The Spovangelist

As a native Spokanite I find it curious bumping into tourists downtown. The father of a well groomed family (probably from Montana) will walk over and ask “Can you please tell me where the Imax is at?” This prompts a thought experiment: What would it be like to vacation in Spokane?

Would it be . . . fun? How do we look to the outside world? Scrappy, serene, “nice”? Do we (as a population) even realize we are on display? I love how unselfconscious we are here, what you see is by-and-large what you get.

What would you think if Spokane Limousine painted their white limo fleet lilac in a spontaneous burst of civic pride?

Those glitzy rigs cruising around downtown seem a wee bit ostentatious and out of place at times. If they were lilac then at least we’d know they have a sense of humor, with a touch of local flair.

What does being the ‘Lilac City’ really imply? Creating a sense of place goes a lot deeper than a few coats of lavender paint, but could it be useful to somewhat look the part? When I visited Atlanta, GA last spring I noticed even their traffic signal boxes were colored peach. The cumulative scheme of their urban landscape gave one the feeling of experiencing a particular place. I don’t think we should waste a bunch of money “Disneylandizing” downtown, but I am curious to see what some effective “theming” might look like in Spokane. How would you describe our style?

What does it mean to be Spokane chic?

Tags:   Competition · Identity Crisis · Pretty Things · Spokane PrideNo Comments