Another Day in Paradise
We woke up to what can only be described as an extraordinary day today! The air was clean and the sun quickly began infusing us with a free shot of Vitamin D. We don't have any droughts, fires, earthquakes or other calamities. My friends in Arizona just go nuts over our summer (their's lasts for six months with many days over 100) and used to make fun of me in the winter.
But really, I still think Spokane is the best kept secret in the United States. Lots of people have been here in recent years because of the excellent promotional work that has been done. However, I think we could all do a little promotional work on our own.
This is going to sound crazy, but when you have visitors, do you ever talk to them about relocation? Do you drive them around the business and industrial districts so they can see the possibilities? My guests are walked through downtown at a minimum and they have to listen to me tell them the cost per square foot of this or that building and its location compared to similar businesses. Guests are taken to Manito Park and I require them to listen to the story of the Olmsted Brothers, Central Park and all that. They are shown the Convention Center, micro breweries, Gonzaga, EWU, Riverpoint, Whitworth, and many other landmarks so that by the time they leave, they don't want to leave. We feed them lunch by the river at least once and we squeeze in a quick trip to Coeur d'Alene. Our visitors even love the impromptu historical home tour created by my wife, (I bump my head in those houses, so I'm biased against them...lol).
Now I don't advocate spoiling Paradise by causing a huge influx of people, but I do advocate maintaining our quality of life by promoting economic development. More jobs will enhance everyone's existence. We have smart people to employ and institutions which will quickly collaborate to assist a company. I think we all should work a little harder to make this happen and if you want to go on the home tour, I can arrange it...