Several weeks ago, I had the opportunity to visit Spokane. And as I've learned from visits to many other cities, it's smart to expect the unexpected. Every city has its share of pleasant (and sometimes unpleasant) surprises. Spokane is a city of mostly pleasant surprises. 

As a visitor approaches Spokane from the airport, it's easy to understand why settlers chose this spot -- a valley protected by surrounding hills and mountains, and a river. Like many cities of this size, Spokane also seems to have a stock of attractive older neighborhoods in close proximity to downtown. 

Another first impression -- downtown Spokane has a better stock of pre-World War II buildings than most mid-sized cities. Spokane seems to have a sense of the value of these structures. Not all are architectural or historic treasures, but most are handsome and useful reminders of the city's history. 

A visitor to downtown gets the impression that Spokane is quite clean and safe -- fundamental qualities in an era when most of us have visited Disney World and expect downtowns to measure up to a Disney standard. Those of us who work to promote and improve downtowns generally equate a clean and safe downtown with the existence of an effective business improvement district. And after several years of collecting evidence in various locations, this seems a fairly safe conclusion. 

Downtown Spokane's leaders -- both public and private -- are an interesting and impressive lot, though they certainly have differing visions of what downtown should be and differing views of how the city should achieve that vision. Central to the vision discussion is River Park Square. 

Most downtown organizations I know would give a fairly useful body part -- an arm, a leg or at least an eye tooth -- to have a River Park Square in their downtown.  Most would also have selected a different solution to the parking issues surrounding this facility. But given the choice between having a River Park Square and the attendant parking issues or not having a River Park Square, most would opt to have this undeniable attraction. 

What most downtowns are doing these days to achieve the visions they've identified for themselves is to capitalize on the potential they already have. Not many are striving to be the next Hollywood, the next Las Vegas or the next Orlando. Putting the world's largest rain forest in downtown Des Moines (a very serious proposal a few years ago) does not build on that city's history and tradition, even if it might draw as many as a couple of million visitors a year. 

Spokane -- and particularly downtown Spokane -- has great potential. It has water -- in fact, a beautiful river and a stunning waterfall. People are attracted to water. 

It has location -- a location of great natural beauty and the opportunity to capture a sizable market because the nearest competing cities are on the other side of the state. As I mentioned earlier, it has a great stock of older buildings -- some elegant, some ordinary -- but all with the potential to create a place people want to be. 

It has a strong, effective downtown organization. Few cities are so successful that they can identify a vision, set and achieve goals, and then maintain a focused effort over time without an organization with the resources and resolve to stay on task. 
I met with a number of government appointed and elected officials. To a person, they all value downtown (not always the case in other cities); they feel passionately about city government responsibility to maintain a strong downtown. And they have differing ideas as to how downtown can best be pushed forward. I sensed, however, some common core values and an opportunity to build consensus on some key issues. 

Over the next few months, Spokane's business and civic leaders will be making some important choices regarding the future of downtown. They will consider renewing the downtown Business Improvement District. They will probably undertake a long-overdue parking study. Coordination between the BID and parking is, in my view, extremely important. 

I believe these two decisions -- renewing the BID and creating a customer-friendly downtown parking system -- will help to determine the future of downtown Spokane. Downtowns that are not clean, safe and accessible stand little chance of success in the coming years.  And make no mistake, downtown is the heart of any region. Why did the terrorists strike the World Trade Center instead of the Mall of America? I think we all know the answer to that question. 

I have a sense of confidence that in the end, Spokane officials and residents will come together and find a common vision and constructive solutions for downtown -- a vision that builds on the city's history and taps the enormous potential that lies within, and solutions that are good long-term investments for the public and private sectors, and for the entire community. 
David M. Feehan is president of the International Downtown Association, based in Washington, D.C.