Over the past three years, and especially in the past few weeks, the Metro Council has been listening to what people around our region feel should be the priorities in making this a better place to live, work and play over the next 20 to 50 years. In open houses and public hearings in all three of our counties, as well as in written comments and online surveys, we have heard from literally thousands of people who are passionate about our region. People have commented on road projects and trails, future light rail projects and freight mobility, rebuilding our downtowns and expanding our boundaries. We've called this multi-year process "Making the Greatest Place" but it's really just about making an already great place even better.
"Better" of course, means different things to different people depending on where in the geography and economy of the region we live. So I have been heartened to hear that while there are certainly differences of opinion and degree, we do share some pretty fundamental values:
People in our communities generally agree that a "better" Metro region will be even greener, with more parks and footpaths, more trees, cleaner streams and healthier ecosystems.
They concur that a "better" region will provide more family wage jobs, a stronger economy, a vibrant cultural scene and more profitable, productive farms.
"Better" would be less traffic on our streets and in our neighborhoods, easier freight movement, safe and abundant public transit, and less congestion on our highways.
A "better" region will be more walkable and bikeable. We'll reconnect our neighborhoods to our local downtowns so what we need is close to our homes and we can get to it without cars. That's one of the ways we cut down on traffic.
For many, "better" translates to "affordable," where we can feel safe and healthy and not spend more than half our income just to drive to and from work and pay the rent or mortgage.
This long and fruitful discussion brought our three counties, 25 cities and large unincorporated areas together to try to understand each other. Amidst all the details, all the large and small debates, we have heard resounding support for these shared values.
We also asked people how we can create that better region, that "greatest place." People were pretty clear about that as well. They want us to take care of what we have in our existing communities, repair roads, upgrade water and sewer systems, rebuild downtowns and clean up old industrial sites so new jobs can be created close to where people live.They appreciate that the urban growth boundary has protected our farms and forests and created more compact communities that enable us to drive less than in almost any city of a comparable population in the United States. They want to protect that boundary, develop underutilized and vacant land inside it before considering any expansion. If and when we expand, they've been telling us where they think it makes sense to grow.
Having heard from our citizens, our three counties and the Metro Council are in the process of reviewing all the information we heard. In the next couple of weeks, we hope to come to intergovernmental agreements about our future growth. Then the real work can begin. We've done a lot of thinking and talking about the greatest place. Now is the time to actually start making this great place even better. I think we're up to the task.