Treat river as legacy

In a recent column, developer Mark Pinch supported using the YMCA property in Riverfront Park as a site for condos. He cited San Antonio as an “amazing” example we should be striving toward.

If you don’t have time to Google it, let me describe San Antonio’s Riverwalk: It looks like an outdoor shopping mall with a concrete canal running through it. High-rise buildings are set just inches away from the walls of the “river.”

The development is as close as physically possible to the water, obliterating all semblances of a natural, free-flowing stream.

The Spokane River, with its deep gorge, forested banks and spectacular rapids and falls, is an asset whose worth is immeasurable. The “highest and best use” of our river is to keep it as natural and to preserve as much public access as possible. Lining the banks of the river from Idaho to the Columbia with trophy houses and condos would be a mistake that our grandchildren would never forgive.

We must look past short-term economic gains and consider the long-term benefits of having a gorgeous, wild, clean river flowing through our city. In 100 years, the citizens of Spokane will thank us.

Peter J. O’Brien

Spokane