(The Center Square) – Quality of life is continuing to fall across the Spokane region, with voters feeling less safe downtown than they did last April, according to a survey from Greater Spokane Incorporated.
GSI released the third Spokane Pulse Survey on Thursday, following another in May 2025 and October 2024. The latest poll comes ahead of an election less than two weeks away. Homelessness and public safety remained the top concerns in 600 interviews last month, along with politics, housing and taxes.
Several Spokane City Council candidates have taken strong stances on homelessness, either vowing to reinstate a voter-approved camping ban or supporting progressive policies. The first survey yielded a countywide quality-of-life score of 3.6 out of 10, which fell to 3.5 last spring and now to 3.3 this fall.
Residents still reported feeling safer visiting downtown last month than in October 2024, but that data point fell 6% from the previous survey conducted last April. Now, 62% of people feel safe in downtown Spokane during the daytime, compared with only 25% at night, down from 68% and 30% last spring.
“Pulse remains one step in a larger effort, not just to understand the community, but really to build a stronger, more unified Spokane and Spokane region,” Christine Varela, chair of GSI’s Regional Advisory Committee and partner of a social impact agency called DH, said Thursday during a press conference.
EMC Research Director Kevin White said only about one in three voters feels like the region is heading in the right direction. Meanwhile, roughly two-thirds of voters have actively considered moving out of the Spokane area — about 66% of respondents, compared to 64% last April and 58% in October 2024.
The research team also asked voters to rank policies that they think could have the biggest impact on public safety on a scale of one out of seven, with seven representing “very significant impact.” About 58% listed seven for prohibiting camping on public property, with another 20% listing it as five to six.
Since the last Pulse survey, the Spokane City Council has replaced a voter-approved camping ban with Mayor Lisa Brown’s new citywide ordinance. Police Chief Kevin Hall recently described the camping ban as unenforceable after officers went months without issuing citations or referrals to service providers.
Both say amendments to the camping ban are in the works and will eventually come to a council vote.
“We do see a lot of opportunity,” GSI CEO Alisha Benson said Thursday. “[This] certainly reinforces quite clearly both what the issues are that are top of mind and how voters would like to see them addressed.”
According to the most recent survey, 65% of respondents reported visiting downtown less often than a year ago. About 76% support funding treatment services, with 71% supporting funding mental health response teams and 69% supporting funding more police, all of which are higher than in the last poll.
However, 65% of respondents believe the city of Spokane already has enough money to address these priorities and say officials need to spend it more effectively. Around 60% don’t trust that the city will spend their tax dollars responsibly, rising to 71% specifically for public safety and homelessness.
“Six in 10 don’t necessarily trust local government to spend their tax dollars,” White said, “and seven in 10 don’t necessarily trust that local government has an effective plan to address these critical issues.”
Voters have until November 4 — only 12 days — to cast their ballot for the 2025 general election.
