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Spokane Rising @spokanerising.com · 11h

My big one is people who sit in the inside seat (leaving the outside one by the window open)!

Spokane Rising @spokanerising.com · 12h

A few of behaviors that need to be retrained out:

– Not using headphones
– FaceTiming in public
– Talking on the phone in a grocery line
– Lack of spatial awareness at Costco
– Poor flying etiquette

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Spokane Rising @spokanerising.com · 12h

It’s definitely a hot take, but I think we need some sort of social retraining program to deal with all the people who lost any sort of manners or social awareness after the pandemic.

Kashmir Hill @kashhill.bsky.social · 13h

This is absolutely wild. I’m on a cross country flight. We are being diverted midway through to Denver. The reason? Some dude is sitting in the exit row who didn’t pay the $155 fee and he refuses to move back to his seat.

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Spokane Rising @spokanerising.com · 12h

All in all, it was a stellar conference, and a good reminder of why I got into working in this field.

Downtowns are critical to our country’s economic, social, environmental, political, and democratic success. We *need* to do a better job of telling this story. Our country depends on it.

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Spokane Rising @spokanerising.com · 12h

The fact that only three women have received this award is a testament to the legacy of sexism and racism in urban place management.

IDA is now doing a good job of bringing in diverse leaders from across the country. The attendees at this conference reflected all of our diversity, and then some!

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Spokane Rising @spokanerising.com · 12h

I really appreciated the conference sessions, which are always well-curated and more progressive than you’d expect.

I was also excited to see Washington’s own Kate Joncas—former head of the Downtown Seattle Association—receive IDA’s Lifetime Achievement Award, one of only three (!) women to do so.

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Spokane Rising @spokanerising.com · 12h

The outdoor food hall is in a privately-owned public space called Water Park.

Once a 1960s-era amenity to be be viewed but not used, JBG Smith has activated it with ten small businesses, a great bar, and new amenities and fixtures. There’s also a staffed public restroom which is open to all.

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Spokane Rising @spokanerising.com · 12h

Back over to National Landing, I really was blown away by their pedestrian experience. It’s gotten sooooo much better. There were comfy chairs, great landscaping, trash cans, and tree lighting.

This type of work requires a business improvement district or downtown association for active management.

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Spokane Rising @spokanerising.com · 12h

Some views of the area around the White House right now. Lafayette Park is completely blocked off, and it feels like a war zone. I don’t even think you can get onto Pennsylvania Avenue anymore as a pedestrian.

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Spokane Rising @spokanerising.com · 12h

D.C.’s parks have been undergoing a lot of change and revitalization in recent years.

Franklin Park, shown here, has a lot of great popup experiential art installations, a pavilion with public restrooms, and a stage.

The park also hosts private events, which I’d argue more cities should allow.

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Spokane Rising @spokanerising.com · 12h

The National Building Museum hosted us one evening, and it has a stellar new exhibit on the importance of American downtowns.

This museum isn’t free, unlike the Smithsonians, but it’s worth visiting for the architecture alone.

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Spokane Rising @spokanerising.com · 12h

Naturally, these conferences always have some fantastic post-session happy hours and receptions.

The Dupont Underground—once a trolley tunnel—now hosts a bar, music venue, art gallery, and event space. I loved the vibes of this space, though it could use air conditioning or swamp coolers.

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Spokane Rising @spokanerising.com · 12h

One thing I thought was particularly interesting about National Landing was the ways they’ve been able to retrofit older, 1960s-1970s office buildings to have a much more urban feel.

– New retail built *around* existing buildings
– Stellar sidewalk experience
– An outdoor (!) food hall

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Spokane Rising @spokanerising.com · 13h

JBG Smith, one of the major developers in National Landing, has developed—bar none—the best woonerf I’ve seen in the United States.

It actually functioned as a shared street!

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Spokane Rising @spokanerising.com · 13h

Of course, Amazon brings a banana stand wherever it goes.

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Spokane Rising @spokanerising.com · 13h

I spent a lot of time in National Landing, which has changed *so much* since 2017.

Say what you will about Amazon HQ2; it’s definitely made Arlington and Crystal City a lot more urban and vibrant. Lots of new buildings, incredible new public spaces, TONS of independent restaurants and retailers.

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Spokane Rising @spokanerising.com · 13h

For some reason, the street life felt less active than eight years ago when I was last there. The pandemic definitely wreaked havoc on storefronts, more so than in most cities.

The BIDs are doing some great parklets and public art installations to create visual interest. They’re very well-done.

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Spokane Rising @spokanerising.com · 13h

While some places certainly felt dystopian (Lafayette Park and the north side of the White House looks like a war zone), the majority of the city felt surprisingly normal.

There were a few signs of casual protest, and I did see a pod or two of National Guard members, looking bored.

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Spokane Rising @spokanerising.com · 13h

First, the organizers (Downtown DC BID) did a stellar job of infusing local culture into the conference agenda.

At one point, go-go (the official music of Washington, D.C.!) performers took the stage in advance of a plenary session. We also heard from the founder of the Go-Go Museum.

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Spokane Rising @spokanerising.com · 13h

In late September, I attended the International Downtown Association’s annual conference in Washington, D.C. as part of my day job.

I want to share a few observations from this gathering of urban place management professionals—downtown associations, civic and government leaders, and developers.

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Spokane Rising @spokanerising.com · 16h

lmao brutal

Spokane Rising @spokanerising.com · 1d

The 1% annual limit on the increase to the levy.

If we moved to an LVT, I’d also hope it wouldn’t be budget based, so it’s kind of moot.

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Spokane Rising @spokanerising.com · 1d

None of these things are the reasons people who say this are saying it. It’s a culture war signifier, not a signifier of legitimate consumer preference.

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Spokane Rising @spokanerising.com · 1d

The culture war signifiers are wild! People do the dame thing with Coeur d’Alene and Spokane!

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Spokane Rising @spokanerising.com · 1d

I will never understand people being afraid of Spokane “becoming like Seattle.”

Oh no, we’d be a world-renowned beacon of arts and culture, with high wages and good jobs, stellar public transit and walkable neighborhoods, and millions of international tourists!

Scary! 😱

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