SPOKANE, Wash. — On Friday, Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown addressed the State of Downtown Spokane at an event hosted by the Downtown Spokane Partnership (DSP), touching on topics such as innovation and safety.
"It's a unique time in downtown Spokane," Downtown Spokane Partnership CEO Emilie Cameron said. "We're working on a lot of projects. Every downtown across the country right now, it's facing challenges, but we also have opportunities, and that was a big part of the focus this morning."
DSP said coming out of the pandemic, one of the main focuses for the City of Spokane was tourism. Last year, tourism was one of the driving factors for Spokane's economy.
In 2023 alone, nearly $1.5 billion was brought in from visitor spending.
"It's a super accessible city, too," Karl Kolb, Coffman Engineers General Manager, said. "It's that size and scope and scale you can get in and out and go to things."
Kolb has lived in Spokane for more than 20 years.
"We made the decision to move from across the river into the downtown core," Kolb said. "Very intentionally. We made an intentional point to get involved in local businesses."
But it's not all positive in downtown Spokane. Just earlier this month, Brown declared an emergency to address the opioid crisis in Spokane.
"What that emergency order allows us to do is to tap in more quickly and move more quickly," Brown said.
As the weather gets warmer, more unhoused people are expected out on the streets, which increases the risk of drug use. In her address, Brown said it's one of her priorities to clean up the streets.
"For people, we are relocating from the Division Street corridor through the right of way encampment resolution program," Brown said.
Another major focus from the State of Downtown is the increase of downtown businesses and housing developments.
"We're launching a second year of grant funding for small businesses to improve and expand their storefronts," Cameron said.
Since 2015, $1.3 billion of public and private business investment has made its way downtown with more to come. DSP also has a goal of building 1,000 units of market housing by 2028.
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