Why Spokane’s Historic Districts Matter—and What Resolution 2025-0097 Gets Wrong

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On December 8, 2025, the Spokane City Council will vote on a proposal (Resolution 2025-0097) that would pause all new historic-district designations until a “long-range preservation plan” is adopted.

That might sound like careful planning—but the measure was written without consulting the City/County Historic Preservation Office, the team of professionals Spokane taxpayers fund to guide preservation policy. The draft also includes language that misrepresents how historic districts affect housing, equity, and development. You can read the whole thing here.

Let’s set the record straight with five reasons why:

1️⃣ Historic districts support housing diversity and affordability

Spokane’s most affordable rentals aren’t in brand-new luxury towers—they’re inside historic neighborhoods like Browne’s Addition and the Lower South Hill, where early-20th-century homes were thoughtfully converted into duplexes and four-plexes decades ago. These “missing-middle” buildings offer naturally affordable housing close to downtown jobs, transit, and schools.

National research backs this up:

  • The National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Older, Smaller, Better report found that older neighborhoods outperform newer ones on walkability, small-business vitality, and housing choice—essential ingredients for sustainable growth.
    → Read the National Trust report ›

  • Historic districts can support housing stability rather than raise rent burdens. In New York City, analysis for the Historic Districts Council found that from 1970–2010 the rent-burden rate rose more slowly in historic-district areas and tenants were more likely to retain subsidies than citywide averages.
    → Read the NY Historic Districts Council report ›

Banning district designations won’t create affordability; it will simply invite demolition of existing lower-cost homes and replace them with market-rate condos.

Spokane’s historic districts are rare—covering only 1% of residentially zoned land—but they punch above their weight. They already include some of Spokane’s most diverse housing types, from converted homes to courtyard apartments and gentle infill. These areas show that history and housing can thrive together.


And it’s not just residential areas at risk. Historic commercial corridors like Garland, South Perry, and North Monroe rely on preservation to support small businesses, walkability, and reinvestment. Banning new districts cuts off these business districts before they even get a chance to apply.

2️⃣ Historic designation brings investment tools, not red tape

Owners in or near designated districts can access real financial help:

These programs reduce the cost of maintaining older properties, improve safety and efficiency, and keep housing attainable. Pausing new designations means neighborhoods lose eligibility for these incentives.

3️⃣ Preservation drives economic growth and neighborhood health

Historic districts aren’t museums—they’re economic engines:

  • Heritage tourism contributes millions annually to Spokane’s economy, supporting hotels, restaurants, and local retailers.

  • Small-scale rehabilitation projects generate more local construction jobs per dollar than large new-build projects.

  • Since 2000, over 275 historic preservation projects in Spokane have pumped over $325,000,000 into our local economy- and those are just the projects that took advantage of the incentives. Source: Spokane City/County Historic Preservation Office.

  • Distinct architecture gives Spokane its competitive edge: our city doesn’t need to look like everywhere else to thrive.

Preservation is climate action. The greenest building is the one already built. Reusing existing structures saves energy, reduces landfill waste, and keeps embodied carbon out of the atmosphere—far more sustainable than demolition and rebuild cycles.

(For reference, see the Economic Impact of Historic Preservation in Washington State report by PlaceEconomics)

4️⃣ “Pausing” districts means pausing progress

Without new districts:

  • Neighborhoods that want to organize and and celebrate their shared heritage are shut out.

  • At-risk properties lose the legal tools that prevent teardown.

  • The City’s own Comprehensive Plan goals for sustainability, density, and placemaking are undermined.

Growth and preservation aren’t opposites—they’re partners. Spokane can add new housing and keep the character that makes people want to live here in the first place.

True housing equity isn’t about building anything anywhere—it’s about building well. Preservation advocates have long pushed for smart tools like pre-approved, historically compatible infill designs to help add housing in a way that fits Spokane’s neighborhoods. We welcome density that strengthens community character—not quick, low-quality development that erodes it.

5️⃣ Process matters: expertise and collaboration build trust

Resolution 2025-0097 was introduced without input from the city-run Historic Preservation Office, the Landmarks Commission—the group of architects, historians, preservation specialists, and real-estate experts who set preservation policy—or neighborhood councils or stakeholder groups.

Spokane taxpayers created and fund this expertise for a reason: to ensure that growth and preservation work hand-in-hand, not at odds

SPA welcomes a thoughtful update to Spokane’s preservation strategy—but not a unilateral pause that damages confidence, limits housing choice, and erases decades of community investment.

🗳️ What you can do

  1. Email your City Council members and Mayor Lisa Brown before the December 8 vote.
    → Find your district and email your council members ›

  2. Attend the City Council Legislative Meeting at 6pm on December 8 in the Council Chambers Lower Level of City Hall.

  3. Share this page with friends and neighbors who care about Spokane’s future.

  4. Stay involved—subscribe to SPA updates or join as a member to keep preservation at the table.

Spokane’s story is still being written.

Let’s make sure it’s one where growth and heritage live side by side, not one where our most affordable, character-rich neighborhoods disappear in the name of progress.

Sources & Further Reading