Tacoma Looks To Spokane For Pointers

Downtown Spokane may think it has problems, with the Bon Marche threatening to leave and voters spiking the science center project.

But in Tacoma, things are so bleak that business leaders are looking to Spokane for signs of downtown life.

A group of nine Tacoma leaders Thursday toured downtown Spokane, clattering across Wall Street cobblestones in search of ideas for bringing stores and shoppers back to the heart of their port city of 182,800 people.

“We weren’t thinking that everything was rosy in Spokane,” said David Graybill, president of the 1,700-member Tacoma Chamber of Commerce. “But we felt it was important to see what our sister city across the state had going. We learned some good things about taking ownership of downtown.”

The two cities have many differences and similarities, Graybill said. Tacoma’s downtown, which stretches for miles, lost most of its major department stores years ago. Street parking is free, and there are no trolleys.

But for eight years, downtown Tacoma property owners have participated in a business improvement district, an idea that blossomed this year in downtown Spokane as a way to provide security, cleaning services and advertising. Tacoma’s district raises $350,000 a year, while Spokane’s will raise $675,000.

Graybill, who toured with Tacoma City Council members and the city’s business leaders, said the group liked the skywalk system and Wall Street trolleys. It was impressed that public projects such as the library and arena continue to be built near downtown.

But the key to downtown Spokane, Graybill said, was the presence of The Bon Marche and Nordstrom.

“Our admonishment is don’t let them get away,” he said.

, DataTimes