As state and local agencies seek the public’s help on ways to reduce vehicles on the road, the Creekside District is upheld as a supportive local example.

“’The city of Beaverton is doing great things,’ she [Metro councilor Kathryn Harrington] said, citing the recently unveiled plans for the Creekside District, which includes various improvements to the congested Canyon Road corridor. ‘Through the Creekside District and Canyon Road improvements, they’re talking about changes in transportation connectivity to create a better grid for cars and to make people feel safer and more comfortable whether they’re on foot or bicycle wheels. It also (promises) to have more interesting stores, restaurants, businesses and more housing in that area. Those are terrific ambitions. We should have dreams like that. I applaud the city’s work in exploring them and how we make the community’s vision’ become reality.”

Read the rest of the article at the Beaverton Valley Times… 

As a Metro councilor representing District 4 in Washington County, Kathryn Harrington has heard about the city of Beaverton’s evolving Creekside District plans for some time. A recent open house geared toward businesses and residents in the district, however, opened her eyes to the project’s full potential.

“I’m starting to feel, more than just visions and what they’d like to do, that it’s ‘OK, this is what this would look like, and what we would work toward in terms of making it a reality,’” she said. “They’re trying to give folks a good appreciation of what the planning effort has been to date and ensure people are informed and in the know.”

Read the rest of the article at the Beaverton Valley Times… 

Thank you for contributing your time and ideas to the Downtown Creeks Plan, part of the overall Beaverton Creekside District Master Plan. With your help, the city is developing a plan for improving the beauty and quality of our downtown creeks, while facilitating reinvestment and redevelopment. We received valuable direction regarding preferences for park space, redevelopment and connections through the District.

This open house was the first in a series of public events. The next open house will take place mid-summer and will showcase preliminary solutions for public and private reinvestment along the creeks and several designs for a public park located just north of the Round.

In the meantime, if you are a business owner or property owner in the Creekside District or central Beaverton, the project team would love to hear from you. Contact us here.

“Beaverton Creekside Chapter One” Video

During the event, we previewed the first video in a series that focus on the different aspects of the Creekside District Master Plan process.

Thank you ACMA students!

Also, we want to extend a special thanks to the urban design students from the Arts and Communication Magnet Academy for displaying their designs for Beaverton Creek. As part of a class assignment, the students have been working on creating their own vision for a downtown area park.

Beaverton residents voiced optimism about the city’s plans for its downtown Creekside District at an open house Thursday evening.

Fregonese Associates, which is working with the city to craft a master plan for the 49-acre district that includes part of Southwest Canyon Road and the area around the Beaverton Central MAX Station, gave a presentation on the project to about 50 attendees.

Students from the Arts & Communication Magnet Academy also shared their visions for the project, which they designed in an urban planning class.

Read the rest of the article at The Oregonian…

The event was led by Michael Moule, a national expert in street design and a seasoned workshop facilitator. Mr. Moule has led hundreds of workshops and training courses throughout the United States and sees similar issues in communities like Beaverton. These issues include narrow sidewalks with limited buffers between pedestrians and vehicles, long crossing distances with limited walk time at signals, and features that impede pedestrian movement (e.g., utilities, cracks, and sign posts).

Asked what he observed in Beaverton, Mr. Moule stated, “Like many suburban communities in the United States, Beaverton’s street network is largely focused on motor vehicles, resulting in challenging conditions for walking and bicycling.” Mr. Moule helped stakeholders identify where designated pedestrian crossings and available walking routes divert people from their desired travel patterns. People prefer routes that are the most direct, and it is critical to provide comfortable, safe, and convenient walking connections that require as few footsteps as possible. Results from the audit will be used to craft recommendations and inform the design of streets in the District.

Click the image below to view the Mobility Audit Report. [PDF, 5MB]

In the heart of downtown, the Beaverton Creekside project is transforming the results of the Community Vision and Civic Plan and working to implement tangible, on-the-ground projects and strategic investments that address our community’s highest priorities.

The Beaverton Creekside project will:

• Improve and connect Canyon Road, local streets, bikeways, trails, and the Beaverton Central MAX station to better serve residents and visitors as they move to and through downtown and the emerging district.
• Transform and rejuvenate downtown’s three creeks to restore and enhance the way they work while creating better access to nature for all Beaverton residents.
• Collaborate with local businesses and property owners to foster the local economy and create an innovative, sustainably-designed downtown neighborhood and business district.

The Creekside project marks a major step forward in implementing the goals of the Beaverton Civic Plan, which the City adopted last year to spur implementation of the Beaverton Community Vision. Last November, voters passed a $150 million Urban Renewal Plan aimed at revitalizing central Beaverton. The Creekside District emerged as a key site for potential improvements, and is the natural starting place to begin planning and design for a revitalized downtown Beaverton.

You can stay informed and participate in the Beaverton Creekside project as it moves forward. Please be sure to check back often and join our mailing list to receive periodic project updates. www.beavertoncivicplan.com

In April 2011, the City of Beaverton, Oregon adopted its Civic Plan (the “Civic Plan”), a comprehensive analysis and strategic planning framework for Beaverton’s Central City. A key Civic Plan goal is the transformation of the area known as the Creekside District into a vibrant, sustainable mixed-use area. More information about the City and the Civic Plan can be found at www.BeavertonOregon.gov.  

Recently the City received a HUD Community Challenge Grant to complete the Creekside District Master Plan over the course of 3 years. The Creekside District presents a unique and significant opportunity to redevelop a core area of the City and contains a number of features that, when fully integrated, will provide significant efficiencies and attractors for businesses, residents and visitors. The District area features urbanized portions of Beaverton Creek, a district heating and cooling system, a MAX light rail station and adjacent transit-oriented development. The Master Plan will have three main components:

1. The Downtown Creeks Natural Resource Plan
2. The Canyon Road streetscape refinement and Creekside District transportation plan, and
3. The Creekside District transit-oriented and affordable housing development strategy.

Each component will overlap the other, and will need to fit into an overarching public engagement strategy and be synthesized into a single Master Plan document.

The City anticipates proposers will form teams of well-qualified experts to create the components of the Master Plan. The City expects a high degree of ability to coordinate the work of multifaceted land use, transportation, and natural resource experts and effectively communicate project outcomes.

A non-mandatory pre-proposal conference will be held at 2:00 pm PST on May 18, 2012 at Beaverton City Hall in connection with this procurement.  Please email questions prior to the conference to tmuralt@BeavertonOregon.gov, subject: CREEKSIDE RFP QUESTIONS.  Answers to questions emailed by 5:00 pm on May 17, 2012 and all questions submitted at the May 18th pre-proposal conference will be posted on the procurement website by 5:00 pm PST, Tuesday, May 22^nd. Answers to any additional questions submitted by 5:00 pm PST, May 31^st will be posted on the procurement website by 5:00 PM PST, June 1^st.

Sealed proposals must be received no later than 2:00 pm PST on June 8, 2012, at the Finance Utility Billing Counter on the second floor at 4755 SW Griffith Dr., Beaverton, Oregon 97005, Attention: Terry L. Muralt, CPPB, Purchasing Agent.  There will be no formal opening.  Proposals received after the designated time and date will be returned unopened.

Solicitation packets may be downloaded from http://apps.BeavertonOregon.gov/Bids/  or may be obtained at the address listed above or by calling the Bid Line at 503-526-2228.

Pre-qualification of proposer is not required.  All proposers are required to comply with the provisions of Oregon Revised Statutes and Beaverton’s Contract Review Board Policy.

The City of Beaverton reserves the right to reject any proposal not in compliance with all prescribed public bidding procedures and requirements and may reject for good cause any or all proposals upon a finding of the City that it is in the public interest to do so, to waive informalities in the proposals, and to select the proposal which appears to be in the best interest of the City.

The grant will accelerate sustainable development and support the implementation of the Beaverton Creekside District Master Plan, which integrates affordable housing with efficient transportation, green infrastructure and public amenities.

“Partnerships like these are critical to creating the vibrant downtown aspired to by Beaverton residents,” said Mayor Denny Doyle. “We’ll now have the capacity to move our plans to projects.”

The City will use its Sustainable Communities Challenge Grant to implement a number of strategies identified in the Civic Plan, adopted by City Council in April 2011.

“In effect, this grant allows the City to begin our Civic Plan work and once again validates the appreciated effort put into our award-winning visioning effort,” according to Doyle.

Implementation of the eight key elements of the Civic Plan will allow Beaverton to continue its focus on reducing barriers to achieving an affordable, economically vital and sustainable downtown. These elements include:

1. Refinement of the Beaverton Creek Connections open space design
2. Formation of a strategy for integrating affordable housing into future redevelopment
3. Creation of a process and criteria to fast-track desired development styles
4. Refinement of the Canyon Road streetscape enhancement strategy
5. Development of a build-out concept for the Round and Westgate sites
6. Enhancement and expansion of district systems, including the Beaverton Central Plant
7. Creation of new standards for streetscapes, parking, and mobility
8. Creation of a master plan for downtown creeks and natural resources

This grant will be conducted in partnership with Portland State University, Clean Water Services and with support from the State of Oregon Regional Solutions Center, Friends of Beaverton Creek and the Central Beaverton Neighborhood Association.

Download the full application materials!

Exhibit 1:Application Abstract

16 pages (0.5MB, PDF)
Download

Exhibit 2: Supporting Materials

 25 pages (6MB, PDF)
Download

ABOUT THE CREEKSIDE DISTRICT

At just under 50 acres, the Creekside District is a small area in Beaverton’s downtown that provides excellent opportunities to catalyze the redevelopment of the entire Regional Center. The Creekside District is located at the confluence of Beaverton’s three creeks, sits at the core of the Regional Center’s transit systems, and is served by the Beaverton Central Plant. This Creekside District has two major sites for redevelopment. Proper redevelopment of these sites, in conjunction with rehabilitation of the creek, integration of the Creekside District’s energy and transportation systems, and establishment of a long-term housing strategy, will catalyze revitalization of the Regional Center, further the City’s goal of incorporating sustainability and green technologies into future development, and create a vibrant mixed-use center with more people living in, working in, and visiting the area.

ABOUT THE SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES PROGRAM

The Sustainable Communities Challenge Grant award to the City of Beaverton is one of some $96 million in Sustainable Communities Grants awarded by HUD. This year’s Sustainable Communities grant competition received applications for more than $500 million in funding. HUD’s Community Challenge Grants aim to reform and reduce barriers to achieving affordable, economically vital and sustainable communities. The funds are awarded to communities, large and small, to address local challenges to integrating transportation and housing. Such efforts may include amending or updating local master plans, zoning codes, and building codes to support private sector investment in mixed-use development, affordable housing and the re-use of older buildings.