SPOKANE — Gay activists in this staid Eastern Washington city are planning to create a neighborhood of gay-oriented homes, businesses and nightlife, which religious conservatives complain will be at odds with Spokane's family-oriented culture.

A gay district would signal that Spokane is tolerant and progressive, proponents contend, the type of community that can attract the so-called "creative class" that will build the economy of tomorrow.

"We're talking about an actual, physical part of town we would like to establish as a gay district," said Marvin Reguindin, owner of a Spokane graphic-design firm, who envisions an area similar to the Castro district of San Francisco or Capitol Hill in Seattle.

Community Impact Spokane, a network of evangelical Christians, is appalled.

"A gay Mecca is not what we'd like to see Spokane marketed as," said Penny Lancaster, director of the group. "I'd rather see us promoted as a conservative, family-oriented community without any reference to sexual orientation."

Too late, some say.

Information on the Web Inland Northwest Business Alliance: www.inbaspokane.org Community Impact Spokane: www.communityimpactSpokane.org The Richard Florida Creativity Group: www.creativeclass.org

"There is a very large gay population here," said Bonnie Aspen, a business owner who arrived with her partner two years ago to escape the congestion of the San Francisco Bay area.

Getting creative Spokane's proposed gay district is based on theories of economist Richard Florida, whose 2002 book "The Rise of the Creative Class" contends the economy of the future will be created by 38 million workers in "creative" industries. Florida said the tech-savvy creative class is mobile, values recreation, culture and diversity, and concentrates in urban centers such as New York, Boston and Seattle. Critics argue Florida's statistics reflect the peak of the since-deflated Internet bubble, and that economic growth still depends on infrastructure, tax rates, good schools and other traditional measures. The Associated Press

Even though they face little discrimination, gays stay under the radar, said Aspen, a member of the Inland Northwest Business Alliance (INBA), an association of gay-owned and gay-friendly businesses that is pushing the idea.

"Visibility equals freedom," Aspen said. "Invisibility we have dealt with all our life."

She predicted a gay district will exist within the next year or two.

Idea inspired by book

Spokane is some 90 percent white, and a gay district will promote the notion that such a community can still be tolerant and have diversity, Aspen said.

The idea arises out of the theories of Richard Florida, an economist whose 2002 book "The Rise of the Creative Class" contends that the economy of the future will be created by the 38 million workers who toil in "creative" industries.

Florida, a Carnegie Mellon University professor, said members of the creative class consider recreation, culture and ethnic diversity, including a large population of gays, as central to where they live. Places like New York, Boston, San Francisco and Seattle have those qualities. Places like Spokane generally do not.

After Florida spoke here a couple of years ago, Spokane civic leaders embraced many of his ideas. They have pushed hard to create a university district and arts districts near downtown.

Tom Reese, an economic-development officer for Spokane, said city government is not exactly pushing the notion of a gay district, but they don't oppose it, either. "It is our desire to create an environment where diversity and different interests and lifestyles of all types can flourish," Reese said.

No public funds will be used to create the district, which is dependent on developers, Aspen said. No location has been announced.

With about 200,000 residents, the city has little history of gay activism, other than an effort a few years ago that added homosexuals as a protected class to its human-rights ordinance.

Spokane — which in trendy Seattle is shorthand for tragically unhip — has long been dominated by conservative politics that stem from its history as a mining and farming center. But it also has a large core of Democrats who push for social justice, and libertarians who share the West's live-and-let-live philosophy.

District, city's image clash

Most of all, the city identifies itself as a good place to raise a family. A gay district clashes with that image, opponents contend.

"We are a family-friendly, traditional-values community," said former Mayor John Talbott.

Opponents fear a gay district will attract sexual predators who prey on gays, plus lead to increased crime, drug use and other social ills, said Walton Mize, bishop of the Christ Holy Sanctified Church.

"Most people don't know about the underbelly of it," Mize said. "It's a culture based upon sex."

Aspen rejected the notion that a gay district would bring social problems to Spokane.

"I can't see why they think they will have more of that than is already here," Aspen said.

Spokane already has a gay newspaper, Stonewall News Northwest, and some businesses that cater to gay residents. It has had an openly gay member of the City Council.

But creating a district is still important, Reguindin said.

"It would help youth struggling with their sexuality to realize they don't have to go away to a big city to be gay. You can be gay right here in Spokane," Reguindin said.

"Visibility campaign"

Farand Gunnels, local representative for the Pride Foundation, a Seattle-based group that gives grants to support the gay community, wondered if there were enough gay residents in Spokane to support such a district.

The INBA is also preparing a "visibility campaign," in which businesses will be asked to put signs in their windows proclaiming their support for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

"We'll know where we will be welcome and patronize those businesses," Aspen said. "We've had a very positive reaction from the business community."

Gay customers will be able to leave special cards at businesses they patronize, to let the owners know they were there, Aspen said.

"It will give Spokane an idea of the economic impact gay people have," Aspen said.