Anthony Gill: Downtown’s future is on the street

Spokane’s skywalk system was first implemented in the 1960s, and it’s easy to understand why the system was popular at its peak. Connecting the four anchor department stores downtown (The Bon-Marché, Nordstrom, The Crescent and J.C. Penney) in a mall-like environment must have felt like a revelation, allowing shoppers to have a somewhat suburban experience in a more central, convenient location within the city. And people used it: One July 1984 study found that the system had seen more than 43,000 crossings in a single day.

But things have since changed, and for several reasons it may now be time to move beyond the skywalks.

First, today’s shoppers have different preferences. Malls are not the prime destinations they once were, and not just because online shopping has eaten into in-store sales. As millennials and baby boomers continue to move back downtown for ease of access and quality of life, traditional malls have been left outmoded by boutique retailers located in city centers and the open-air malls (like Santana Row in San Jose or University Village in Seattle) mimicking them.

In Spokane, the “skywalk level,” once bustling with mall-like food courts and national retailers and that one Orange Julius your parents always reminisce about, has been all but vacated. In its place are a few specialty retailers, private offices, and the occasional lunch spot for downtown workers. Of the most notable national retailers to open in Spokane in the past few years (Apple, The North Face, Carhartt, Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, Free People, and soon, Nike), not a single one has chosen a location within the skywalk system.

Even on the street level, surface parking lots and vacant storefronts become more obvious the farther you venture off Main Avenue. Enterprising local residents and community groups have taken a number of important and creative actions to activate these spaces in recent years, but you have to wonder what they might look like with even more pedestrian activity.

Indeed, the skywalks pluck the pedestrians that do still use them away from the street, where they could have a major impact – supporting businesses and restaurants, listening to buskers and street performers, and just making the street more lively and interesting. A significant body of evidence suggests that pedestrian activity can even reduce crime or perception of crime. This makes sense: the more people of all stripes on the street, the more watchful eyes to witness unlawful activity, and the less likely a single bad actor may taint your experience of a place.

The social separation that the skywalks foster raises significant equity concerns. Since the building managers on either end of a skybridge can control who gets access to it, they aren’t accessible to everyone – despite being built in the public right-of-way and in some cases with public funding. Often, the most disadvantaged in our city are left (quite literally) out in the cold while others are allowed to stroll casually above without question. In this way, the skywalks can discourage the type of social mixing, learning and interaction that are such a vital part of the pedestrian experience.

Moving forward, we should carefully consider the place that Spokane’s skywalks hold in our urban landscape. Some skywalks – the ones that receive the most use or connect the most important destinations – may be worth keeping, maintaining and even improving. But others could be removed – with City Council action – to concentrate activity on the street level.

Doing so would better meet the demands of today’s consumers, increase foot traffic and sales at businesses outside the mall, and potentially even reduce the perception of crime. A downtown with fewer skywalks would be more attractive, more inviting, more vibrant and, importantly, better promote social mixing. And while yes, it would require going outside in the cold for three months of the year (god forbid!), it would also enable us to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather of the Inland Northwest for the other nine. That seems to be a trade worth making.