You'll Like Tacoma

I have spent roughly the last four years of my life in Downtown Tacoma. Previous to that, I had only driven by Tacoma on my way to other places and was told that Tacoma is not where I wanted to be. As I have come to find, those sentiments were completely false. Tacoma is exactly where I want to spend the rest of my life. I don’t know about all the other Tacoma transplants but I fell in love immediately and claimed Tacoma as my home. 

As someone who grew up in an unincorporated town, I never really had a city to call my own. Without ever moving, my address changed four times due to re-configuring of city lines - I was in no man’s land.  On top of that, the developing suburbs popping up don’t offer the community that I have come to find in Tacoma. There is not an art community.  There are no museums.  There is no night life or wonderful Barre classes to enjoy on Sunday mornings. Coffee is limited to Starbucks and there is seriously only one grocery store. Rather than limited choices and opportunities, Tacoma is full of life and vibrancy.  

You can feel it in the air that Tacoma is the place to be, this is the time that you want to invest and put roots down in the City of Destiny. Tacoma is about to launch into another golden era. 

As our art community grows, as our population diversifies, and as the housing market explodes, Tacoma is sure to become one of the best cities in the country to live in. Whether you are out on your own, happily married, in the middle of growing your family, or entering retirement, our city has so much to offer. We are reaching new medical hub heights, our transportation system is set to expand greatly, and graduation rates are rising. 

While all of this may sound lofty and like a daydream because of the glacial pace that the city is moving, I believe Tacoma will be the next big thing because they are trying to be very intentional on how Tacoma grows. Tacoma cannot just grow for growth sake, it needs to be well thought out and managed otherwise we will be running into problems of the past. Tacoma is ready to launch and I am so honored that I get to be a part of it. 

Closing One Chapter and Beginning Another

 Last Friday, October 3^rd, the University of Washington Tacoma said goodbye to their 25^th anniversary, said hello to their 26^th the new academic year.  The next 25 years are sure to bring bright minds and innovation to Tacoma and the South Sound area.

The newly appointed Chancellor Pagano welcomed the first year students with words of encouragement and advice. Many students in the crowd are Tacoma natives and are the first in their families to get the opportunity to go to college, making convocation an extremely special event to celebrate the students’ grand accomplishment. Last year the University was at 68% first generation with their student body population just around 4,500 students. This year is sure to increase in both size and in first generation college goers. 

The University prides itself on its Urban Serving mission, which is why Convocation runs through the Downtown area, to show incoming students not only the partnerships that the University has fostered but to show them how much their community supports them. The University is a member of the Coalition of Urban Serving Universities. The University and the coalition define themselves as “a network of public, urban, research universities committed to creating an educated workforce, building strong communities and improving the health of diverse populations.”

Tacoma is so unique in the way that it was the community who brought UW Tacoma to life and the community who has supported them in so many ways.  Not many Universities get to say that. Universities and their communities usually are going in two different directions but this is not the case for Tacoma and UW Tacoma. They have grown some much together and continue to grow side by side, serving the South Sound. With the University’s next building project in their sights, they are set to grow once again with the Urban Solutions Center, promising to bring with it more partnerships and students poised to become the future of Tacoma. 

Prairie Line Trail Update

The Prairie Line Trail will connect the south end of downtown to the Foss Waterway, as a multi-modal corridor, with resting places, green space, artwork, and historic content. The trail is being developed in part by the University of Washington Tacoma and in part by the City of Tacoma. For more information on the trail's redevelopment click here. To take a look at some of the design through the UWT portion click here.

City Council met on Tuesday to discuss property donations and exhange agreements with BNSF Railway. The city will recieve 20-foot strips of land from S. 26th to 25th St., 23rd to 21st, and Pacific to 15th. This falls under a donations agreement, which also includes 80-foot right of way width from S. 25th to 23rd and at street intersections.

The exchange agreement shares that the city will obtain easements from BNSF allowing for the crossing of the rail line at 15th St. for furture widening of the I-705 overpass, and BNSF agrees to allow construction of a future pedestrian overpass near E. 23rd St. right of way. All of this is in exhange for the city vacating a portion of A St. for permanent closure of railroad crossing; a connection that has already been barricaded for sometime.

The council hopes to have resolutions transactions approved by early march, with a closing date approximately 90 days after approval.

For more information on the terms and visuals of these agreements see the City Council's January 29th Study Session for the handouts.

UWT Prairie Line Trail Design

Japanese School Memorial.

Last week UWT unveiled their design proposal for their portion of the Prairie Line Trail. The proposed trail contains new resting places, green space, beautiful histortical content: such as the existing tracks from the Prairie Line, and new artwork like this Japanese school memorial. 

UW's next move is to start phasing construction on 21st St. so that pedestrians and bicyclists have a safer place to cross.

The University has come up with 3 phases to the create a safe crossing on 21st St. Descriptions are as follows:

• Phase 1/C Street Crossing = This is the current alignment - a crosswalk crossing 21st St. at C St.
• Phase 2/Double Median = Increasing safety by adding two medians. See below for example.
•  Phase 3/Bridge and Tunnel = Future construction plans are to build a bridge with a tunnel underneath for the trail. It is unclear when this might be constructed. See example below.

We are excited to see what the Prairie Line Trail has in store for downtown and the BIA in the future. Look for another post soon on updates for the City's plans and designs are for the trail.



Phase 2: Double Median Design.



Phase 3: Bridge/Tunnel Design.