There’s a good chance that question will seem ridiculous in coming years.

But as downtown begins to fill with new residents in buildings like the Chronicle (32 units), the Ridpath (214 units), The M (105 units), smaller projects like the West End Lofts, and major new developments on the North Bank and in Kendall Yards, it is worth asking whether future residents will have everything they need to enjoy satisfying, comfortable, and productive lives downtown.

Will they have enough green space? Certainly the downtown core is no slouch for parkland, given the stature of Riverfront Park. But downtown’s fringes—areas like East Main and the West End, which also happen to be residential centers already—lack substantial green space, parkland, plazas, street trees, and even decent landscaping. New public parks and plazas will cap combined sewer overflow tanks under construction on the West End and on Spokane Falls Boulevard, but East Main continues to stand out for its lack of green or programmable plaza space.

Will it be inviting for pedestrians? At present, walking around downtown can a fragmented, confusing experience if you don’t already know where you’re going; gaps in the urban fabric between Stevens and Browne along Main are perhaps the most notorious example. By gradually developing surface parking lots, activating vacant storefronts with art at the very minimum, and requiring sidewalk-interfacing activity on a higher percentage of a building’s frontage, we can create a more interactive and interesting pedestrian environment. Fortunately, planning efforts to this end are already underway at the City of Spokane and the Downtown Spokane Partnership.

Will residents be able to go through a typical day without leaving the core? Right now, some very basic needs still require a trip to a shopping center or grocery store outside of downtown, either in a car or on a Spokane Transit bus. The new grocery store in Kendall Yards should alleviate that somewhat, especially given its late hours, but it’s not exactly an easy walk across the river unless you’re near River Park Square (or already on the North Bank). For many, downtown’s Rite-Aid and the grocery stores in Browne’s Addition remain indispensable. In the future, enterprising developers should consider residents’ most everyday and yet not-always-top-of-mind concerns when recruiting tenants—because hopping in the car for a dozen eggs or a new toothbrush kind of defeats one of the most common purposes of living downtown.

So, is downtown livable?

Yes, it is—but as always in urban life, there’s much more we can do to improve the experience. As the Downtown Plan update gets underway, and as developers begin construction on major projects aimed at attracting new residents to our city’s core, let’s consider what makes an urban place enjoyable, people-centered, and well-designed. And let’s keep enhancing quality of life for all the residents to come.

Anthony Gill is an economic development professional and a graduate of Santa Clara University. He is the founder of Spokane Rising, an urbanist blog focused on ways to make Spokane a better place to live.