Neary-Sighted

Yesterday was a turning point for Tillicum. It's a bit hard to explain Tillicum to those who don't know it. It's a part of Lakewood cut off from the rest of the city except by I-5. It is bordered by military bases, beautiful American Lake, and a country club.

But it's a poor, poor place with old buildings and a poverty rate that's 60 percentage points higher than the state average. The crime rate's been real low lately, but if you ask a real estate investor from Seattle what he or she thinks about Tillicum, you're going to hear old stories about crimes.

You would think urbanized land next to military bases and an Interstate, and within the shadow of Tacoma and within range of Portland and Seattle, would be a thriving place. The lack of any sewer system has kept building size and investment down.

Yesterday, the Lakewood City Council voted to hire a contractor for $9 million - $3 million less than estimates - to bring sewers to Tillicum. This will be huge. It will create an atmosphere where we can get things like newer housing and hotels and restaurants. The contractor is Northwest Cascade, a local company.

So that was step one. Step two was introduction of a plan that would allow Tillicum to unfold in some sort of sensible way that balances the interests of private property owners with certain public needs. We want businesses that bring employment. We want to get rid of whatever trashy housing remains; and yet not displace people who've lived there for years and can't normally afford to live in an area that is going to be, for lack of a better term, gentrified.

The plan was just provided in draft form last year. There are going to be scads and scads of public meetings in Tillicum, so nothing is settled. It's based loosely on a wonderful private collaboration awhile back led by BCRA architects that envisioned a vibrant, lovely, thriving area. (The cover of it is pictured above)

We're a long ways from approving anything in the plan like flexible parking and design standards. We have some time because it's going to take a couple years to get the sewers in and make private investment worthwhile. Let's hope people collaborate on a great vision and plan for the community, agreeing to disagree on some things and moving on. The potential is enormous.

You can download the draft ... draft ... did I say draft ... Tillicum plan here. It's a 13M file; the city is selling CD copies for $1.
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