Introduction and Teasers
Named for it's most prominent natural feature, Spokan Falls is the third-largest of Oregon's cities with an incorporated population of 630,000 (2010 Census). Including the sprawling industrial neighbor to the east, Chief Joseph, the Falls County metro area is home to 1.2 million residents.
The ninety-acre Havermale Arboretum encapsulates the rapids of the upper falls in the city's core. Preserved with remarkable foresight early in the city's history, the park has nonethess incurred terrible hidden costs.
The once human-scaled skyline changed dramatically with the arrival of corporate offices relocating in the wake of the 1975 eruption of Mt. Tahoma. The burial of the ports of Duwamish and Tahoma, once the "Hong Kong of the Northwest" led to agressive interest in Spokan Falls as a regional platform for reconstruction. Some unsavory entities have established a lasting presence.
The continued power of the national rail system as the primary mode of freight transport kept the city at the forefront of the region's commerce for many decades. The arrival of the Interstate Speedway network in the early 1970's was once percieved as a grave threat here. The electric train and subnet lines were constructed in the 1940's at the peak of Spokan Falls' industrial might, and recieved a substantial upgrade in the '90s.
Small businesses call Spokan Falls home too, even if their owners feel a bit displaced from time to time. The greatest care has been taken by recent administrations to accomodate small shops and homeowners when the need arises for large-scale public works projects. The memory of the North Spokan Falls Bypass fiasco is still fresh in the minds of two generations.
While considerable disagreement remains with the state's 2nd-largest city, Willamette over the use of the title, Spokan Falls is proud to call itself "The City of Roses". A proposal to call it "The Lilac City" was shot down in 1913 following a freak accident with some loss of life, and lilacs remain a source of superstition to this day.
Welcome to Spokan Falls!
Thanks to New Horizons Productions for the map, and many thanks to NDEX, Around the Roses, and the whole gigantic BSC for all of the incredible BATS that have made this so much fun to play. Too many to list properly , but Simfox made the crazy hyperrealistic trees. Post-processing of photos with GIMP 2.0 More later!
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