Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Parking

Spokane May Give Builders a Push to Fix Downtown Parking Craters

Can tax incentives help fill in Spokane’s parking craters? Photo: Google Maps

Downtown Spokane, Washington, has more than 12,600 parking spaces -- a moonscape that consumes about 300 acres of land.

These voids in the built environment spread destinations farther apart, discouraging walking, biking, and transit while generating car traffic. And they're everywhere: Parking-saturated Spokane is just like hundreds of other American downtowns, which Streetsblog highlights in our annual Parking Madness competition.

Now Spokane might do something about it. Two civic leaders -- City Council President Ben Stuckart and Downtown Spokane Partnership parking and policy guru Andrew Rolwes -- want to use tax incentives to fill in the city's parking craters, reports Nicholas Deshais at the Spokane Spokesman-Review.

They're proposing a 10-year property tax exemption for new construction on downtown surface parking lots. A similar policy is credited with spurring development of surface parking lots in Center City Philadelphia.

To enact the tax abatement, Spokane needs permission from the state legislature. Stuckart is reaching out to state lawmakers about enabling legislation and told the Spokesman-Review the bill enjoys bipartisan support. It would also grant permission to Tacoma and Vancouver, two cities in Washington similar in size to Spokane, to enact versions of the policy.

In the very center of Spokane, right at the core of downtown, there are few surface parking lots -- it's mainly garages that would be unaffected by the tax abatement. But Rolwes told Streetsblog the policy could be transformative for the "next tier out from the downtown core."

"We think that the market conditions are right to get those transitioned," he said, "and this could play a part in assisting those property owners."

Forgoing property tax revenue isn't a good idea in stronger real estate markets where incentives to redevelop parking lots might not be necessary. But in Spokane, it could be the push the city needs to nudge development toward downtown, where it's easily and efficiently accommodated, instead of farther out, where it imposes higher public costs in the form of infrastructure and services as well as added traffic.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

America’s Kids Deserve Better Than a Waymo Subscription

What do America's young people lose when they have to buy independence from a corporation that rents out driverless cars?

July 15, 2025

Tuesday’s Headlines Aren’t Falling Fast Enough

Pedestrian deaths dropped by 4 percent last year, but remain well above pre-pandemic figures.

July 15, 2025

Monday’s Headlines Are Dragging Their Feet

The Trump administration claims the Biden administration left them with a backlog — but they've actually been far slower at getting transportation money to states than their predecessors, a new analysis finds.

July 14, 2025

These U.S. Communities’ So-Called ‘Complete Streets’ Policies Don’t Even Deserve the Name

Any city can call itself a "Complete Streets" champion. But not all of them are walking the walk — and if they don't, a top organization says they'll no longer give them a platform on its esteemed "best of" ranking.

July 14, 2025

Communities Rally To Reclaim Streets From ICE Terror

"This is an attack on Los Angeles. This is an attack on California. On all of us."

July 11, 2025

Friday Video: The London Neighborhood Where Bikes Outnumber Cars

...and how they got to that impressive milestone.

July 11, 2025
See all posts