SPOKANE, Wash. — Spokane voters face a significant decision this election season with the Together Spokane initiative, a more than $400 million proposal that could reshape neighborhoods across the city through coordinated parks and school improvements.
Together Spokane is a joint proposal made of two separate ballot measures: a Spokane Public Schools bond and a Spokane Parks levy. If both are approved by voters next month, they will make several partnership projects happen.
The Latah Hangman neighborhood shows how this would work. The area is growing quickly with more than 2,000 people already living there, and more are on the way. However, it currently doesn’t have a school or public park.
“A lot of people buying and moving here thinking that they just found their dream home, and they’re ready to get settled… and then they realize they don’t have a route to school,” said Stephanie Watson, chair of the Latah Hangman Neighborhood Council.
For years her community has asked for better infrastructure and resources.
“I think it’s exciting because it’s cost savings ultimately to us as the taxpayer,” Watson said.
Local resident Lupe Owen has wondered about the undeveloped land.
“I have walked my dogs and every other homeowner here walks their animals in that field. So we’ve always wondered, what are they going to do? Who owns it?” Owen said.”
The site has land owned by both SPS and Spokane Parks. The Together Spokane website says the proposal would make it possible to develop a school and park in the area.
The parks levy would fund construction of the new park. The school bond would fund planning of a new school, but a future bond would still be needed to pay for the school’s construction.
“I think it’s a great idea,” Owen said.
“It would be open to the public, which would be new for a lot of those residents and potentially bring people from other parts of the city,” Watson said.
Spokane Public Schools and Parks say that by co-developing the space they would be able to save money by coordinating on things like planning and preparation. The Parks Department did not give a concrete time for when the park would be developed within the ten 20 year window of the levy, as it said that is dependent on factors that are unknown at this time.
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