Spokane Valley, Washington: Difference between revisions

Spokane Valley, Washington
City
City of Spokane Valley
Spokane Valley City Hall
Official logo of Spokane Valley, Washington Logo
Nickname:  The Valley
Motto(s):  "A community of opportunity where individuals and families can grow and play, and businesses will flourish and prosper."
Coordinates: 47°40′24″N 117°14′22″W / 47.67333°N 117.23944°W / 47.67333; -117.23944
Country	United States
State	Washington
County	Spokane
Settled	1849
Incorporated	March 31, 2003
Named for	The Spokane Valley
Government
• Type	Council–manager
• Body	City council
• City manager	Mark Calhoun
• Mayor	Ben Wick
• Deputy mayor	Brandi Peetz
Area [1]
• City	38.01 sq mi (98.44 km2)
• Land	37.72 sq mi (97.69 km2)
• Water	0.29 sq mi (0.75 km2)
Elevation	2,002 ft (610 m)
Population  (2010)[2]
• City	89,755
• Estimate  (2019)[3]	101,060
• Rank	US: 312th WA: 9th
• Density	2,679.22/sq mi (1,034.46/km2)
• Metro	573,493 (US: 98th)
• CSA	721,396 (US: 72nd)
Time zone	UTC−8 (Pacific (PST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC−7 (PDT)
ZIP code	99206, 99216, 99212, 99016, 99027, 99037 [4]
Area code	509
FIPS code	53-67167[5]
GNIS feature ID	1967430[6]
Website	Official website

Spokane Valley is a city in Spokane County, Washington, United States, and the largest suburb of Spokane. It is located east of Spokane, west of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho and surrounds the city of Millwood on three sides. The city incorporated as the City of Spokane Valley on March 31, 2003. The Washington State Office of Financial Management estimates the city's population as 101,060 as of 2019.^[7] Spokane Valley is named after the valley of the Spokane River, in which it is located. Before becoming an incorporated city, the area was and still is referred to as "The Valley" by residents of the Spokane–Coeur d'Alene area.

The City of Spokane Valley incorporated on March 31, 2003.^[8] At its creation, it was the third-largest newly incorporated city in US history (after Centennial, Colorado, which incorporated in 2001; and Miami Gardens, Florida, which incorporated about five weeks before Spokane Valley).

The city formed from combining the urbanized unincorporated areas east of Spokane City, including census-designated places (CDPs) of Dishman, Opportunity, Trentwood, Veradale, part of Greenacres, and East Spokane. The new city boundaries did not include the incorporated areas such as Millwood and Liberty Lake, nor the protected areas such as the Dishman Hills Natural Area. It was initially delayed by a petition from Spokane, because it included the Yardley industrial area, to which Spokane had already extended utilities, and had plans to annex. Prior to the successful vote May 21, 2002, there had been four failed attempts to form a city in the Valley. The main arguments for incorporation centered around increased voice in local governance and the threat of annexation by the City of Spokane. The main arguments against incorporation included contentment with Spokane County provided services and the threat of increased taxes and bureaucracy by the new city. Both sides claimed their opponents' arguments were entirely untrue scare tactics.^[9][10]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 38.06 square miles (98.57 km²), of which, 37.77 square miles (97.82 km²) is land and 0.29 square miles (0.75 km²) is water.^[11] Water features in the city include Shelley Lake, a small lake which is fed by the Saltese Creek.^[12]

Spokane Valley lies along the banks of the Spokane River as it flows from its source in Lake Coeur d'Alene on its way to the Columbia River at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake reservoir.^[12] The city lies along both banks of the river, but most of the city lies to the south of the river.^[12] To the south of the valley in which the city sits is the southern extent of the Selkirk Mountains, which are most prominent in the area east of Coeur d'Alene.^{[12][13][unreliable source?]} The valley is within the Northern Rockies Level III ecoregion.^[14]

Generally, the city limits are roughly defined to the west and southwest by Havana Street and the Dishman Hills, and their respective, Conservation Area; to the north by the Spokane River, Felts Field and the City of Millwood, Washington, as well as Wellesley Avenue and Trent Avenue. On the eastern side of the city, its limits are roughly near Barker Road, East of Pines Road. to the south, the city's edge is roughly defined by a longitudinal line that is demarcated by the discontinued course of Hodges Road; and to the south by 32nd Avenue, with the border roughly lining the northern edge of the Dishman Hills and corresponding high topographical relief, which generally continue east to Mica Peak.^[15] The city of Spokane Valley is part of the Spokane–Coeur d'Alene Combined Statistical Area (CSA) and lies between the two anchor cities, directly east of Spokane and to the west of Coeur d'Alene.^[12] The city is also part of the wider Inland Northwest region, consisting of eastern Washington, northern Idaho, northwestern Montana, and northeastern Oregon.

Panorama of Spokane Valley from Eagle Peak

Spokane Valley city proper consists of the communities of Dishman, Greenacres, Opportunity, Trentwood, Veradale, Yardley, and parts of Chester and Otis Orchards. Because the City of Spokane Valley shares its name with the unincorporated area it was carved from, the term "Spokane Valley" is often used in reference to an area greater than that which falls within the city limits.

Spokane Valley was formed in 2003 from unincorporated communities; some are still present as neighborhoods.

• Austin
• Chester
• Dishman
• East Spokane
• Greenacres
• Irwin
• Opportunity
• Orchard Avenue
• Trentwood
• Velox
• Veradale
• Yardley

Spokane Valley experiences a temperate climate (Köppen Csa), with a warm summer and rainy winter.^[16][17] Rainfall averages just over 26 inches annually, with December averaging the most rainfall with 3.5 inches and July the least with 0.6 inches.^[16] July is the hottest month of the year with an average temperature of 73.0 degrees fahrenheit and January is the coldest with an average temperature of 28.3 degrees fahrenheit.^[16]

As of the census^[2] of 2010, there were 89,755 people, 36,558 households, and 23,119 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,376.4 inhabitants per square mile (917.5/km²). There were 38,851 housing units at an average density of 1,028.6 per square mile (397.1/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 90.9% White, 1.1% African American, 1.2% Native American, 1.7% Asian, 0.3% Pacific Islander, 1.4% from other races, and 3.3% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.6% of the population.

There were 36,558 households, of which 31.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.6% were married couples living together, 12.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.4% had a male householder with no wife present, and 36.8% were non-families. 29.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.99.

The median age in the city was 37.3 years. 24% of residents were under the age of 18; 9.5% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 26.1% were from 25 to 44; 26.4% were from 45 to 64; and 14.1% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.9% male and 51.1% female.

The Spokane Islamic Center in Spokane Valley became the first mosque in the Spokane area in 2009.^[22] A messianic Jewish synagogue, Synagogue Chavurat HaMashiach, is also located in the city.^[23]

The greater valley area is also home to the 59th temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, dedicated in 1999^[24], which administers 15 regions across eastern Washington, northern Idaho, and northwestern Montana.^[25]

An organization that is dedicated to cultivating the arts in the city is the Spokane Valley Arts Council, an independent non-profit organization founded in 2004.^[26] The council maintains an exhibit of local artists in the CenterPlace Regional Event Center foyer, and commissions sculptures and monuments for community parks and buildings, as well as sponsors an artist showcase auction and fundraiser each October.^[27][28] The exhibits are rotated every three months.^[26]

In the theatre arts, the professional not-for-profit Spokane Valley Summer Theatre provides a season of live theater in the Central Valley Performing Arts Center located in Central Valley High School.^[29]

The Spokane Valley Heritage Museum opened its doors in 2005 and is located in the historic Spanish mission revivalist-style Opportunity Township Hall.^[30][31] The museum's goal is to collect, preserve and exhibit the history and culture of the Spokane Valley and the museum houses archives of old newspapers and records, photographs, as well as exhibits that feature stories about the Native Americans that historically inhabited the valley, apple orchards and industry in the valley, and exhibits that recount the city's early history with aircraft and flight.^[31]

On the Friday after Labor Day, the Spokane County Fair and Expo Center hosts the ten-day Spokane County Interstate Fair.^[32] Events and activities at the fair revolve around traditional county fair activities such as carnival games and rides, food, a rodeo, and a livestock show accompanied by live music.^[33] The Spokane County Fair and Expo Center is home to dozens of various events throughout the year; it is situated on 97 acres, with over 140,000 square feet of exhibition space, livestock facilities, indoor and outdoor arenas, lawns, and parking.^[34]

Valleyfest is an annual three day festival held every September at Mirabeau Point Park, the adjacent CenterPlace Regional Event Center, and Plantes Ferry Park and Sports Complex.^[35][36] Festivities include the Hearts of Gold parade down Sprague Avenue, "Fishing at the Falls", a classic car show, and a 5K or 10K run and duathlon that starts and ends at Plantes Ferry Park.^[36] The event features live music and hosts various other activities at the CenterPlace Regional Event Center.^[35]

The Inland Northwest Craft Beer Festival (formerly the Spokane Oktoberfest) is a two-day beer festival hosted by the Washington Beer Commission annually in September at Avista Stadium. The festival showcases the offerings of local and Washington state breweries and sometimes breweries in other western states. The festival features live music and food truck vendors for attendees; one day of the festival caters to family friendly activities as well and features a bouncy house.^[37]

The Spokane Indians, a High Single-A baseball team in the Northwest League (NWL) and a farm team of the Colorado Rockies since 2021, have their home ground in the valley.^[38][39][40] The Indians play their home games at the 6,803-seat Avista Stadium and have won seven NWL titles since their Short-Season-A debut in 1982.^[39] Prior to 1982, the Indians played in the Triple-A level Pacific Coast League (PCL). The franchise has won 12 league titles: four in the PCL and eight in the NWL.^[41]

Spokane Valley hosts the annual Cycle Celebration, a cycling event presented by the organizers of Valleyfest. The event caters to beginning riders as well as more serious riders with 10-mile, 25-mile, and 50-mile marked routes with comfort stations along the course.^[42] Each route starts at the Mirabeau Point Park Meadows and the 10-mile course is routed east onto the Spokane River Centennial Trail, while the 25-mile course takes riders to the Saltese Uplands, and the most rigorous 50-mile course is routed through a rural area over hills and prairies that provide views of Mica Peak and Mount Spokane before reaching the finish line at Liberty Lake.^[42]

The City of Spokane Valley maintains about 254 acres of parkland and open spaces.^[43] Among the most notable parks is Mirabeau Point Park, as it contains the CenterPlace Regional Event Center, the Discovery Playground, the flat and grassy Mirabeau Meadows as well as a natural area that features walking trails and a natural spring-fed waterfall, the Mirabeau Springs waterfall.^[44] The natural area of the park is a popular place for the rock climbing community, featuring 14 bolted routes,^[45][46] and toward the eastern edge of the park is a connection to the Centennial Trail.

The City of Spokane Valley was incorporated on March 31, 2003 and operates as a non-charter code city under a council-manager government.^[47][48] Under the council-manager form of government, law making authority is vested in an elected city council and a hired city manager who is responsible to administer and execute the policies and plans of the legislative branch.^[49] The city council consists of seven councilmembers whom are elected at-large every two years with four-year terms; Council meetings are held in the Council Chambers of City Hall on Tuesdays at 6pm.^[48] The Mayor is appointed from among the councilmembers on a biennial basis at the first meeting of a new council and is the ceremonial leadership position in the city.^[48]

In Washington state government, the city of Spokane Valley is located in Washington's 4th legislative district and in the federal government, the city is in Washington's 5th congressional district and is represented by Representative Cathy McMorris-Rodgers and Senators Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray.^[50]

Within Spokane Valley city limits, the public has access to one library which is part of the Spokane County Library District and features a studio which can be used for recording, production, and boardcasting.^[51]

Primary and secondary education in Spokane Valley is provided by multiple public school districts, including the Central Valley School District (CVSD), West Valley School District (WVSD), East Valley School District (EVSD), and a portion of western Spokane Valley by Spokane Public Schools (SPS).^[52] Of the school districts exclusive to the valley, the largest in terms of enrollment is CVSD with a student population of 14,593 in grades PK-12th grade, followed by EVSD with 4,277, and WVSD with 3,862.^[53][54][55] Being the only district with two high schools, Central Valley School District is not only the largest district in the city but also contains the largest school in the city (and the whole Spokane metropolitan area) in Central Valley High School with 2,250 students.^[56][57] There are also several private schools in the city, most of which are parochial. Private schools include the PK-12 grade Valley Christian School, an ASCI-accredited non-denominational Christian school and The Oaks Academy, an ACCS-accredited K-12 non-denominational Christian school.^[58][59] The Valley Christian School occupies the former campus of Spokane University. High school students in the region can attend Spokane Valley Tech, a vocational school that offers free technical training for high school juniors and seniors to gain skills for career development in emerging industries and prepare for college.^[60] The Spokane Valley Tech Skills Center and STEM Academy primarily serves high school students attending public and private high schools in the greater Spokane area and eastern Washington region.^[61]

Historically, Spokane Valley had a four-year liberal arts college called Spokane University, which was founded in 1913 and was noted for its fine arts program which included Clyfford Still, a leading figure in the abstract expressionist movement as an alum; the university ceased operations in 1933 amidst the Great Depression.^[62] The locale it once occupied bears reminders of the institution in the form of a road name, University Road and a public high school that once used the former university campus, University High School.^[62]

Active higher education institutions in the Spokane Valley includes a campus of Carrington College, which primarily offers degree programs in healthcare fields such as medical assisting, veterinary assisting and medical billing and coding.^[63] The school has produced a large portion of the medical assistants in the area hospitals.^[64]

Spokane Valley is part of neighboring Spokane's television and radio markets.^[65][66] The city has a weekly newspaper which publishes on Fridays, the Valley News Herald, which formed in 1996 with the merger of the Valley News and the Valley Herald.^[67][68][69]

Due to the city's suburban nature and its rural roots before its post World War II suburbanization, the design of Spokane Valley's streets contain many curvilinear streets, discontinuous streets, cul-de-sacs, and other features typical of suburbs. ^[70] The major retail corridor and one of the most highly trafficked arterial roads in the city is Sprague Avenue, which travels east-west from downtown Spokane to Liberty Lake.^[71][72] Other east-west arterials for the valley include Trent Avenue, Mission Avenue, Broadway Avenue, and 32nd Avenue.^[71] Sprague Avenue in Spokane Valley is designated as Interstate 90 Business and Trent Avenue carries the designation of Washington State Route 290, where it is routed from the Interstate 90 Hamilton interchange in Spokane northeast to the Idaho border.^[71] For north-south travel, the major arterial streets are Argonne/Mullan Streets, Pines Street, Evergreen Street, and Sullivan Street; Pines Street is the northernmost portion of Washington State Route 27.^[71] Serving Spokane and Whitman counties and routed between Pullman and Spokane Valley where it terminates at the intersection with Trent Avenue, Washington State Route 27 is part of the Palouse Scenic Byway.^[71][73] Spokane Valley can be accessed from Interstate 90 at exits 285 to 293 as it travels from its termini of Seattle, Washington in the west to Boston, Massachusetts in the east, connecting Spokane, Spokane Valley, and Coeur d'Alene along its transcontinental route.^[71] The average commute to work is about 21 minutes.^[74] Traffic congestion on the interstate is increasing and causing travel delays particularly during peak commute hours according to the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT); starting in 2019, the WSDOT started installing ramp meters to help reduce the congestion caused by accidents in particular, which contributed to a quarter of the congestion issues according a study.^[75][76]

The public transportation needs for Spokane Valley as well as most of Spokane County is served by Spokane Transit Authority (STA), which maintains the Pence-Cole Valley Transit Center (VTC) and has a few park-and-ride locations throughout the city.^[77][78] The STA has one regular route, and two peak use express routes that service the VTC hub.^[79] Spokane Valley has a Walk Score of 25, indicating it is car-dependent.^[80]

The closest major airport serving Spokane Valley and the Spokane–Coeur d'Alene area is Spokane International Airport, which is served by six airlines and is 16 miles (26 km) to the west in Spokane.^[81] Felts Field is a general aviation airport located near Spokane Valley along the south bank of the Spokane River; the Federal Aviation Administration categorizes it as a regional reliever facility.^[82][83]

The Spokane Valley is served by one general hospital, the 123-bed MultiCare Valley Hospital as well as specialty and urgent care clinics operated by the MultiCare Health System, Providence Health & Services, and the Community Health Association of Spokane (CHAS Health), a Federally Qualified Health Center that primarily serves the needs of the uninsured with medical, dental, pharmacy, and behavioral health services.^[84][85][86] Ambulance service in Spokane Valley is contracted to American Medical Response (as of 2019).^[87]

Electric utilities in Spokane Valley are provided by a variety of providers, including Avista Utilities, Inland Power & Light, Modern Electric Water Company, and Vera Water & Power.^[88] Water utilities are also provided by a patchwork of different providers.^[88] This is due to the rural beginnings of the neighborhoods that now make up the city of Spokane Valley and a legacy of the providers that came into operation to meet the needs of the agricultural consumers that predated the suburbanization of area.^[89] The city draws its water supply from the Spokane Valley–Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer. For sewer service, Spokane County Environmental Services is the sole provider and Avista Utilities is the sole provider for natural gas.^[88] The valley is serviced by Xfinity Comcast and Centurylink and some smaller telecom providers for cable TV and residential internet.^[88]

The Spokane Valley Police Department is a contracted division of the Spokane County Sheriff's Office, with Spokane Valley being the largest city the sheriff's office serves.^[90] Deputies assigned to the Spokane Valley Precinct use distinct patrol vehicles and uniforms, including a Spokane Valley Police Department patch. Since 2016, the city's chief of police has been Mark Werner.^[91] The Spokane Valley Police Department has been a Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs accredited agency since 2011.^[92]

The Spokane Valley Fire Department (SVFD) has served the greater Spokane Valley area since 1940.^[93] SVFD is a special purpose fire district that was formed 63 years before the incorporation of the City of Spokane Valley, and as result is a separate entity from the city. SVFD has seven fire stations located in the City of Spokane Valley,^[94] and remaining three others in Liberty Lake, Millwood, and Otis Orchards. An eighth fire station serving Spokane Valley is planned to open in 2022.^[95]

• Edwards, Jonathan; Nelson Durham (1900). Illustrated history of Spokane county (DJVU). Washington State Library's Classics in Washington History collection. Spokane, Washington: W.H. Lever. ISBN 978-1-153-38635-7. OCLC 25321986.
• Boutwell, Florence (1994). The Spokane Valley: A History of the Early Years. Vol. 1. Spokane, WA: Arthur H. Clark Company. ISBN 978-0870622359. OCLC 32029798.
• Boutwell, Florence (1995). The Spokane Valley: A History of the Growing Years, 1921-1945. Vol. 2. Spokane, WA: Arthur H. Clark Company. ISBN 978-0870622465. OCLC 32029798.
• Boutwell, Florence (1996). The Spokane Valley: Out in the Gravel. Vol. 3. Spokane, WA: Arthur H. Clark Company. ISBN 978-0870622687. OCLC 32029798.

• Official website