Suggestions for Spokane

Just returned home from visiting Spokane for the first time. I live near San Francisco. With home prices and traffic beyond sustainable in San Francisco, Portland and Seattle, I believe Spokane is poised to become the next boom town.

My recommendations to make Spokane a world-class city:

1. Actively recruit high-tech businesses to Spokane. Spokane needs high-paying jobs.

2. Actively promote Spokane as a fabulous eco-conscious, sustainable place to live and work.

3. Fix the roads even in residential areas … so bumpy everywhere.

4. Increase the visibility of street name signs.

5. Add separate smoothly paved bicycle lanes to reduce car usage.

6. Increase frequency of public transit along high-traffic areas.

7. Increase public safety. Too many property crimes against cars and homes.

8. Restaurants should add many more vegan (plant-based) options to their menus. This is the future of food (global sustainability).

9. Make Spokane “the best” walking and biking city in Washington state.

10. Require all new construction and renovations to be LEED/Green building with a focus on solar, gray water recycling and energy efficiency.

Amy Caplan

Pacifica, Calif.