Pushing east on I-90 from the city, as Spokane Valley, Liberty Lake, Post Falls, and Coeur d'Alene form one contiguous metropolitan area, it would appear smart growth is a regional challenge. Too often, development requires residents to drive long distances between jobs and homes and we are simply not maximizing our investments.

In Spokane County, 25% of growth in the last decade has happened outside our urban areas and the Urban Growth Area itself has not reached the population it was planned to accommodate. Also, it was estimated that Spokane County is expected to grow from 472,000 to 612,000 people between now and 2031. The situation becomes clear: Growth needs to be focused inside our cities and towns to keep them economically vibrant instead of making infrastructure investments for sprawl which increases costs to taxpayers and stretch our urban services so thin.

Given an unfortunate decision by the County Commissioners on our Urban Growth Area that could open the floodgates for development outside the Urban Growth Area, it's time for a discussion. Tomorrow night, Councilmembers Jon Snyder and Amber Waldref, after attending National Smart Growth conferences, will share what they’ve learned and how we can build stronger communities that boost local revenues.

Here are the details:

Talk Smart Growth with Amber Waldref and Jon Snyder
Wednesday June 5th at 6:30 pm Community Building -- 35 W Main Ave, Downtown Spokane

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