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Category: Commentary

Andrew Worlock on N. Monroe Revitalization

Andrew Worlock on N. Monroe Revitalization

Andrew Worlock, an Associate Planner in the City of Spokane’s Planning and Development Services Department who also heads the West Quadrant Tax Increment Finance District and the WQTIF Neighborhood Project Advisory Committee, was invited to speak at this month’s neighborhood council meeting and give an update on the revitalization of North Monroe — which, after several years of ambitious talk, has well and truly fizzled. Andrew will be ultimately unable to make the meeting and no representative is able (or,…

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Quality of Life vs. Quick Buck

Quality of Life vs. Quick Buck

One week ago, the Spokane County commissioners opted to gobble up another 6,000 acres of surrounding countryside to build more cookie-cutter homes and strip malls. Their expansion of the urban growth area (UGA) could end up costing taxpayers an additional $64 million. Developers and big-box stores are the ones who most stand to benefit. In his recent column titled “Growth vote unsupported by the math,” the Spokesman-Review‘s Shawn Vestal outlines some of the opposition to the UGA vote as well…

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Celebrating Neighborhoods… While Undermining Them

Celebrating Neighborhoods… While Undermining Them

For those who missed yesterday’s post: The Hoods, which opens tomorrow night at Bon Bon, is, in their own words, an “arts and design show with a neighborhood focus” that “celebrate[s] the spirit of Spokane’s communities.” At heart The Hoods is a fantastic idea. Blue-collar or bohemian, historic or contemporary, seedy or glitzy, gentrified or dynamic… over time every square mile develops a distinct identity, and the proof thereof is that each of those adjectives ought to bring to mind…

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