neighborhood overview

As the name suggests it is located centrally on the west side of the city. Downtown Spokane is immediately east of the neighborhood, and spreads into West Central along Monroe Street in the Kendall Yards area. The neighborhood is diverse, with single and multi-family residential zones dating back to the early days of Spokane, a new mixed use development on the site of a former rail yard, the Spokane County Courthouse campus and associated government buildings and a few commercial districts. The Spokane River gorge winds around the southern and western edge of the neighborhood. It is home to Nettleton's Addition Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in March 2006, and is also the largest historic district on the Washington State Heritage Register (as of 2005).

The mixture of old and new single and multi-family housing, light industrial, commercial, institutional and government facilities, scenic open space, and the proximity to downtown give the area a blending of sights, sounds, and activities. West Central still has the look and feel of its historical past, from the ever present courthouse tower, old streetcar rails remaining in the street pavement, and block after block of tightly built houses from the early twentieth century. In contrast, the new 77 acre, mixed-use community of Kendall Yards is steadily emerging, offering a modern living environment in the heart of Spokane.