WSU, EWU Students Join to Address Smart Growth for Riverpoint District

November 21, 2006

By Communications staff, Washington State University

SPOKANE, Wash. As Spokane’s university district has begun to take shape over the past few years, advocates for smart growth have argued that more can be done to develop the district in a way that better fosters economic and environmental progress and sustains a high quality of life. An information session intended to provide the public with a preview of such possibilities will take place on the Riverpoint Campus from 5 to 7 p.m. Nov. 29 in the South Campus Facility, adjacent to the Bookie.

The special information session has been organized by Spokane campus faculty members Bob Scarfo, an associate professor at Washington State University, and Dick Winchell, a professor at Eastern Washington University. The pair decided this fall to work across institutional boundaries and join their classes in an effort to address the issue. As a result, undergraduate students from the WSU’s Interdisciplinary Design Studio have teamed up with graduate students taking Winchell’s Advanced Community Development class at EWU.

Combining the perspectives of the design disciplines and the urban planning field, the students have been looking at planning and design scenarios for smart growth in a portion of the campus along the Sprague Avenue business district between Division and Sherman. That area will be the focus of a January 2007 visit by a team from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which will work with local business and community leaders to examine the economic and capital improvement potential of applying smart growth principles.

The City of Spokane is one of five communities to benefit from the EPA’s Smart Growth Implementation Assistance Program, which provides technical assistance to help communities find the best tools and resources to plan for smart growth. The focus for Spokane is to encourage smart growth development in the district by creating greater bike and pedestrian opportunities, encouraging infill development, restoring the Spokane River, and improving accessibility.

Scarfo and Winchell’s students hope that the public information session will serve their ultimate goal, which is to raise public awareness and understanding of smart growth in advance of the January EPA team visit.

The session will be kicked off with a presentation by a city official, after which each class will make a short presentation of their work, which will also be on display in poster format. Following the presentations, the public will have an opportunity to view the posters and engage in discussions regarding the potential of the work displayed.

The students’ work will also be shown during the EPA team’s visit, and the students have been invited to participate in the three-day series of seminars, discussions, and workshops that make up the visit.

Scarfo said the project has been a good experience for the students involved. In addition to learning to work across disciplines which professionals working in public sector development must do every day the project encourages students to develop critical thinking skills with regard to how design and planning can contribute to healthy aging and the conservation of precious resources such as water and energy.

“Given the emerging global trends, I want my students to be ahead of the curve,” Scarfo said.

About the Interdisciplinary Design Institute

The Interdisciplinary Design Institute at WSU Spokane advances knowledge to enhance the quality of people’s lives in the built and natural environment through interdisciplinary instruction, research and community service. Research and design at the institute focus in particular on people and place, design history and community service learning, with sustainable design being the theme throughout the curriculum. Faculty and students from all design disciplines are brought together for a one-of-a-kind opportunity in higher learning and discovery. Internationally renowned faculty and students from architecture, interior design and landscape architecture work collaboratively to improve people’s lives through the advancement of design. This distinctive interdisciplinary experience, combined with state-of-the-art facilities located near downtown Spokane, creates an outstanding professional academic and research environment.

About WSU Spokane

WSU Spokane is the urban campus of Washington State University, a land-grant research university founded in 1890. The campus features advanced studies and research in health sciences and health professions, the design disciplines, education, social and policy sciences, and science and technology. Washington State University is one of just 95 public and private research universities with very high research activity, according to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching classifications. In addition, “U.S. News & World Report” ranks WSU as one of the top public research universities in the nation.