Download - Cascade Land Conservancy

1985. Port Angeles and Sequim have both passed
ambitious new downtown plans in the last 18 months
and regionally the Discovery trail is connecting
communities with a town-to-town bike/walking trail.
Hoquiam, in Grays Harbor County, has been working
with businesses to activate downtown streets and
create compelling events that show off the historic
downtown.
The workshops Forterra hosted advanced the efforts
underway across the Peninsula and helped to define
the key challenges to their implementation. One of
the main goals is to build support among existing
business owners for the revitalization of downtowns.
It will also be important to educate residents and
elected officials about opportunities to bolster
economic activity downtown and the necessity of
marketing development opportunities. Lastly, one of
the biggest challenges is working with cities to obtain
financial resources to support these revitalization
efforts.
To address these questions in more detail, Forterra
partnered with Washington State Department of
Archaeology and Historic Preservation’s (DAHP) Main
Streets and Certified Local Government programs;
Washington State Department of Transportation’s
(WSDOT) Community Programs and local business
owners, property managers and planners. This group
brought inspiration, experience and opportunities
to these communities and offered concrete ways to
tackle the issues they face. Some of the opportunities
identified included the Main Streets tax credit
programs, WSDOT’s pedestrian and bike funding and
tax benefits for historic preservation that derive from
becoming a Certified Local Government.
Forterra is also working with Ocean Shores and
Aberdeen thanks to a grant from the National
Endowment for the Arts (NEA). We will partner with
Ocean Shores and Aberdeen to help implement
important changes unique to their towns. Ocean
Shores recognizes the need to create a safe,
convenient way to walk from its beaches and hotels
to restaurants and shops in commercial areas. We
are assisting them in developing a Complete Streets
ordinance that will ensure that Ocean Shore’s streets
work for pedestrians and cyclists of all ages and
abilities along with cars and freight. The City of
Aberdeen is pursuing a downtown revitalization plan
and Forterra is helping with community engagement
and visioning around the development of this
plan. Both of these efforts are furthering Forterra’s
community programs; an entity that truly is able to
“create great communities.”
In addition to linking economic development, historic
preservation and urban design in communities,
Forterra will provide technical assistance to two tribes,
The Makah and Quinault, through EPA’s Building
Blocks for Sustainable Communities Grant program.
This planning, policy and community engagement
work will take place in the fall of 2012. The Makah
Tribe is working to improve both the health of tribal
members and the walkability of the community.
Forterra will conduct a walking audit for Tribal
members and assess the feasibility of a Rapid Health
Impact Assessment (HIA) focused on a proposed
waterfront trail. The Quinaults are planning to move
their historic village out of the Tsunami zone and
are working with Forterra to build civic engagement
and understanding among tribal members about the
planning process and how they can participate in the
upcoming discussions about the village relocation.
Great towns with strong economies, sustainable
transportation and a high quality of life will be
critical for the Olympic Peninsula. Not only will
they help the Peninsula’s residents, they will help
protect its great lands by reducing the demand for
sprawling development. This is the thinking behind
Forterra’s Olympic Agenda, an emerging plan for
the Peninsula’s economies, communities and lands.
Working with small towns across the Peninsula this
year has not only furthered the goals of the Olympic
Agenda, it’s shown that there’s great hope for similar
success across the whole region.
7
Downtown Aberdeen. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
FALL 2012