Gift Card Giveaway to Downtown Businesses

The City of Tacoma is wrapping up construction on Pacific Avenue in downtown Tacoma.  To celebrate they are giving away gift cards each week to people who stop into at least two businesses in the project area.

Pick up your passport at any participating business. Then visit one additional business to be qualified to enter the a drawing to win one of five great prizes!  Drop off your Pac Ave Passport through December 31 at either Learning Sprout Toys or the Tacoma Art Museum's Franciscan Polar Plaza Skating Rink. No purchase is necessary.

There are a variety of downtown businesses participating some of which are below.  For the full list of businesses participating, please see below the jump.

Some places you may already go downtown that are participating:
Aesthetica Clinique (801 Pacific)
Blitz Florist (909 Pacific)
Dorky’s Arcade (754 Pacific)
Granolas Frozen Yogurt (1716 Pacific)
Lucky Penny (950 Pacific)
Pacific Grill (1502 Pacific)
Savor Creperie (1916 Pacific)
Tacoma City Grocer (1250 Pacific)

For more on the project and the passport, please visit: www.cityoftacoma.org/pacave

Pacific Construction Coffee Talk

The new construction on Pacific Avenue has been quite the buzz these past few weeks. To view more from us on this issue click here.Today, the City of Tacoma held their first “coffee talk”. The event was located at Vinum Coffee and Wine Lounge and discussed the Pacific Avenue construction project. “coffee talks” are scheduled to occur monthly as the construction project continues.

The coffee talk had over twenty people in attendance including: Steve Rich, the project manager. The talk gave downtown business owners in attendance the ability to voice their concerns and share suggestions. One major topic was parking. It was mentioned that there will be more parking spaces coming soon, and free 2 hour parking at the Park Plaza North Garage with validation from participating businesses.

 Tucci & Sons are following a tight schedule, doing 16 months of work in 10 months.

Actions may be made to help get construction ahead of schedule where it is possible. The project is scheduled to end before the 2013 holiday season; their plans include a three week buffer period, which allows room for unexpected delays. For questions, concerns, or more information please visit: www.cityoftacoma.org/pacave.

Stay tuned for more updates and information on the next coffee talk.

Pacific Construction Updates & Feedback

As we discussed last week, Pacific Avenue is now under construction.  To start the project, the contractor began opening up the east side of Pacific Avenue between S. 9th and S. 11th.  This has had only a minor impact on circulation as they have gone out of their way to provide continuous access for pedestrians and vehicles.

As you watch the construction move forward, experience the detours, and make your way to lunch, the City wants to get your feedback on how the first two weeks of construction went.  They are particularly interested in any improvements that should be made now - rather than waiting months to see if things are moving smoothly.

To hear about what activities will be occuring in the next month and to share your thoughts on anything that could be improved, please stop by Vinum Coffe & Wine Lounge (1001 Pacific Avenue; 98402) next Wednesday, 1/16 anytime from 9-10AM.

Pacific Avenue Reconstruction Starting

The signs are going up, the lightpoles are coming down.  The ground is opening, but the street are not closing.

On Wednesday, January 2nd, contstruction begins on Pacific Avenue.  The first phase of construction will be focused on the stretch from 9th to 13th and is expected to run until April.

To help keep everyone up to speed, the City has prepared a detailed detour plan that we've uploaded here.  One thing you'll note is that there are no actual street closures.  You can still get to your favorite office/shop/restaurant.  This does not mean to expect a little more dust and a few more people in reflective gear - because both will be out in full force.

In addition to the detour plans, there is a project specific page on the City's site detailing the project with updates and information: www.cityoftacoma.org/pacave

We will continue to post more information as the project progresses as well.

Pacific Avenue Open House

We've been talking about the reconstruction of Pacific Avenue for a while now.  This Thursday is the last chance to hear details about the first phase of construction (which used to be the second phase) before it starts.

The open house will detail detours, alternate routes, schedules, and construction plans.  The work will include a vaulted walk, sidewalk reconstruction, additional landscaping, historic street lights and raingardens to filter stormwater.  For a full size PDF of the construction detours and alternate routes, of which the image above is a snapshot, please click here. 

For more information on the project, please visit www.cityoftacoma.org/pacave

Wayfinding on Pacific Avenue and Beyond

At City Council's Economic Development Committee Meeting a couple of weeks ago, City staff presented an update on the Pacific Avenue project and wayfinding.  (A 4MB copy of the handouts is here.)  While we've been tracking the Pacific Avenue project as it continues to move towards construction, we were most interested in the discussion of wayfinding.

As you may recall, we asked you what gateways into downtown you thought were the priority and what destinations visitors were looking for.  And with 130 responses, you answered.  The wayfinding working group went through all the responses, including all the great open ended responses and recommended some locations to the City.  These can be found as the green and red dots on the wayfinding map in the handouts.

Looking forward, we are hoping for continued community support of the wayfinding project.  We believe that helping visitors get easily to their destinations is critical to making us a friendly, welcoming city.  If you have any additional thoughts on wayfinding for visitors, please let us know.

Wayfinding at Downtown Gateways

(To go directly to the survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WayfindingTacoma2 )


While we've talked about wayfinding in the past, it was focused on Pacific Avenue redesign and coordinating work with that construction.  Now we are looking more broadly at wayfinding in the greater downtown.  The goal of wayfinding is not advertising, cheerleading or community building.  Instead the system should help Tacoma's customers and visitors get where they are going.


To that end, the Chamber, Dome District, Go Local, Sound Transit, Tacoma + Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Tacoma Waterfront Association have joined the City in working to identify key locations where visitors enter downtown.  Based on the 10 locations identified, we are now working to determine what destinations visitors would be trying to reach if they arrived via one of these gateways.


This is where you come in.  We have prepared a survey looking at these 10 locations asking for feedback on the likely destinations.  It typically takes about 15 minutes to complete and will be used to help guide the process of deciding which locations for signs as well as what appears on them.


With all the talk of wayfinding over the last couple of decades, we think another 15 minutes is worth it to successfully locate these signs.


The survey is here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WayfindingTacoma2

More Wayfinding Feedback

After a great open house last night, there is plenty of feedback to sort through on how to best implement wayfinding along Pacific Avenue.  However, if you weren't able to make it, you still have a few days to provide feedback via this form.

If you can't access the form, please contact me at this link or simply answer the questions below:

1) Regarding vehicular wayfinding, what are your your top three priorities for destinations in each area:
a) Downtown Core
b) Downtown Theater District
c) Downtown UWT
d) Foss Waterway
e) Stadium District
f) Hilltop District
g) Dome District

2) Regarding pedestrian maps, what key locations should be identified on a kiosk at each of the following locations:
a) Pacific Avenue & South 9th Street (SW corner)
b) Pacific Avenue & South 12th Street (West side)
c) Pacific Avenue & South 17th Street (NW corner)

3) Any additional input for future phases of wayfinding in Tacoma?

Once you've got some answers, please send them to Sue O'Neill at the City, Patricia Lecy-Davis at Go Local, and/or David Schroedel at the BIA/Chamber.  If you're feeling extra daring, you could share your thoughts with the world by posting them below.  If you are trying to figure out what this is about, please visit our prior post on the subject.

Wayfinding Open House 11/9: Pacific Avenue & Beyond

There has been a lot of discussion about the Pacific Avenue Streetscape Project and the reconfiguration of the street (most recently here).  However, this project also includes a consideration of wayfinding to and around downtown and beyond.

Next Wednesday, November 9th, the City of Tacoma, the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber of Commerce, and Go Local will co-host a wayfinding open house from 5 to 6PM at the Chamber's offices (950 Pacific Avenue, 3rd Flr, 98402).  If you stop by any time during the open house, you can see current designs and provide feedback on visitor destinations and information for wayfinding signage and kiosks.

If you're curious about wayfinding, with a feeling that we've talked about this before, you'd be right.  While the conversation certainly goes beyond the life of this blog (& blogs in general) a quick primer on wayfinding within the BIA can be found in this post from over five years ago.

Focusing on helping people not familiar with downtown and Tacoma in general, what destinations do you send visitors to?  How do you give people directions to get there?  How do we better connect destinations, not only with signage, but also with design and infrastructure?  These are all big questions that allow us to attract and serve visitors better and deserve an appropriate level of thinking.

What: Wayfinding Open House
Where: Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber, 950 Pacific Avenue 98402, 3rd Flr
When: November 9, anytime 5-6PM
Why: Gain feedback on key visitor destinations/information for wayfinding signage & kiosks.
More: www.cityoftacoma.org/pacave or Sue O'Neill at 591-5789 / soneill@cityoftacoma.org

Pacific Avenue 60% Drawings Public

If you missed the open house put on by Downtown On the Go and the City of Tacoma you missed out on seeing the current design for Pacific Avenue.  Not to fear though, the City has provided us with a copy of the technical drawings.  You can view them or download them here.  Also uploaded is a copy of the presentation. 

(Please note that these are not small files - particularly the design drawings.  The hosting site does make it possible to view them without the full download though.  Please be patient with it.)

As was discussed at the meeting, the 60% stage means that the street layout has been essentially identified.  After all the feedback received on the draft 30% drawings (versions 1 through ???) the City and their consultants had plenty to review.  The City Council took all the public comment into consideration and gave direction to staff on how to move forward.

This means the big picture questions have been answered, unless there has been a major oversight.  The next stage of the project is to refine the drawings to reflect a lot of the small details: street furniture, curb elevations, specific plant locations, etc.  Answering these questions will take the project to 90% and eventually on to construction drawings that will be put out for bid.

At 60% review, the question really is, was something overlooked?  Are there specific details that should be considered going forward?

Pacific Avenue Design is at 60%

We've been following the progress of the Pacific Avenue redesign and planned reconstruction for a while now.  (Most recently here.)  On September 28th, Tacoma-based AHBL, the lead consultant on this phase of the project, presented information to the City of Tacoma's Environment & Public Works Committee.  We've uploaded the information from that meeting, including the drawings showing 60% design completion.

The full (2MB) presentation can be downloaded here.  Some highlights include a 3-lane road from 7th to 9th, a 4-lane road from 9th to 17th, and extra turn pockets at 11th and 13th.  In addition, there is information on parking, rain gardens, lighting, and signage.

Needless to say, there is only so much that can be gleaned from a presentation without hearing the presentation itself.  With that in mind, the City and Downtown on the Go have scheduled a public presentation to share more details on the project.  The presentation is tenatively scheduled as follows:

60% Design Drawings Update
October 20th @ 5:30PM
Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber of Commerce
950 Pacific Avenue 98402, Suite 300

How to get there:
Pierce Transit Commerce Street Station
Sound Transit Commerce Street Link Stop
On-Street Parking on Pacific & S. 11th

More details on the presentation will follow, but please note that this is intended as an opportunity to hear about the current street plans.  The City and the consultant have received extensive public feedback during the conceptual planning phases of this project.  They are now putting this input into action with the latest designs.

City Acquires $1M For Pacific

The News Tribune reported earlier this week that another $978,300 has been allocated to the renovation of Pacific Avenue. This brings total funds available to a little over $5M of the $8M needed to complete the project.

As the City continues to work towards a final design, concerns continue to be raised about how to accomodate all users of Tacoma's "Main Street." The City is challenged to balance the needs of drivers, bicyclists, pedestrians, and transit while still maintaining an attractive street and integrating innovative stormwater features.

For more information on the Pacific Avenue Streetscape Project, please visit the City of Tacoma's page for the project here.

Pacific Avenue Streetscape Design Project ~ Open House on May 9th

Mark your calendars for the Pacific Ave Streetscape Design Project Open House on Monday, May 9th from 4-6:00pm at UW Tacoma's Philip Hall. At this Open House, the public will be able to give feedback on the preliminary designs for the future streetscape. Construction is estimated to start sometime in early 2012 and conclude at the end of 2012.

Full information regarding the project, including a fact sheet, project description and schedule, and community involvement efforts can be found by clicking here.