I’ve just been informed that the Plan Commission yesterday voted down a proposal involved in the Downtown Plan that would have allowed buildings to be demolished to put in new surface parking lots. Additionally, the plan commission asked for a study to be done to document need and explore other transportation and parking options.

So a friend (an engineer with the WSDOT, by the way) and I were having this discussion the other day because we were walking near the Opera House and noticing the giant new parking lot across from it. She mentioned that, as large as the lot is, she thought there would have been room for a mid-size building of some sort on the property, to house maybe a nice restaurant or bar for the Opera House crowd. I agreed, and added that, in all my years in Spokane, I have never gone to an event where I couldn’t find a parking spot somewhere within a couple blocks of the Opera House. And that was before the new lot went in.

So how about you? Do you think we needed another surface parking lot downtown or are we maxed out?

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