Business owners and neighbors from communities along Highway 99W and Interstate 5 spoke out Jan. 31 about what should guide development of the Southwest Corridor Plan.
One resident who attended the forum said he liked where he lives because it has good access to parks, easy access to freeway and a lot of employment and jobs. Challenges he felt needed to be addressed by the Southwest Corridor Plan include the lack of complete sidewalks, bike lanes and safe pedestrian crossings.
Do these descriptions and challenges sound familiar? How about this vision identified by another forum participant who wants to see a thriving place for employment centers, for commercial areas, for small businesses and local businesses and have the corridor accessible to people of all ages of all abilities.
With these values and this vision in mind, and an awareness of opportunities and challenges in the corridor, participants reviewed and provided feedback on the Southwest Corridor Plan's overall vision, goals and objectives. The groups asked many questions, which can be used to decide whether the project meets its' goals and objectives. Questions included:
- Is the transit alternative flexible enough to meet changing conditions?
- Are resources being spent wisely to get the most bang for our buck?
- Can a 10-year-old and a 90-year-old walk to the store, buy orange juice and get home safely?
Other evaluation criteria suggestions included access to all community resources and amenities, number of accidents, vehicle miles traveled, hours spent in congestion, trail miles, natural space, housing affordability and sidewalk connectivity.
The Community Planning Forum where these discussions took place at the Tigard Library.
"We wanted to do things a little bit differently this time – rather then start with a discussion of transportation we're asking what kind of communities we want to have in this area?" said Metro Councilor Carl Hosticka in opening remarks. "Transportation is not an end in itself but it can facilitate community-building and the quality of life that people want to have."
This concept of letting land use lead is demonstrated through the ongoing work of city land use plans in coordination with the Southwest Corridor Plan. The Portland Barbur Concept Plan, Tigard High Capacity Land Use Plan, Linking Tualatin and Sherwood's Town Center Plan will all feed into the Southwest Corridor Plan process and guide the community vision and project prioritization for the area.
Metro and project partners will convene additional Community Planning Forums in 2012 at Southwest Corridor Plan milestones. Community information and insight provided at these meetings will add to the work being done by technical and community experts in order to provide a community driven, technically sound comprehensive plan.