Downtown Spokane - Geography

Geography

The topography of Downtown Spokane is mostly flat except for areas downstream of the Spokane Falls which are located in a canyon. South of downtown slopes up to the South Hill, quite steeply in some places such as Pioneer Park, where long cliffs oriented east-west provide great views of the downtown, the North Side and Spokane Valley to the east. Downtown straddles Sprague Avenue which divides the city into North and South. On the eastern end of Downtown Division Street splits the city into East and West. I-90 is elevated thru almost all of downtown, often with parking lots underneath but occasional blocks are solid cement, forming a barrier at the southern end of Downtown. Immediately south of the interstate the high density area continues into a growing medical district with Spokane's two largest hospitals, Sacred Heart and Deaconess. To the west one is one of Spokane's oldest neighborhoods and densest neighborhoods, Browne's Addition. In the photo, Browne's addition is the treed area in the foreground on the right. The left side of the foreground is the valley cut by the Spokane river immediately downstream of the falls, this area is the small and similar neighborhood of Peaceful Valley. Gonzaga University is located just upstream on the north side of the river from Downtown. Across the river from Gonzaga is the new University District home campuses of Eastern Washington University and Washington State University, Division street separates Downtown from the University District.