Ways to Grow
*** This activity has closed for public input. Check back on the engagement page later to see a summary of this and other activities from 2023!***
Our city is growing. We need to plan intentionally for more housing and jobs. What types of buildings should we encourage? Where will community members gather? How will we tackle some of the biggest challenges we face? We want to know your thoughts and ideas!
Let us know the pros and cons of each of the growth approaches below. Each approach has an individual board you can comment on.
Want to see boards from the open house the City hosted on September 26 and public input we received? The boards explain how and why we plan for growth in Washington State. You can view them here.
*** This activity has closed for public input. Check back on the engagement page later to see a summary of this and other activities from 2023!***
Our city is growing. We need to plan intentionally for more housing and jobs. What types of buildings should we encourage? Where will community members gather? How will we tackle some of the biggest challenges we face? We want to know your thoughts and ideas!
Let us know the pros and cons of each of the growth approaches below. Each approach has an individual board you can comment on.
Want to see boards from the open house the City hosted on September 26 and public input we received? The boards explain how and why we plan for growth in Washington State. You can view them here.
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Focus on Urban Villages
4 months agoCLOSED: This ideas has concluded.The city could grow in a variety of ways and will likely grow in a combination of these ways. Let us know the pros and cons of each of the approaches on their individual comment boards. Click here to view the boards from the 9/26 Open House that explain how and why we plan for growth in Washington State.
Add pros and cons (or up-vote some else's comment) for an approach that focuses on Urban Villages. This would continue development of Downtown, Fairhaven, Samish Way and other urban villages with a mix of uses and opportunities for people to live close to jobs, transit, services, entertainment, and recreation.
Click here to move on to the next way the city could grow.
Michael F.7 months agoPeople-friendly design, not car-oriented high-density jungles
So far, Bham's budding urban villages are too car oriented and do not integrate much needed tree canopy into the high-density site plans. Instead, the development plans are maxed out for maximum profit!!
39redwagon6 months agoInclude UVs but don’t focus there exclusively.
Focusing all new housing into urban villages (the relatively small percentage of residential land) raises the cost of that land & thus raises the costs of the housing. Seems like it also calls for investment/development from corporations outside the city – which is not desirable from a “buy local” or local control perspective. It puts all the housing eggs in one basket.
2redwagon6 months agoRe-structure streets to fit an urban village context.
Since land use & transportation go together, it’s difficult to reconcile a wide arterial designed for throughput as part of a “village”. With limited choices of the locations for these main streets, they need to be redesigned according to Safe Systems principles – including more assertive street designs: using narrower drive lanes so that drivers are directed to drive at safer speeds, numerous raised crossings, tight corner radii, no right-turn-on-red, and more. (*If there’s also a narrow median, then the narrower (9-10’ drive lanes can still accommodate the 10.5-11’ desired by WTA.)
9joShu5 months agoPrioritize natural areas because that stuff doesn't come back once paved
Urban Village citizens should be able to access a forest in minutes by walking, even if it is a diminutive forest, and nature should be the primary design driver that shapes construction, transpo, etc. Future urban village dwellers will thank us not for the condos and pickleball courts we built but more for the nearby forest and stream gems we refused to destroy.
6JHR5 months agoImplement a dark skies initiative, especially in residential neighborhoods.
Wildlife needs dark skies. People need to see stars. Encourage residents to let the night be dark.
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Focus on Distributed Nodes
4 months agoCLOSED: This ideas has concluded.Add pros and cons (or up-vote some else's comment) for an approach that focuses on distributed nodes (similar to a "15-minute city" concept). This would allow small-scale commercial services to locate inside neighborhoods within walking distance of where people live.
Click here to move on to the next way the city could grow.
Phil Wolff4 months agoUse commercial services to define neighborhood identity
Avoid chain stores. Add co-working spaces.
0aareding5 months agoEliminate minimum parking requirements
These add $20,000 - $80,000 to the cost of every housing unit, they promote dependence on automobiles, they jack up rents. Other cities are doing away with them, most recently Austin. For more on this, https://whatcomhousingalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Parking-Report-Final-Draft-6.6.22.pdf and https://www.whatcomdemocrats.org/_files/ugd/fe4445_7406e1aef9c045c1a2e3cd098b1f4802.pdf.
3KellinBonilla6 months agoSmaller, well curated grocery stores within neighborhoods would be a game changer!! Especially with zero to little car parking.
Erase the food deserts!
8redwagon6 months agoProximity to commercial & other services within neighborhoods – yes!
There’s lot of talk about rehabbing houses for people to age in place, this expands the concept to aging in place/the neighborhood. So, as people age out of driving, they can still be independent. Many neighborhoods are isolated from this easy access. // But, it would be blight if they required more surface parking lots. Two important notes: 15 minute cities need to include all income levels. Glad you are talking about nodes or 15 minute city since “walkable” is exclusive of people using wheelchairs.
2NM7 months agoI think it's important to add mini pockets of commercial zoning in order to create more walkable neighborhoods & reduce our carbon footprint
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Focus on Corridors
4 months agoCLOSED: This ideas has concluded.Add pros and cons (or up-vote some else's comment) for an approach that focuses on corridors (and transit-oriented development). This would allow higher-density development with more housing, offices, and commercial services to develop along transit corridors to support higher frequency bus service and reduce personal vehicle trips.
Click here to move on to the next way the city could grow.
redwagon6 months agoCity responsibility for arterial sidewalks
Have the city do cleanup on sidewalks that are adjacent to arterials – including snow removal. If we want people to get to the bus or walk where they need to go, the sidewalks should be included (instead of only plowing between the curbs). This goes double for clean up of HAWK light platforms.
2redwagon6 months agoCreate a place that is inviting and comfortable through sidewalk placement & lighting for pedestrian travel.
Some of the details that need to be updated from the Comp Plan to BMC +/or Development Guidelines: 1) sidewalk lighting that works for pedestrians going to destinations, as well as the bus drivers who need to stop for riders, 2) build sidewalks separated/set-back from the curb (current Comp Plan language only “encourages” and puts the planting strip between the sidewalk and the adjacent property.)
3Phil Wolff4 months agoFree bus route/shuttle along the corridor builds foot traffic
The City of Oakland did this until covid. made it easy for people to get around from spot to spot within the corridor, without having to plan to get from one part to another. Tied the whole together. https://www.oaklandca.gov/topics/free-broadway-shuttle
0NM7 months agoRight now the city as a whole is not walk-able & is very car-oriented. These corridors will help create a lively, walkable transition to DT.
5Janis5 months agoPublic transportation along the corridors would be efficient.
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Focus on Areas with Fewer Opportunities Today
4 months agoCLOSED: This ideas has concluded.Add pros and cons (or up-vote some else's comment) for an approach that focuses on areas with fewer opportunities today. This would direct investment for infrastructure like parks, trails, sidewalks , street lights, and libraries to recently annexed, low-income, or under-invested-in areas.
Click here to move on to the next way the city could grow.
NM7 months agoIn order to create a better Bham, we need to uplift all of our community, especially those currently underserved!
7Phil Wolff4 months agoLevel up every neighborhood
If we want private development, crime prevention, and a sense of belonging to the greater city, don't leave any neighborhood behind.
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Focus on Urban Growth Area Expansion
4 months agoCLOSED: This ideas has concluded.Add pros and cons (or up-vote some else's comment) for an approach that focuses on urban growth area (UGA) expansion. This would allow expansion of city boundaries to areas where new neighborhoods can be created and provide funding for extension of urban services.
SJNBham6 months agoThis seems counterproductive to sustainability
11Darcy Jones5 months agoReconfigure the boundaries of the Urban Growth Areas to provide more efficient land for housing.
The existing UGA's are not adequate to accomodate new housing. These areas are already built out or are constraint with critical areas and lack of infrastructure. As was suggested in the Annexation Phasing Plan update process in 2018, some UGA areas could be removed and replaced with other more efficient lands....such as the North Bellingham UGA Reserve area.
12Leah4 months agoI love Bellingham because it has less urban sprawl than other cities in the Puget Sound area. Keeping true to that feels important.
0KellinBonilla6 months agoSprawl is not what Bellingham needs. Focus on what you have and improving that ten-fold before expanding...
Bigger does not mean better
17redwagon6 months agoIdentify criteria that would negatively affect individuals & families
One consideration to reject expansion: How does an expansion or a development increase VMT? Increased “Vehicle miles travelled” -- results in higher risk of traffic crashes, climate change consequences, as well as cost burdens to families. (CNT’s Housing + Transportation Affordability Index)
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