Spokane lands ‘porch-swing’ honor – Forbes Magazine cites towns that evoke Norman Rockwell feeling

In case some people didn’t know Spokane is a great place to raise a family, Forbes Magazine and its publisher have cemented that reputation with a new ranking.

Forbes Publisher Rich Karlgaard, in a new book called "Life 2.0: How People Across America Are Transforming Their Lives by Finding the Where of Their Happiness," selects 150 cities that he considers high-quality alternatives to life in the fast lane.

Tom Sowa
Staff writer

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/business/story.asp?ID=22166

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The winners
‘Porch-swing’ towns

Among Rich Karlgaard’s "porch-swing" communities are:

Spokane; Boise; Des Moines, Iowa; Bismarck, N.D.; Ashland, Ore.; Bowling Green, Ohio; Columbia, Mo.; Fayetteville, Ark.; Lincoln, Neb.; Punta Gorda, Fla.

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Karlgaard’s selections are featured in the latest issue of Forbes magazine and on the forbes.com Web site.

Spokane, which Karlgaard has visited three times, falls into a category he calls "porch-swing" communities.

But Karlgaard admitted in an interview Friday the categories he used are not exact: Spokane could also have landed in one of his five other city categories. Those categories are "happy hootervilles," "steroid cities," "bohemian bargains," "IQ campuses" and "telecommuting heavens."

"Spokane, which with Des Moines, are the biggest cities in the porch-swing group, could easily have been in the bohemian bargains group," Karlgaard said. That category is meant to include cities that have vibrant downtowns with a slower-paced lifestyle.

Two other Inland Northwest cities landed in Karlgaard’s groupings. Sandpoint was placed in the telecommuting heavens category — cities that allow a laid-back lifestyle for white-collar workers who perform specialized projects for companies in larger metropolitan areas. Missoula, Mont., was in Karlgaard’s IQ campus group of cities, where universities serve as the intellectual and economic heart of a community.

The porch-swing group of cities, Karlgaard said, was meant to suggest places that have a Norman Rockwell feeling, complete with "parades, county fairs and summer evenings playing kick-the-can."

Karlgaard admits he never sees anyone now playing kick-the-can, anywhere.

"But Spokane is the kind of city where it’s possible for parents to leave their kids out in the evening with some degree of safety," he said. "That makes it much different from cities like Reno or Las Vegas," he said, two towns that fit into his steroid city group of towns with fast growth and a strong business climate.

"I really like Spokane," Karlgaard said.