Spokane Attracts Families with "Top 100" Award

By Jim Grapes  - October 5, 2007

Spokane Washington continues to be a major destination for families looking to move to a great community when their major focus is to benefit their children. People searching for a great place for young people normally study the amenities and characteristics of many target communities and time and again relocate to Spokane because of its great combination of features contributing to a nurturing environment. Most people searching and evaluating alternative communities also quickly recognize the great values Spokane homes offer prospective home buyers. Spokane has what it takes to attract families and this fact was recently confirmed by Colin Powell's America's Promise Alliance.

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell founded America's Promise in 1997 to provide leadership, encouragement and recognition for communities providing wholesome environments which permit young people to grow and thrive. America's Promise Alliance believes communities owe a moral obligation its children and express this obligation in "Five Promises." America's Promise works to encourage the fulfillment of these promises and to recognize excellent communities that achieve them. The Five Promises are: Caring Adults, Safe Places, A Healthy Start, An Effective Education and Opportunities to Help Others. Studies show cities providing more of these promises to the community produce children more likely to avoid violence, contribute to their communities and achieve high grades in school. Achieving these Five Promises also helps to mitigate gaps across racial and economic boundaries.

To recognize and reward communities successful at achieving the Five Promises America's Promise Alliance created a competition with an award called the "100 Best Communities for Young People". The "100 Best" is a competition based on a community's attention to the issues facing young people. For the 2008 competition cycle more than 750 communities applied to compete for recognition of their hard work providing a great place young people to achieve success. The most recent results of the competition were announced recently in Washington DC on September 22-23, 2008.

Spokane Washington exemplifies the realization of the Five Promises and has won a place in the 2008 "100 Best Communities for Young People" as selected by America's Promise Alliance, based in Washington DC. Actually, Spokane Washington has won this award for the third consecutive time and is one of only 43 cities in the United States to receive this recognition three straight times.
Spokane, the easternmost city in Washington State, was chosen as one of the "100 Best" due to their fulfillment in upholding the Five Promises. In Spokane an extraordinary partnership of business leaders, social service agencies, media and other community partners, launched a campaign, "Our Kids: Our Business," to inform the community about the threat of abuse to our children and the impact it has not only on children's lives and the community.

According to America's Promise Alliance, "Spokane is a progressive community supported by a dynamic network of organizations and business leaders committed to the success of its youth," according to program materials. "In Spokane, it's about developing relationships with youth, connecting them with resources and growth opportunities, and empowering them to be the best they can be."
Spokane Washington focuses on developing relationships with youth, connecting them with resources and growth opportunities, and empowering its young people to achieve. Garnering praise, recognition and awards from Forbes, Fortune and National Geographic Adventure magazines, among others, Spokane does not work for the “awards” but the “rewards”—seeing its children thrive and succeed.

These efforts creating a great community for young people have also been noticed by the general public. United States migration studies show Spokane attracts families from all across our nation. As a Spokane Realtor many people search my we site from many regions around the country everyday.  I have personally helped people from California, Nevada, Montana, Illinois, Minnesota, Wyoming and Texas this year. In addition to being a great place for young people to thrive Spokane has great climate and weather, a diverse and stable economy with a wide variety of industries and a very affordable housing market. All of these features in our community makes Spokane real estate very attractive.