I remember the first time I visited the Scoop. A friend who lived in the neighborhood had invited me for coffee, and I was shocked that I had missed the place from years and years of driving just a couple blocks over on Bernard. The place was so perfectly hidden.

I’m glad I had found it though, because the Scoop is just one of Spokane’s spectacular neighborhood businesses. With its simple, urban-designed space, it somehow fits perfectly with nearby homes and structures despite not really resembling any of them. Doyle’s, Rockwood Bakery and Batch Bakeshop all serve similar functions in other parts of the city.

These types of small, neighborhood-oriented coffee shops, markets and cafés dot our city and play an important role in many residents’ daily lives. They’re cultural institutions, equally perfect for coffee before work, a treat with family, a bag of groceries or live music on a Friday evening.

Because shops like the Rocket have become so integral in our daily lives, it’s easy to forget that across the country, these types of commercial spaces––located in some cases in the middle of single-family neighborhoods––are not at all the norm. During the height of American urbanization and the advent of the automobile, planners strictly separated differing land uses, spurring the development of strip malls and drive-thru restaurants.

But in Spokane, our inner neighborhoods developed relatively early in the 20th century, spurred along by an extensive streetcar system. Many of the commercial spaces we love today originally served trolley riders—even those outside of more established centers like Garland and Monroe. Over time, as the car began to dominate and the streetcar system closed, some spaces retained their retail-oriented use, but others were converted to homes and written out of the zoning code.

Until now. While most of our favorite neighborhood businesses have been operating for decades, the City of Spokane recently allowed former commercial spaces within residential areas to be reused as neighborhood-serving retail. It’s a low-impact designation which roughly mirrors places like The Scoop and Batch Bakeshop. It also exempts potential business-owners from off-street parking requirements and other regulations which often make these projects difficult to pencil.

Developers are starting to take advantage of the new rules. A new brewery and bakery called the Grain Shed will open soon in a converted structure near South Perry, and developer Rob Brewster is working on a neighborhood café nearby. In all, about 100 former commercial buildings across the city, including many in north and central Spokane, are eligible for the new rules.

Every neighborhood in this city deserves a Scoop, or a Doyle’s, or a Rocket Market, or a Batch Bakeshop. These small businesses make our city more livable in subtle and interesting ways. They should inspire both national and regional envy.

Let’s continue building on this unique feature of our city.

Anthony Gill is an economic development professional and the founder of Spokane Rising, an urbanist blog focused on ways to make our city a better place to live.