Future Design for Port Angeles
Earlier this week, city staff and members of local tribes and community organizations met with two members of the American Institute of Architects. They’ve awarded the city a $15,000 grant to help determine the future design of Port Angeles.
Erin Simmons, director of AIA Center for Communities by Design, said: “This is one of the most enthusiastic communities that I have met. It's a huge asset.”
There’ll be a public meeting sometime between March 16th and 18th for people to give their opinions on which issues are most important for Port Angeles’ future.
Nathan West, Economic and Community Development director, said they’re seeking input on ways to fill vacancies in downtown buildings; better options for pedestrian, bicycle and motor traffic; sufficient open space, and access to the waterfront. He said the focus of this project is the city’s “International Corridor Area” — First and Front Streets from Ennis Creek to the Valley Creek estuary. He referred to “the feel you get when you drive through your community and the appeal of your surroundings.”
Erin Simmons, director of AIA Center for Communities by Design, said: “This is one of the most enthusiastic communities that I have met. It's a huge asset.”
There’ll be a public meeting sometime between March 16th and 18th for people to give their opinions on which issues are most important for Port Angeles’ future.
Nathan West, Economic and Community Development director, said they’re seeking input on ways to fill vacancies in downtown buildings; better options for pedestrian, bicycle and motor traffic; sufficient open space, and access to the waterfront. He said the focus of this project is the city’s “International Corridor Area” — First and Front Streets from Ennis Creek to the Valley Creek estuary. He referred to “the feel you get when you drive through your community and the appeal of your surroundings.”
Labels: AIA Center for Communities by Design, American Institute of Architects, Erin Simmons, International Corridor Area, Nathan West, Valley Creek Estuary
posted by Tom Harper at 6:15 PM
6 Comments:
They’ve awarded the city a $15,000 grant to help determine the future design of Port Angeles.
And the city will spend it on an outside firm to tell us what is best for us?
Whatever happened to just getting out on the streets and asking the people living here?
He said the focus of this project is the city’s “International Corridor Area”
To other destinations? Was there any talk of repaving Front Street downtown? Well, I guess that is part of a state highway so maybe that is up to the state?
I'm not very clear on that, help me out here.
Why? Why is the truck route through downtown instead of just up Lincoln? Local delivery's excepted of course.
Or why can't it be a split route being as the paper mill is on that side of town? But they can go up the truck route on the west side and swing back over to Lincoln via the short bit of 101.
It just seems to me that the only trucks that need to be downtown is local delivery trucks.
Well, trucks coming off of the ferry. What a mess, how about moving the ferry terminal a bit west so they can get right on the Tumwater truck route and make the loop over to Lincoln if going East instead of being in the downtown area?
Well, it's like it says on my coffee cup, "I'm surrounded by fuckin' idiots."
Didn't say I wasn't one of them, I take my turns, I just figure that I'm a special idiot.
Move the ferry terminal over to the old Rainer site? Right in the center of downtown for it really doesn't make sense to me.
There are a lot of trucks that use that ferry. The question is, which direction are they going after they get off of the ferry?
I don't think it should require paying outside firms to figure these things out.
Unless the people at city hall are so stupid that they can't figure things out for themselves.
In that case we need to sack them.
How about we spend $100.00 of that
grant on a bunch of hammers to knock down those rusty hulls that are supposed to be some kind of 'art'? 'WOW! The town looks better already!'
Those disembodied forms are a JOKE
and so is anyone who sticks their nose in the air and says others don't recognise art.
Yeah but I know garbage when I see it.
Laughable. How embarrassing...this little town thinks it has enough of a tourist base to charge ridiculous amounts of money for "antiques" downtown...they've had the same inventory for 5 years.
Then they put up the ugliest crap they can find and call it art and now they're looking to build some more useless crap in an area that people visit for its natural state.
I'm from martha's vineyard I know a tourist season when I see it and
there isn't one here.
You want a good scene downtown? Get the painfully noisy large trucks rerouted, lower prices in 'junk' stores, and make the area PEDESTRIAN FRIENDLY.
Oh, and either charge $10 outright for parking or sell 'seasonal parking pass'- quit with the sniveling 10.00 tickets.
People with good sense and some small sense of good taste never seem to end up in city hall.
"better options for pedestrian, bicycle and motor traffic; sufficient open space, and access to the waterfront. "
Yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes! Oh, and... good luck. Designing it is one thing; paying for it, and avoiding it all getting caught up in a bureaucratic quagmire is another thing.
I skimmed over the article in the paper and meant to re-read it later. One thing I really appreciate is them talking to PAHS students. We need to do something to stop the brain drain, and getting students excited about their community... and feel they actually have a way to contribute besides flipping burgers... is a good start.
There won't be a single cure all for Port Angeles, but each of these individual ideas should help a little. NOAA, those architects planning and "beautifying" the city, etc.
And the local arts scene is taking off. Whatever anyone thinks of those statues on Laurel Street, they attract attention, for better or worse. And that Second Friday thing with all the local art galleries, is bringing a lot of people downtown on those Friday nights.
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