Modern Living: A Place in the Sun

Spokane, in the wheat and lumber country of eastern Washington State, was named for an Indian tribe called "children of the sun." Until recently, however, the 100-year-old city was gradually falling under the shadow of urban blight. Now one of the few internationally sanctioned expositions held in the U.S. since the great New York World's Fair of 1939 has helped Spokane (pop. 180,000) become once again a sunny place for children— and their beguiled parents.

Expo 74 is devoted to "celebrating tomorrow's fresh new environment" —and environmental planning had to begin at home. A tangle of railroad tracks, trestles, unsightly warehouses and...