Spokane on the Couch – Last week’s Spokane Regional Economic Development Summit was, according to many, a genuine success.

But while the Davenport Hotel ballroom was packed with more than 200 business and political solons and savants, each taking turns spinning their own forecasts of Spokane’s economic weather, one scholar was mysteriously missing.

The absence of Dr. Shane Mahoney at a meeting of regional economic thinkers was conspicuous, though hardly surprising. Especially if you agree with the claims he made in a 39-page monograph published by the Institute for Public Policy and Economic Analysis in September. The monograph, entitled "Culture and Economic Development in the Spokane Region," has created a kind of uproar in economic circles. Or, if not an uproar, at least a small, weird, Spokane kind of brouhaha.

by Joel Smith

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The Boise Mystique

by Cara Gardner

I’ve just spent three days and two nights in Boise trying to figure out why there’s so much more buzz about Idaho’s capital city than there is about Spokane. Boise has become a favorite hotspot for the California elite and retiree crowds, was recently rated one of the most bicycle-friendly cities and is gaining a reputation as a haven for the innovative and creative.

I’ve spoken to business owners, economic development leaders and young people in bars. I’ve bugged strangers in Boise’s restaurants to ask them their thoughts on the matter and have called friends who’ve lived in both cities for their insights.

I’m still looking for a definitive answer.

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