Exit133

February 13, 2008 · Derek

Urban Village in Central Tacoma?

Talk about sprucing up a neighborhood. A group of public officials is looking at a dramatic change for Central Tacoma.

Framed by Highway 16 is a large area of land owned by four public agencies: the City, Pierce County, Metro Parks, and the School District. Pictured below, you can see the facilities on it: Cheney Stadium, MetroParks headquarters (the crescent-shaped building by 19th, Foss High School (the huge building) and Heidelberg Park.

(As a side note: Do you see the old Tacoma soap box derby track in the above image?)

The agencies involved are considering hiring an urban planner to come back with ideas for the entire piece of land.

From the Tribune:

The planner would be given nearly free rein to envision a complex that would allow people to live, shop and play all in one spot. The only caveat: The high school building and Heidelberg Park would have to stay where they are. Nearly everything else on the 111-acre property would be fair game.

What would you do with 111 acres? Given the same restrictions the planner will face, what would you build here? How would you tie it into the rest of Tacoma? Maybe we can get them to hire the Exit133 commenters for this project … you seem to know what you’re doing… most days.

Link to The News Tribune

Filed under: City Council, Legislation, City Government, Comprehensive Plan

2 comments

  • fred davie May 20, 2013

    "Other changes would revise the Comprehensive Plan Transportation Element, updating and re-prioritizing unfunded projects and incorporating “Environmental Justice” into policy provisions to be consistent with VISION 2040;" VISION 2040 is an attempt to force hundreds of thousands of extra people in to our city all in the name of "environmental justice." I haven't heard from one person who thinks Tacoma needs any additional people. Nor have the VISION 2040 advocates advanced any arguments for why their policies will prove beneficial or even why expanding the human population is desireable. This is basically a complex scheme which will ultimately compromise the property rights of local folks and lower the quality of life. Read the VISION 2040 documents and you'll see how populations of people are discussed in terms that we usually associate with feed lots. For all we know VISION 2040 may be a euphemism for Soylent Green.

  • ThriceJamie May 20, 2013

    They should expand the scope of the taxi cab camera footage access to include the Cash Cab. Change we can believe in!