The City of Spokane is home to some 195,500 residents; there are around 418,000 residents in the metropolitan area. Spokane is located in the heart of the Inland Northwest, and it serves as a shopping, entertainment, and medical hub for an area that includes Eastern Washington, Eastern Oregon, North Idaho, Western Montana, and southern portions of Alberta and British Columbia. The Spokane River runs through our downtown with spectacular falls on the western end of our city core. Beautiful Riverfront Park also is in the heart of our city.

We are an outdoors-lover's paradise, with downhill and cross-country skiing, white-water rafting, camping areas, hiking trails, numerous lakes, and the Centennial Trail all in our backyard. We are home to the largest timed road race in the nation - Bloomsday - and the largest three-on-three street basketball tournament - Hoopfest.

The median household income in our County in 2002 was $41,636. That's up modestly from $40,615 in the previous year. However, we still lag behind Western Washington cities. Average annual unemployment for 2002 was 6.9 percent, up from 6.5 percent in 2001. The average Spokane-area sales price of homes sold during 2002 was $124,973.