In sports terms, Post Falls is an emerging star with a tremendous upside.

Sure, the city has road and transportation problems, lacks a discernible downtown and strives to manage growth that will someday make it the biggest city in Kootenai County. But Post Falls has as much potential as any municipality in Idaho.

More growth will transform the River City into a political power with its own legislative district, like nearby Coeur d’Alene. Its status has been boosted with the relocation of Buck Knives and the recent decision by a giant sporting goods store, Cabela’s, to move to town. As Mayor Clay Larkin said in his State of the City speech last week, “Anywhere you want to look, there’s dirt moving.”

At the Post Falls Chamber of Commerce meeting, Larkin ticked off a stream of good economic news and challenged nonprofit organizations, civic groups and the local chambers of commerce to take advantage of the situation. Not only will Buck Knives and Cabela’s provide major draws at the west entrance to Post Falls, Larkin said, they’ll upgrade the town’s image as a significant Idaho gateway community.

Finally, Post Falls has stepped out of the shadows of bigger neighbors and claimed its own identity.

Fifteen or 20 years ago, Post Falls could boast little more than the Avista dam, Bob Templin’s resort, and ties to local historical figures Frederick Post and Chief Seltice. A town where houses were cheap and business and industry scarce, it was a bedroom community for Coeur d’Alene and Spokane. Post Falls was such an afterthought that the controversial greyhound track used “Coeur d’Alene” in its title when it opened in the 1980s in western Post Falls.

Much has changed. In the past six years, Larkin told chamber members, the number of jobs in Post Falls has jumped 41 percent to 10,600. In the past decade, the number of medical jobs has soared from 100 to more than 900. A conservative estimate for the year 2028 sets the town’s population at 68,000, almost three times the current 24,000. Beyond the numbers, Post Falls has become self-sufficient, a place to live, shop and recreate.

Some mocked the idea years ago when entrepreneur Bob Templin underwrote a study that showed Post Falls had more population within a certain radius than any other city in Idaho. Templin saw what others failed to see. The town had easy access to water recreation, the freeway and Spokane International Airport. It sat at the main western entrance to North Idaho. Templin acted on his vision by building a riverfront resort and lobbying successfully for a full freeway interchange at Spokane Street. Visionary mayors – like Frank Henderson, Kent Helmer, Jim Hammond and Larkin – did their parts by hooking the community to city sewer, extending waterlines, securing water rights and wooing businesses, including Buck Knives, Cabela’s and flexcel, formerly known as Harpers.

Now, Larkin and other civic leaders are lobbying state transportation officials for two more freeway interchanges for easier access to the growing business and industrial sector. They also want to build a visitors center near the state line to cash in on the million or more people Cabela’s is expected to draw to town each year.

Challenges remain for Post Falls. But the future couldn’t be brighter.