News Roundup: 7/28

What I’m Reading

• Rent prices in Spokane are down 12% in nominal terms and 15% adjusted to inflation in the past year, largely as a result of new housing construction. In 2024, we permitted a record number of new homes, beating out the prior record-holder, 2023.

• The Spokane Transit Board has approved a low-income fare pilot program, which would allow people earning up to 200% of the federal poverty line to access half-off fare of $1 per ride. This aligns with King County’s ORCA Lift program, which reduces costs for social service providers, which would otherwise provide fare-paid passes to their clients. There’s also substantial evidence, including from true randomized controlled trials, that such programs boost ridership.

• Nuestras Raíces Centro Comunitario has canceled its two-day Tacos y Tequila Festival, one of my favorite community events of the year, due to concerns about immigration enforcement and the current political climate. Please take a minute to donate a few bucks to support their work to empower the local Latino community.

• Advocates from Transportation Choices Coalition, Spokane Reimagined, and other orgs local and statewide conducted a walkability audit on Division Street a couple weeks ago. Because the street is a state highway, sidewalk and bicyclist safety improvements can be more complicated than on a typical City-owned street. TCC is proposing a statewide “megaproject for safety” to help address these high-speed, unsafe-for-all-users state roads in cities.

• The state’s latest condo reform bill took effect Sunday. The bill isn’t perfect, because its most powerful provisions only apply to small buildings with 12 units or fewer and no more than three stories, but it reduces implied warranty requirements for builders, which should reduce insurance costs and financing risks, making stacked flat condos much more viable.

• The state’s breakthrough parking reform bill also took effect Sunday. Cities with more than 50,000 people (including Spokane Valley) have 18 months to update their zoning regulations, and cities with 30,000-49,999 people have three years. Once they do, no more than 0.5 parking spaces will be required per unit for multifamily housing and parking will no longer be required:

  • For housing units smaller than 1,200 square feet

  • For commercial spaces smaller than 3,000 square feet

  • For ground-level commercial space in mixed-use buildings

  • For affordable housing, senior housing, or childcare facilities

  • For interior remodels that add housing or change a commercial use

Development Proposals

• The Texas Donut is officially coming to Spokane. A building permit has been filed for a new 156-unit apartment building at 5222 S Regal in Southgate adjacent to the South Complex. While this area is in some respects on the suburban fringe, it’s also right on STA Route 4, which provides frequent service using similar all-electric buses to those used on the City Line. The $30 million project is just one component in an unfortunately quite suburban development.

• Building permits have also been filed for two adjacent two-story townhome projects at 3164 and 3140 E 10th Ave, each with four units for a total of eight.

• Pre-development conferences have been filed:

  • to replace a poor-condition single-family home with a set of six townhomes at 401 W Providence in the Garland District. The design isn’t (at all!) my cup of tea, but it’s still a net gain of five units.

  • to demolish an existing single-family home at 5008 N Nelson in Hillyard and replace it with a 15-unit apartment building with no on-site parking. Unfortunately, despite being only three stories with five units per floor, it still includes two staircases due to outdated state building code requirements.

  • to construct a new apartment building at 2629 E 8th Ave in East Central near Underhill Park. It’s unclear how many units are anticipated, but it’s described as a multifamily project.

  • to construct a community of four duplexes on a vacant lot at 2430 W Pacific Ave in Browne’s Addition. This should be an excellent dense little project near the river bluff.

Looking to join the conversation? Find me on Bluesky! We’ve developed a growing local community there, and I’ve put together a Spokane list to get you started.