Is Stadium Downtown?
And how should it be zoned?
Those questions are just part of a larger report the Planning Commission will review and hear public comment on tonight. The 2007 Annual Amendment Package deals with code adjustments and zoning for Tacoma’s Mixed Use Centers.
The amendments being considered include creating a separate zoning requirement for all Mixed Use Centers with a minimum density requirement of 25 dwelling units/acre (a typical suburban acre is 4 – 6 units/acre).
There’s a lot to unpack in the recommended amendments, but we found the most interesting discussion to be about Stadium.
Most of Stadium will be re-zoned at a lower density than downtown Tacoma. In the language of the report, a large portion of Stadium will drop from “High Intensity” to “Medium Intensity.”
With the new zoning, the minimum density requirements for Stadium would increase to 25, but the maximum density would drop from an unlimited number of units/acre to 60 units/acre.
This would put Stadium in line with the re-zone of the rest of Tacoma’s mixed use centers. But is Stadium like the rest of the neighborhoods in Tacoma? It has become an almost de facto northern neighborhood of downtown. It is also currently one of the most dense areas of Pierce County.
To see a draft of the amendments, here’s a (lengthy) .pdf file from the City. The map of the changes for Stadium is on page 54 and the definitions of the zoning terms is on page 95.
Check it out for yourself. What do you think it will mean for one of Tacoma’s most livable and walkable neighborhoods? Do these
recommendations take it far enough or should we be encouraging even more growth in Stadium?
Meeting Information:
Tacoma Planning Commission
Today, September 5, 4:00 pm (Public comment on the Amendment package begins at approximately 5:00 pm).
Location:
Tacoma Municipal Building
City Council Chambers, First Floor
747 Market Street
13 comments
R RR Anderson February 20, 2008
My favorite flaming windbag! Sweet!
J Justin Mayfield February 20, 2008
Kunstler’s the man! I can’t believe we got him to come here. I’ve also heard him talk a lot about the future of oil and energy and his doubts that we will be able to come up with a viable alternative to sustain our current built environment. I think that’s why he’s really into livable/walkable communities. This is definitely THE conversation and direction Tacoma needs to be in if we want to be a competitive city in the future.
I found this quote this morning that reminded me of him-
“One thing is clear: the era of easy oil is over. What we all do next will determine how well we meet the energy needs of the entire world in this century and beyond.” David J. O’Reilly Chairman & CEO Chevron corp, July 2005P Paul Sparks February 20, 2008
Quotes from Kunstler for your reading pleasure…
…[the] physical arrangement of life in our nation, in particular suburban sprawl, [is] the most destructive development pattern the world has ever seen, and perhaps the greatest misallocation of resources the world has ever known.
Howard Kunstler
The tragic landscape of highway strips, parking lots, housing tracts, mega-malls, junked cities, and ravaged countryside that makes up the everyday environment where most Americans live and work [is] … a land full of places that are not worth caring about [and] will soon be a nation and a way of life that is not worth defending.
Howard Kunstler
“The things that will help us the most will be finding a new scale of living and a new way to rebuild local, cohesive communities and cottage industries around them. We will need a new infrastructure for daily life, a new place for the human spirit to dwell and rest in for a while.”
Howard Kunstler
D Daniel Blue February 20, 2008
I will be there. Tacoma is ready. Local life sounds like what I’m dreaming of.
G Glen W February 20, 2008
Sounds like a great event. I’ll be there for sure. I saw Kunstler on “The End of Suburbia” and really dug his ideas.
J jdub February 20, 2008
This is very nice, the antithesis to “Mission Accomplished”. He should raise some hackles or he wont be making his money.
E Erik B. February 20, 2008
This is very nice, the antithesis to “Mission Accomplished”. He should raise some hackles or he wont be making his money.
The plan so far is to have him take a walk through various area of Tacoma including the Theater District, UWT and Tollefson Plaza so see his reaction and anaysis. Let the cards fall where they may.
D David Boe February 21, 2008
The last time Kunstler was here for a lecture at the Landmark Center he dubbed the Pierce Transit Center on Commerce Street “The Jabba the Hut Memorial Fountain.” Can’t wait for his current take on our ‘improvements’ since then…
M morgan February 21, 2008
Get your marshmallows ready – I sense a roast coming on. Should be quite entertaining though.
R RR Anderson February 21, 2008
take him to Museum of Glass for god sakes!
U urbanecologist February 22, 2008
I am tired of esoteric scientific reports detailing the current state of carbon levels in the atmosphere. I am tired of alternative energy cost analysis that removes the human users from the equation. I am ready to discuss issues of civilization with an eye on the people who create it, and with an ear to their needs, at ground level. This city dweller’s eyes and ears will be present and open.
D drizell February 23, 2008
This is exciting. I went to a Kunstler lecture at University of Michigan and it was all it was promised to be. It seems that the loudest voices influencing change in the urban design and planning professions are not those of planning practitioners, but journalists like Kunstler and Jane Jacobs.
Anyway, kudos to Exit133 and Local Life for bringing in another influential individual who may beat some sense into our local leaders.
Now, if only we could book Donald Shoup, we’d really be on a roll!
A amy March 3, 2008
Perhaps Kunstler would like to visit the UPS neighborhood. My husband and I moved here so that we could walk and bike everywhere. However, I am continually shocked to see my UPS student neighbors across the street drive their SUV’s to class, which is two blocks away and to the gym, a ten minute walk away.