Submitted by NW EcoBuilding Guild
“New Urbanism” is on the minds of many leaders in Thurston County, with new downtown housing developments and four mixed use “master plans” for district redevelopment taking shape in Tumwater, Lacey and Olympia. So much that it’s the subject of an upcoming Symposium in the quarterly Vision to Action series: “Green Urbanism: The Sustainable Antidote to Sprawl,” to be held Saturday October 26, 8:30 am – 1:00 pm at South Puget Sound Community College’s LEED-Platinum Natural Resources Building.
The Symposium will host Rex Burkholder, a new urbanist leader from Portland, Oregon as keynote speaker. Burkholder is the former Deputy President of the Metro Regional Council, a blogger and a bicycle advocate, who will relate Portland’s experience with growth management to the new Sustainable Thurston Plan. He’ll be followed by a panel of local development, neighborhood and environmental leaders.
They will discuss elements of the draft plan which makes protecting the environment through compact urban development a top priority strategy. Event organizers think that thousands of new residents expected to come to Thurston County in coming years offer a major opportunity to redevelop our urban corridors and make a greener, healthier, more prosperous community.
“Developing new downtown housing and mixed residential/commercial areas around the sound will result in a more vibrant, economically thriving community. It can also be safer for kids on bikes, greener and more climate friendly – if we seize the opportunity. But can we get past our differences and agree?” That’s the challenge the forum puts forth, according to Chris van Daalen, educator with the Northwest EcoBuilding Guild and organizer of the Vision2Action Symposium series.
The event is designed not only to highlight strategies in the Sustainable Thurston plan, but also to test the water for a broad agreement among business, neighborhood and environmental leaders to move forward on the plan. That could mean revisions to development codes and incentives to make investments more attractive, and resolving long-standing issues over waterfront development, environmental protection and who pays for growth.
Yet, there seems to be a moment of opportunity. The Guild and event cosponsors invite anyone with an active stake in the community to attend and be part of this vision-to-action conversation.
Panelists will include Karen Messmer former Olympia City Council Member now with the Olympia Safe Streets Campaign; Mark Kitabayashi of the Thurston County Realtors Association, and Peter Guttchen, a local neighborhood leader. Carol Richmond, a Member of the Olympia Planning Commission will set the local context for the discussion with a visual presentation of examples of sustainable urban design, issues and opportunities. The presentations will be followed by lively, interactive “café style” discussions to co-design and build a brighter future.
The Event is put on by a diverse partnership of sponsors, lead by the Northwest EcoBuilding Guild with support from Thurston County. Co-sponsors include the Thurston Climate Action Team, Thurston County Chamber of Commerce, Thurston County Realtors Association, and Olympia Federal Savings. Rounding out the line-up of sponsors are the City of Olympia, the City of Tumwater and the Thurston Regional Planning Council.
For more information, visit www.Vision2Action.us or call (360) 789-9669.
