It’s not an original story. Once thriving urban center falls on hard times as population sprawls beyond city borders, shopping malls pop up in suburban areas and the sound of Petula Clark’s famous “Downtown” melody fades away.

Well into the 1960s, downtown Spokane, led by The Crescent Department Store and the Bon Marche, remained the only place to shop for hundreds of miles in any direction. However, with the advent of big box stores, suburban and rural retailing, downtown lost its retail dominance, and by 1990, nearly all stores on Riverside, which once had been a retail street, had been boarded up. Weeds were starting to grow between the cracks in the sidewalks.

By the mid-1990s, downtown Spokane had reached a tipping point: bet nothing and lose, or go all-in.

Community leaders made that bet. They bet on River Park Square, on creating an exclusive shopping experience you won’t find within 300 miles of Spokane. Walt Worthy bet on a dilapidated hotel, and the transformation of the Historic Davenport Hotel to its former grandeur has attracted visitors far and wide and earned it an AAA Four Diamond distinction. Basketball enthusiasts bet that if you found enough asphalt, tens-of-thousands would show up each year to play three on three, street-style.

Twenty plus years—and many hands of play—later, the bet paid off and the pot is still growing. Citizens have said yes to new and improved streets and yes to a revitalized Riverfront Park.

Odds makers are hoping that citizens will also bet big on two other projects. The Central City Line, public transport, would connect the east and west ends of the city through downtown and spur economic growth along its route. A proposed new Sports Plex nestled on the corner of the north bank of Riverfront Park and the Spokane Arena would bring more major sporting events to Spokane and provide an unparalleled recreation experience.

Established commerce and audacious entrepreneurs are getting in on the action. A mix of local and national businesses are taking over street-level storefronts and restaurant space.

An evening stroll through downtown can lead you to a destination of any number of unique eateries, with nationally acclaimed chefs. Along that stroll stop in for a custom cocktail, let the sound wafting out onto the sidewalk draw you in to catch a local musician, poet or author.

The leadership who made the gamble in the ‘90s has made room for play by a new generation: a grassroots generation of artists, entrepreneurs, and creatives with ambition. Creative collaborators are occupying formerly empty warehouse space, vacant storefronts are filled with art and expression, and small business and craftspeople are fostered and nurtured, and they are doing it downtown.

Not a weekend passes between March and September without a major activity in Riverfront Park, River Park Square, the Spokane Convention Center, the Spokane Arena or the streets of downtown itself.

Most excitingly, people are interested in living downtown. Decay and dissolution have been replaced by renovation, excitement and opportunity. Historic properties are being retrofitted from printing presses and department stores to high rise rentals, with a winery downstairs and a 100-acre park to serve as the backyard.

A shuffle of the deck two decades ago dealt a thriving center for business, retail, entertainment, and more; downtown is a celebration of old and new, history and innovation, engineering and art, that constantly surprises and thrills.

The volume has now been turned up on a new “Downtown” melody. In the music video filmed in Spokane for his 2015 hit song, recording artist, Macklemore, struts through the city, dancing at the Parkade, The Bennett Block and the Fox Theater. Even though the song is loud, and gritty and thoroughly different from the jazzy stylings of the original “Downtown,” Clark and Macklemore share a message. Downtown is a destination, a place for everyone.

Let go, give in and start your story.

Born and raised in Spokane, Elisabeth Hooker holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and Public Relations from Washington State University and has enjoyed building her career in the Inland Northwest. Prior to joining the Downtown Spokane Partnership in April of 2014, Elisabeth spent a decade at STCU building educational programs for youth and adults as well as cultivating community programs and volunteerism.