POLL #8: Should Market St. Be Converted To 3 Lanes?

Back in September, 2008, we met with Chad Coles with the county engineers office and discussed some ideas for the future of our neighborhood. One of the ideas we had was to convert Market, from Francis north, from four lanes to three. The main reason was safety for those traveling thru our neighborhood and for those who live or work along that stretch. Chad seemed to like the idea and said studies show almost as much traffic can flow thru with three lanes as four lanes. The county may take a closer look at this in a couple of years after additional lanes are finished on the North Spokane Corridor. Question: do you like this idea or dislike it?

POLL #7: STA Tax?

As you may have read in the paper or heard on the news lately, the Spokane Transit System is undergoing a review of it's routes to make some cutbacks in expenses. They are planning to cut back on a number of routes and loose some drivers through attrition, and maybe some other personnel. As part of their route review process they have been looking for input from the public at large. Back around July, 2008, we invited Molly Meyers, STA Communications Manager, out to chat with us about the possibility of extending bus service north of Francis to serve more of our neighborhood. Shortly after that meeting the economy began to tank and, almost three years later, our hopes still have  not happened. As part of their current public input effort, I called Molly to again request, and make part of the public record, that the Crestline bus route extend north up to maybe the round-a-bout then back down to Francis with a minimal amount of stops to help serve the west side of our neighborhood and the east side of the Calkins Annexation area (all those apartments). I told her they could find the extra 5 minutes by eliminating some of the redundant stops on other parts of the current route. Anyway, it's part of the record now.


Back years ago I remember there was something like a $1 assessment placed on residences to help fund STA when there was another big dip. So my poll question is about whether or not you would be willing to be assessed again in this fashion to help keep a healthy mass transit system in Spokane. I will disclose here that I did make the leap on January 1st and now buy a monthly bus pass to get to work. And I have no regrets for doing this. Like someone at work once commented: "it keeps me grounded". Lots to see......

New Hillyard Hobo Bulletin

I have uploaded the latest Hillyard Hobo Bulletin for anyone to view or download. There is an article about Rogers high school and an interesting section about some former classmates who went on to become somewhat famous. Like Bob Briley of KHQ fame. Enjoy!

Photo Albums Page Added!

Hello Neighbors,
We have added a photos album page to the blog. So far the albums are:
     Morgan Acres Historical
     Hillyard Historical
     Daniel Morgan
     Horse Sense
     Our Best Friends
     Hall of Fame
If you want photos added of your horses, pets, family, or if you or someone you know has old photos of the Morgan Acres/Hillyard we'd like to post them. Check out the Morgan Acres Photos page.

POLL #6: A New Jail

I had to think on this question for a couple days. In Friday's Spokesman Review there was an article about the new jail Spokane County would like to build. At a meeting held in Medical Lake nobody was in favor of rezoning enough land for the new jail. If built, it will need 40 acres. I wondered about why they couldn't locate it near our area since we have a lot of land zoned light industrial already. Plus, once the freeway is completed there will be quick access to it from most parts of the county, city, and valley. And it will bring better paying jobs to our area. Would this be such a bad thing?


On the flip side, yes there will be more traffic. More police vehicles coming and going from the jail, as well as inmate representatives and family maybe. And simply the idea of inmates being warehoused in our neck of the woods might seem a little unsettling to some. What are your thoughts? Do the poll and sound off in the comments section of this post. The Greater Morgan Acres Neighborhood Association has never discussed this topic and has no opinion, for or against.

Morgan Acres Article @ HistoryLink.org

I came across a nice article about Morgan Acres at HistoryLink. It gives some background of the area before the first settlers arrived, why the area was slow to develop, and about the founder of of our neighborhood, Daniel Morgan. It was written by Stephen Emerson of EWU, who also wrote about our history in our subarea plan.