In brief: Housing costs keep index low
It’s cheaper to live in Spokane County, thanks mostly to what we live in, according to a cost-of-living survey done earlier this year by the Council for Community and Economic Research.
With a composite score of 100 being average, Spokane logged in at 92.5, with housing costs at 79.8 percent of average helping most to offset more expensive health care (108.2 percent of average) and transportation (102 percent of average).
Groceries, utilities and miscellaneous goods and services were also less expensive.
The Institute for Public Policy and Economic Analysis at Eastern Washington University and Greater Spokane Inc. helped gather information for the survey. Institute Executive Director Patrick Jones said the goods and services measured, as dictated by the council, intentionally skew toward those with higher incomes because results were once intended to guide corporate decisions on relocations and employee transfers.
But items like utilities and food are common to everyone, he said, adding, “It’s an imperfect measure, but it’s all we’ve got.”
The results not only ranked Spokane ahead of the national average, the county also compared well with several of the cities Greater Spokane uses to measure economic progress. Colorado Springs, Colo., was cheaper, but Salt Lake City, Reno-Sparks, Tacoma, Tucson and Raleigh-Cary, N.C., were more expensive.
Bert Caldwell
Spokane
Horizon dropping Sacramento trips
Horizon Air will discontinue twice-daily nonstop service between Spokane and Sacramento Sept. 7 and reroute two direct flights to Los Angeles through Boise, parent company Alaska Airlines said Tuesday.
Both services were launched July 1.
Horizon spokeswoman Jen Boyer said fuel costs have climbed so high airlines cannot wait for passenger numbers to build on new routes.
At Tuesday’s annual meeting of shareholders, she said, Alaska Chairman Bill Ayer said fuel to fly one passenger from Seattle to Los Angeles on a full airplane costs $64.
The ticket costs $81.
Andrew Harrison, Alaska’s managing director for planning, said the carrier is curtailing service to underperforming markets and adding flights to Minneapolis and Kona, Hawaii, from Seattle.
Other changes were also announced, including the termination of nonstop service between Portland and Orlando and between San Francisco and Vancouver, B.C.
Also, the carrier will not return this winter to three destinations in Mexico from San Francisco.
And pending U.S. and Mexican government approval, Alaska’s regional partner Horizon Air will take over some Alaska Airlines flights between Mexico and California.
Seasonal service to Maui and Anchorage will be expanded.
Direct service to Sacramento from Spokane will continue via ExpressJet, which flies to the California capital two times a day.
Staff and wire reports