Editing Cheney, Washington (section)

==Metropolitan area==
{{More citations needed section|date=October 2020}}

===Downtown historic district===
Located approximately four blocks from the EWU campus, Historic Downtown Cheney offers a traditional mix of retail and service businesses as well as government offices.  In 1999, Eastern Washington University, the City of Cheney, and the downtown business community formed a university/community partnership called "Pathways to Progress."  Pathways to Progress quickly adopted the tenets and principles of the Main Street approach to downtown revitalization, formed a board of directors, and began the process of becoming a 501c(3) nonprofit corporation. Pathways to Progress is not a registered 501c(3) nonprofit corporation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sos.wa.gov/charities/search-app.aspx#/results?name=Pathways%20to%20Progress&category=|title=Washington State Secretary of State Charity and Commercial Fundraiser Search|date=April 17, 2017|website=www.sos.wa.gov/charities/search-app.aspx|access-date=April 17, 2017|archive-date=May 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170508032614/https://www.sos.wa.gov/charities/search-app.aspx#/results?name=Pathways%20to%20Progress&category=|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Immediately, Pathways to Progress undertook several major projects, including pedestrian streetscape enhancements along First Street (Main Street), and College Avenue.  Additionally, Pathways facilitated talks between EWU and a private developer that led to the construction of Brewster Hall, a mixed-use student residence in the downtown core.

Pathways to Progress is no longer an active organization.

Downtown Cheney has since evolved into a more traditional "university district", hosting numerous community festivals, a [http://www.localharvest.org/farmers-markets/M24155 farmers' market], and businesses catering to the college crowd.

Cheney's downtown area is also home of the Cheney Historical Museum which is dedicated to gathering, preserving, and sharing information and artifacts concerning the history of the Four Lakes, Marshall, Cheney, Tyler, and Amber districts of southwest Spokane County in eastern Washington. Volunteers open the museum at various times by season and by appointment as well as engage in research and preserving and caring for the collection.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cheneymuseum.org/aboutcontact/|title=About/Contact|website=Cheney Historical Museum|access-date=August 16, 2019}}</ref>  Another historic site, the Sterling-Moorman House, is also under development.

Downtown Cheney is the region's gateway to the Columbia Plateau Trail and the Fish Lake Trail,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lindquist |first=Molly |date=2019-10-04 |title=Spending a Day in Cheney Washington |url=https://explorewashingtonstate.com/a-day-in-cheney-washington/ |access-date=2023-05-11 |website=Explore Washington State |language=en-US}}</ref> both of which explore the unique geology of the [http://www.iceagefloodsewa.org/ Great Ice Age Floods].

===Fairchild Air Force Base===
{{Main|Fairchild Air Force Base}}
[[Fairchild Air Force Base]], located approximately {{convert|7|mi|km}} north of Cheney and established in 1942, has been a key part of the U.S. defense strategy and its personnel are a substantial portion of the Cheney community. Originally established as a World War II repair depot, it has transitioned over the years from a Strategic Air Command bomber wing during the [[Cold War]], to [[Air Mobility Command]] air refueling wing during [[Iraq War|Operation Iraqi Freedom]]. Today, Fairchild's aircraft and personnel make up the backbone of the Air Force's airborne refueling tanker fleet on the West Coast. Fairchild's location north of Cheney and {{convert|12|mi|km}} west of [[Spokane, Washington|Spokane]], resulted from a competition with the cities of [[Seattle]] and [[Everett, Washington|Everett]] in western Washington. The War Department chose [[Spokane]] for several reasons: better weather conditions, the location {{convert|300|mi|km}} from the coast, and the [[Cascade Range]] providing a natural barrier against possible Japanese attacks.

[[Fairchild Air Force Base]] is also the [[United States Air Force]]'s primary training facility for Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape Techniques ([[Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape|SERE]]). SERE is a U.S. military training program developed at the end of the [[Korean War]] to provide service members with training in the [[The United States Military Code of Conduct|Code of Conduct]], survival skills, evading capture, and dealing with being taken prisoner. It was created by the [[U.S. Air Force]] but was expanded to the [[U.S. Army]] and the [[U.S. Navy]] after the [[Vietnam War]]. The SERE school at Fairchild AFB is intended to train aircrews, special forces, and other service members who operate in dangerous areas and are thus more likely to be captured.