City reaches for the top – Coeur d’Alene hits No. 5 in USA Today’s top emerging cities

The listing, under the heading of "The Top 10 Best Emerging Cities" in Tuesday’s edition of USA Today, is short and to the point:

• No. 5, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. "Beautiful mountain setting" only 20 miles east of Spokane, but "growth and crowding are having an impact."

By LYNN BERK
Staff writer

http://www.cdapress.com/articles/2004/03/31/news/news01.txt

No. 1, in case you care, is Ithaca, N.Y., with the caveat "lots of snow and precipitation." No. 10, on the other hand, is Idaho Falls, "Gateway to Yellowstone Park and Grand Tetons, but town is ‘nondescript’ without ‘much to do.’"

Who do you trust to fight terrorism?
Ouch.

Residents and workers in Coeur d’Alene are just surprised they didn’t beat out Ithaca for the number one slot. While some cited obvious problems like low wages and lack of jobs, every one of those polled by The Press following USA Today’s Tuesday publication pointed to that lake and those mountains as the best reasons for living here.

Well, that, and, as young Liz Navetta says, "Lots of good looking men in the summer."

For Wendy Bozanich, who moved to the Lake City from Priest River only five years ago, "Summer is top notch." Bozanich and Navetta, who both work at the Coeur d’Alene Resort, kept gazing wistfully out at the sparkling blue water while they helped seat and serve guests at the Dockside Restaurant.

"You can’t beat the view," Navetta adds.

"And the boating and the fishing," Bozanich says.

Neither objects to the growth in the area, growth that becomes more and more obvious to them with every day they come to work: Some customer who was a tourist is now a resident.

"Growth means tons of people, but I think it’s good," Navetta says. "There’s new stuff to do and more ethnicity — and a lot of people looking for homes."

Bozanich agrees. "This area has changed completely, and the growth is good for the economy. It’s amazing," says the blue-eyed blonde hostess. "But I can’t count how many people I meet here who are just visiting. Then they fall in love with the area and a month later, they’re living here."

Eric Nelson, the youthful manager of the Pyramid Printing skateboard shop on 4th Street, thinks it’s a little more complicated than that.

"As a businessman, I enjoy the growth. My sales are up," he says. "But I would like to see the wages go up. It’s hard to live here because nobody can live on minimum wage."

Still, he says, aside from that, "There’s not a lot here I don’t like. The crime is low — you know when they’re busting skateboarders and giving them tickets that there aren’t many axe murderers around. Plus, I like seeing the lake and watching the tourists enjoy it, too."

Up near Harrison Street, 3-year-old Shawntea Shaw is fascinated by a woman’s black high-heeled shoes. "I like your shoes," she says happily, and sticks her little feet out. "These are sandals. I have high-heeled black shoes, but I felled." Her little face frowns.

Her brother, 7-year-old Justin, nods happily. "She did," he said as he climbs up the nearest street as effortlessly as King Kong scaled the Empire State Building. "She fell on her head."

Their mother, Brandi Shaw, has only lived here two months, coming down from Newport, Wash., to be with her family.

"I like it here," she says. "It’s beautiful, and it really doesn’t seem like Spokane. I’d mind the growth if Spokane and Post Falls and Coeur d’Alene all grew to become one big city, but growth is good for jobs. It took me two weeks to find a job as a waitress."

Luke Gibbs is using his lunch break from Capone’s to smoke a cigarette. Only 24, he’s a "newbie," too, he says, just moving down here from McCall.

"It’s a change for me," he said. "A pretty big change. Coeur d’Alene is about six times the size of where I come from. But I like it here. I like the job, the area — everybody’s laid back here, everybody’s nice around here, and so’s the weather."

Capone bartender Jeff Strong is the very picture of laid-back in his bright-red Hawaiian shirt. He likes his job just fine. But if the Chamber of Commerce ever needs a spokesman, he’d be a good bet.

"This is the greatest town in the world," he says. "Greatest people in the world, great attitude. I’ve been in other towns that weren’t willing to grow, that were just in what they were and not progressive at all. But I love everything about the area.

"I love the four seasons," he went on. "As far as I’m concerned, this is the best of both worlds. It’s just a beautiful town. I mean — " he waves his hand around. "Look at this — it’s not quite April and it’s 70 degrees outside."

Rhonda Williams, who can’t wait to plant flowers and vegetables in the window of Intermountain Security in downtown Coeur d’Alene, calls USA Today’s designation ‘bittersweet" because it will surely bring growth and change to her pretty little town.

Williams is 43 and grew up here. "I don’t think you can find a more beautiful place with such low crime," she says. "But our wages are very low here, horribly low, and I’m not sure why. Everybody needs to try and figure it out. My parents live part of the time here and part of the time in Arizona, and they’re amazed at how much more everything costs here — rent, groceries. It’s unbelievable."

She stops and looks out at 4th Street. "It’s sad to see the old buildings go, and it’s sad that we can’t see the wide-open prairie anymore. But it’s something that has to be."

Lynn Berk can be reached at 664-8176 ext. 2016 or at [email protected].

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