Are You An
Inlander?
Hadley has been at this job for 20 years. He saw the fall of Kaiser Aluminum and the rise of the Davenport Hotel. He saw the way the region shuddered from the economic impact of the World Trade Center attacks and the collapse of the housing market. And he’s had a front row seat to downtown Spokane’s renaissance and reinvention. Spokane is no longer a “Donut City” — a term a character in another Jess Walter short story uses to describe it — with a whole lot of suburbs and nothing in the middle. Finally, there’s a there here. As the region has changed, so have the people who make it up. “We’ve had people who have grew up here, and went off and worked in China, and worked in India. They have come back here, because this is where they want to raise their family,” Hadley says. “Because of that, you see this community change, become more progressive, more of an advocate for quality of life.” All those graphs about income and education and crime are constantly changing. So it is with the notion of a “Spokanite,” “Coeur d’Alenian” or “Inlander.” Right now, you know you’re an Inlander if you can walk into the nicest restaurant in Spokane
A N N UA L R E P O RT
“They have come back here, because this is where they want to raise their family.” wearing bunny slippers and a BBQ-sauce stained bathrobe, and not feel underdressed. But someday that may change. Spokane, once disparaged as stagnant and boring, now sees cutting-edge genetic research being performed in its laboratories, its startups, even its high schools. Coeur d’Alene, often casually tarred as backwoods and racist, just passed an ordinance protecting citizens from discrimination due to sexual orientation. Even the most obvious stereotypes have an expiration date. “Who we are” and “where we’re from” is forever changing. — DANIEL WALTERS
Essential Experiences
YOUNG KWAK PHOTO
Rich Hadley has been president of Greater Spokane Inc., Spokane’s Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Council, for 20 years. We asked him to suggest six experiences that every citizen in the Inland Northwest needs to engage in themselves. GO TO THE LAKE Don’t out yourself as an outsider by saying you’re going to a “a lake” or even naming a specific lake. Presumably, upon locating to the Inland Northwest, each new citizen is officially assigned his or her own personal lake, maybe Coeur d’Alene or Loon or Priest. From then on, that becomes “The Lake.” FEEL THE SPRAY OF SPOKANE FALLS During summertime at Riverfront Park, Inlanders love to walk out on the narrow bridge above the raging rapids of the plunging Spokane River, stretch their arms out and feel the crisp, cool mist. WALK, RUN OR BIKE THE CENTENNIAL TRAIL Not every Inlander feels the need to power all the way to Coeur d’Alene and back on this trail, but every Inlander can walk a few of the miles during the summer. RUN BLOOMSDAY We use the term “run” loosely. Many Inlanders prefer to walk, or push their stroller, or waddle in a gorilla costume when tackling this iconic road race. PICK FRUIT AT GREEN BLUFF Apples. Strawberries. Peaches. Blackberries. U-pick. U-eat. ATTEND A GONZAGA MEN’S BASKETBALL GAME Ranked No. 1 in the nation going into this year’s March Madness, the Zags are the chief source of joy and heartbreak for many an Inlander.
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