Spokane, Washington 1983

Description

Downtown Spokane feels energetic and modern in this early-80s street scene. A pair of city buses turns through the intersection while pedestrians wait at the corner beneath the bright red LEEDS department store sign. A USA Today newspaper box sits near the curb — still a relatively new sight at the time, having launched only the year before.

Across the junction, a massive rainbow-striped Apple Computer billboard dominates the side of a brick building, advertising “the computer store” during the era when home computing was just beginning to enter the mainstream. On the street, a cream-coloured Ford Pinto wagon and other early-80s cars navigate the traffic.

Street signs point toward Howard, Division and Newberry Square, while a digital clock display shows the time. Shoppers, office workers and people out enjoying the sunshine create a lively mix, capturing Spokane at a moment when technology, retail and public transit were helping reshape the rhythm of the city.