was taken at High Bridge Park where we recently installed a new playground.

The Park Operations staff is hoping to to proceed with this project provided that there are no concerns raised by our neighborhood. New and updated swing sets are always welcome, but there might be an issue we’ve overlooked.

If you have questions or concerns about this proposal, you can contact Garrett directly at gjones@spokanecity.org or simply leave a comment below. We’ll compile all feedback, if any, and present it to him.

The timeframe seems to be quite short on this, so the issue might not be able to wait until our August potluck/council meeting. We’ll post more if that changes.

Upcoming Meetings Reminder

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Just a brief reminder about upcoming meetings:

  • The North Monroe Business Association meets at 6pm on Wednesday, June 27 at Petunia’s Marketplace. We’ll detail what’s on the agenda closer to the date, although it will almost certainly include planning for the proposed July “classic cars” event.

  • There is no July meeting for the Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council. The next time the EGNC will meet is at the neighborhood potluck on Wednesday, August 8 at 6pm. More info on the potluck will be posted in July.

  • The Neighborhood Planning stakeholders will meet on Wednesday, July 11 at 6pm at Corbin Senior Center. Although we’ll post more about the agenda as that meeting approaches, it will be dominated by prep work for the issues/solutions workshop in October. Please bring ideas and be ready to brainstorm.

If the difference between all these groups isn’t clear, don’t fret! We’ll have a post describing where they diverge and where they overlap in the near future.

Little Free Libraries

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Have you seen this story about Little Free Libraries on KREM (video below)?


The basic idea behind it is this: A small, sheltered bookshelf — a bit like an oversized birdhouse — next to the sidewalk outside your home functions as a mini lending library. It’s filled with a tiny portion of the books you might otherwise take to, say, Booktraders on Garland. Passersby are free to borrow the books inside and, ideally, return them when finished. Or leave some books of their own in exchange.

One example of a little free library.

From a practical standpoint, yes, it does open itself up to theft and vandalism. But these secondhand books wouldn’t be worth much to any book buyer, and besides, anything placed near any public right of way (e.g., flowers, planters, fences, mailboxes) is a potential vandalism target. It’s also worth considering that neighborhoods in disregard and disrepair tend to foster more vandalism than well-kept ones.

The fact that this has already been implemented in a few places in Spokane also shows that it’s neither impossible nor impractical.

Emerson-Garfield in particular has plenty of streets named after American presidents and local historical figures, but very little that commemorates our national and regional writers. We haven’t even had a neighborhood library branch since 1967. Wouldn’t it be great to fill this gap by making books — especially those by lesser-known Spokane writers like Vachel Lindsay and Bruce Holbert — available to everyone on a much more personal and grassroots level?

In other words, it’s worth considering the idea of little lending libraries for a neighborhood-wide initiative. If it’s something you might like to participate in (or even spearhead!), please contact us.

More on Little Free Libraries, which has found support across America, is here.

Neighborhood Council Meeting Tomorrow

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The Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council meets tomorrow (June 13) at the Corbin Senior Center [map] at 7pm.

What’s on the agenda for June? Among other things, we’re going to talk about this website and other grassroots communication efforts like Twitter and Facebook, issues with our parks and streets, and recap what happened at the Corbin Park Yard Sale last weekend as well as last night’s town hall meeting.

We’ll also hear from the ad hoc parks subcommittee and vote on how to allocate $21,000 in park funds. Repair cracks in Corbin’s tennis courts? Build a swing set in Emerson? Show up and become a voting member to have a say!

You can download the full agenda here as a PDF.

Also remember that the neighborhood planning meeting will take place one hour before the start of the EGNC meeting (i.e., at 6pm) in the same building.

The planning meeting has a hefty agenda of its own. We’ll be addressing how to use the demographic data provided by EWU, the results of our ongoing surveys, the October issues/solutions workshop (this will be a big event, so stay tuned), and shifting the planning meeting dates to avoid conflicts with EGNC meeting times.

That agenda is available for download here as a PDF.

Corbin Park Yard Sale Tomorrow

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The annual Corbin Park neighborhood yard sale takes place tomorrow, June 9, from 9am to 4pm, rain or shine — and with a bit of luck, there might be just enough shine amid all this wet weather.

The sale is huge and spans ten(!) blocks between Division and Post [map] in Emerson-Garfield. Homes on Waverly Place, Park Place, Cleveland, and Euclid will be selling antiques, collectibles, baby items, books, electronics, kitchenware, linen, glassware, tools, arts and crafts, CDs and DVDs, furniture, kids’ clothes and toys, and lots, lots more.

It’s one of Spokane’s biggest — if not the biggest — yard sale events.