August 2003
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| Table of Contents |
THE DEVELOPMENT TOOLKIT:
Success Stories from the Regional Growth Centers
Downtowns in the central Puget Sound region are booming. Bellevue has some beautiful new multifamily apartment buildings with courtyards and ground floor businesses. Bremerton has cranes and construction crews busily building a new government center and a conference center. Everett has a new transit station that includes an educational center, and is putting the finishing touches on a special events center. Kent has a new commuter rail station with an art filled parking garage, as well as a new regional justice center. Renton has a whole new downtown development featuring a public plaza and transit center. Tacoma has a new University of Washington campus, new glass museum and pedestrian bridge, and light rail tracks. And, each of these downtowns is fixing up their streets, with wider sidewalks, benches, landscaping, banners, and public art.
These successes are not accidental. Developments are occurring in these locations by design...and by designation. The downtown-areas of these six jurisdictions have been designated as Regional Growth Centers through countywide planning organizations. This designation is part of VISION 2020, the region's long-range growth management, economic, and transportation strategy, which responds to the requirements of the state's Growth Management Act.
Time and again, the Regional Council has taken a quantitative look at the growth centers -- there are 21 in the four-county region -- reporting on data trends. This includes looking at population, housing, employment and other key indicators of growth. In 2002, the Regional Council released the 2002 Regional Growth Centers report, which tracked more than a dozen measures for each of the centers.
Policy makers in the region were impressed with the results, but posed some additional questions, such as: why are some centers more successful than others, what tools or techniques did they use, and how did they get public support for such density? They asked Regional Council staff to talk to people in the centers to find some answers.
We focused on six of the centers -- Bellevue, Bremerton, Everett, Kent, Renton, and Tacoma. We looked at the data, read newspaper articles, plans and studies, and interviewed people. Our goal was finding replicable common themes or strategies that could be shared with other jurisdictions in the region.
What We Learned
The research clearly showed that it is actions and people, more so than tools that are making things happen. The lessons we learned are not technical and there are no silver bullets. Rather, it is just a lot of hard work and working together.
 Partnerships: this is a central component of virtually every development. Behind every great development, there were people willing to pick up the phone and begin working together. The ensuing partnerships took many forms, including sharing money, creating a common vision, and figuring out how to speak the same language. | |
| Public support: This is being done through a variety of methods. Some are explicit like making promises to focus growth in the center to protect single-family neighborhoods, and creating programs that channel staff and resources to the neighborhoods. Others are subtler, like bold leadership, great staff work, inclusive processes that create ownership, and successful delivery of projects. | |
| Public money: Jurisdictions are "priming the pump" by putting in money upfront and sharing the risk. They are making investments in a strategic manner and leveraging these investments with policies and zoning. Lastly, they are building amenities such as parks, streetscapes, libraries, and art as well as infrastructure such as sewer, water, and roads to high-quality standards. | |
| Marketing: Borrowing a chapter from the private sector, public agencies are becoming full partners in the marketing game. They are forming marketing teams, "branding" their jurisdiction, holding downtown festivals, and actively recruiting developers. Part of this is clearly defining the role of the center and creating realistic expectations. | |
| Incentives: Rather than simply regulating, jurisdictions are developing a myriad of incentive programs...and they are working. This includes early environmental review, guaranteed permitting schedules, density bonuses, reducing some fees in the center, and using tax abatements. | |
| Parking: While some feel more work needs to be done, jurisdictions are tackling this complex issue by simplifying and creating consistency in the codes, and by promoting shared or managed parking programs. Often, they are reducing requirements as well. | |
| Accessibility: This will always be a key issue, and jurisdictions are looking towards a variety of techniques -- wider roads, better signal timing, HOV access, commuter and light rail, and multimodal transit centers. | |
| Commitment: Implementing the vision is a long-term endeavor. But, staying focused on the vision through the day-to-day challenges can help maintain community support, and provides security to the private sector for their investment decisions. |
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More Information: The results of our research, called the Regional Growth Center Development Toolkit, can be found in detail on our website. For more information on the project, contact Ivan Miller at 206.464.7549 or email imiller@psrc.org. |
| Regional Growth Centers in the Central Puget Sound Region | |
Transportation Projects to be Released for Public Comment
The Puget Sound Regional Council is encouraging public comment on the proposed Annual Air Quality Amendment to the 2003-2005 Regional Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). The TIP is a document which details hundreds of planned projects to improve highways and roadways, transit, and other forms of transportation in the four-county central Puget Sound region, and verifies that the projects are coordinated and consistent with the region's metropolitan long-range transportation plan, Destination 2030. The Air Quality Amendment is an annual opportunity for regionally significant projects to be added to the TIP and ensures that the region continues to meet federal and state air quality requirements. The proposed amendment consists of 19 projects using federal, state and local funds for a total investment of $1.88 billion, and includes both new projects and amendments to existing projects. The project list includes the Seattle Monorail Project, several interchange and other roadway improvements, traffic signal improvements, improvements to I-90 within Seattle and Mercer Island and the proposed South Lake Union Street Car. A detailed listing of the projects submitted for the proposed amendment is available on the Regional Council's Web site at psrc.org, or by calling the Regional Council's Information Center, (206) 464-7532. In addition, the projects may be viewed geographically via the TIP Web Map at www.psrc.org/projects/tip . The public comment period on the proposed amendment runs from August 14 through September 17, 2003. On September 11, the Transportation Policy Board will receive a summary of all public comments on the proposed amendment, and will take action on a recommendation to the Executive Board. There will also be an opportunity for comment at the September 25 meeting of the Executive Board when the TIP is scheduled to be adopted. Please send written comments on the major amendment to the attention of Karen Richter:| Mail: | Karen Richter
Puget Sound Regional Council 1011 Western Avenue, Suite 500 Seattle, WA 98104 |
| FAX: | (206) 587-4825 |
| E-mail: | krichter@psrc.org |
| Online: | www.psrc.org/projects/tip. |
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| Wages in the Region are Higher than Most, But National Averages are Catching Up |
The average annual wage for the region has been consistently higher than the state and national averages. In 2001, the region's average annual wage was $42,863, which was $5,406 greater than the state's average and $6,704 more than the nation's. These numbers are down from the region's peak in 1999, when the average annual wage was $5,820 higher than the state's wage and $8,332 higher than the nation's. In 2001, the regional wage had grown by 26.6 percent since 1995. The state's had grown by 22.4 percent and the nation's by only 16.4 percent in the same time period.
| Table 1: Regional, State and National Average Annual Wages, 1995-2001 | |||||||
| 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | |
| Region | $33,856 | $35,205 | $37,158 | $40,016 | $43,191 | $43,668 | $42,863 |
| State | $30,605 | $31,604 | $33,009 | $35,064 | $37,372 | $37,947 | $37,457 |
| Nation | $31,059 | $31,673 | $32,577 | $33,871 | $34,860 | $36,160 | $36,159 |
| Source: WA State Employment Security Department. | |||||||
| Figure 1: | Annual Wage Growth Rates for the Region, State and Nation, 1995-2001 |
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| Source: WA State Employment Security Department. Puget Sound Regional Council. | |
| Covered wages represent total compensation paid during the year including pay for vacation, bonuses, stock options, tips, the cash value of meals and lodging, and in some States, contributions to deferred compensation plans (such as 401(k) plans). Average annual wages are calculated by dividing average annual employment by total wages. Wages are reported in 2001 dollars. |  |
Puget Sound Milestones -- A new chapter of the Regional Economic Profile, Chapter 3: Income, Poverty and Wage Trends is now available on the Regional Council's Web site, psrc.org or from the Information Center 206-464-7532 or infoctr@psrc.org
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| 206-464-7532 - FAX 206-587-4825 - infoctr@psrc.org |
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