One of the many surface parking lots in downtown Spokane. |
Parking- necessary in an urban core, but how much do you really need? According to the Spokane Rising blog, there are 295 acres of surface parking in Spokane’s downtown area. With a total of 1,250 acres comprising the urban core (that’s a large downtown area by the way), that means almost 24% of Spokane’s downtown is used for parking cars- that’s almost a quarter! And that’s just surface lots, not the parkade or lots under buildings, etc.
What else could this property be used for? Spokane Rising suggests housing, retail, public squares and more. In fact, they say there is enough space downtown for three Kendall Yards developments and suggest starting a database of potential infill sites.
Anyway, the article includes some interesting stats and thoughts for potential use of the space for the future so check it out.