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Rural Transportation Equity in Morrow County

Ada Inman — Mon, 12 Aug 2024 20:01:27 +0000

The Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development’s Rural Transportation Equity program is designed to address the needs of transportation-challenged populations in rural areas and improve access to services for these groups. In Morrow County, the Project Management team found that there is a general lack of awareness of the transportation options available as well as a low utilization of existing services. Under a new model with the Rural Engagement & Vitality Center and Euvalcree, a culturally specific organization, the project sought to make public engagement and planning efforts more inclusive, particularly for traditionally underserved groups.

National CIty Marina District (2/3)

Victor Manzanilla — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 03:38:59 +0000

The land use plans outlined in this report were created through the partnership between National City and the SDSU Sage Project during the fall of 2013. Upper-level undergraduate and graduate students in the Geography 572 course titled “Land Use Analysis,” taught by professor Diana Richardson, were given a project site in the National City Marina District for which they were to formulate a land use plan that they believed would be a sustainable, productive, and sensitive use for the site that is consistent and complementary to its surroundings.

The National City Marina District falls under the jurisdiction of several different entities; thus, students were required to identify the relevant federal, state, and local land use policies when considering different ways to best utilize the project site. Students had to comply with the National City General Plan, the Unified Port of San Diego’s Port Master Plan, the Harbor District Specific Area Plan, the California Coastal Commission guidelines, and the federal Endangered Species Act.

The projects were directly tied to goals set forth by the National City 2013 Strategic Plan and with substantial input by National City Staff. The Principal Planner, Martin Reeder, identified the three key needs of National City as job growth, tax generating commerce, and affordable housing. The students, organized into five groups, generated unique proposals to meet these needs while also applying concepts of sustainable design and smart growth in order to enhance connectivity between community, economic, and environmental goals.

Each of the five proposals addressed the nine elements that are laid out in the National City General Plan, which are a foundation for future development within the city. With land use as the umbrella element taken into consideration for all projects, students integrated course concepts to create a sustainable community with a complementary mix of uses. Additionally, the elements of community character, circulation, open space and agriculture, education and public participation, and sustainability were incorporated into site design considerations.

To meet goals of the community character element, many designs highlighted the maritime theme of the Marina District, which is one of the foremost industries in National City. Several paid homage to the history of San Diego, with one dedicating space to a museum filled with regional historic artifacts and information.

Similarly, changes to the site under the circulation element (i.e. transportation) were identified in the proposals. The groups formulated plans to create a more pedestrian-friendly area, with new commercial developments supplemented by trees and other green space. These proposals encourage bicycling and the use of other alternative forms of transportation, with most suggesting extensions to existing bus routes or a revitalized streetcar system to create a more accessible location.

National City and its residents are severely lacking in open space compared to the rest of San Diego County; thus, expansions of the existing Pepper Park and new green spaces were high on the agenda for these proposals. Community gardens were also included in a number of the projects to promote consumption of locally produced goods. One aspect of the site’s open space element is the adjacent Sweetwater Marsh National Wildlife Refuge. Because it is in close proximity to the project site, proposals took advantage of it as an educational opportunity for National City residents as well as to advocate stewardship of endangered wildlife.

The conclusion of this report highlights the most compelling designs and solutions to meet the needs of National City and work sustainable practices specifically into the National City Marina District. Proposals need not be adopted as comprehensive plans, but rather individual aspects from the varying plans can be implemented to ensure a bright future for the city and its residents.

The Sage Project Contact Info
Kristofer Patron
Program Administrator
kpatron@sdsu.edu
(619) 594-0103

University Faculty Contact
Diana Richardson
Geography

Local Government / Community Contact

Planning

Marina Tidelands: Modernization & Re-innovation

Victor Manzanilla — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 03:38:58 +0000

This report represents a semester of work by nine students of San Diego State University. Objectives included:
1. Determining the potential for non-industrial uses for portions of National City’s Marina District.
2. Identifying the most likely areas for conversion from industrial use.
3. Projecting those parcels’ best use. 4. Creating a written report and making a live presentation detailing the evidence for those conclusions.

Our hope is that this report will aid a development plan for a potential developer and the City of National City.

The course began with all students gaining background knowledge in order to see if more commercial use by the waterfront is economically viable, and if so, which kinds of commercial development suit the site area. We…
• researched the history of the San Diego Unified Port District, its goals, and its vision for the National City Marina District.
• compared that vision to objectives favored by the City of National City.
• looked at land uses in ports of similar shipping volume in other parts of the country.
• chose a line of demarcation to separate industrial from non-industrial uses.
• examined the physical site, observing it in multiple tours and with various technological platforms.
• estimated site areas for the identified parcels.
• gathered demographic data, studied planning and zoning documents, and interviewed public officials and real estate professionals about potential uses.
• surveyed people at or near Pier 32 or Pepper Park for their opinions of desired and feasible uses for the identified area.
• brainstormed names that could be used to re-brand the sterile-sounding National City Marina District.

Then four pairs of students each researched non-industrial uses and created what they believe are the optimum products for the “Preferred Alternative” area. Each pair’s report is embedded in this larger volume. Included are data and discussions of space needs, market rents, potential tenants, and rudimentary site plans for those potential uses.

Nine addenda are at the conclusion of this report: site photos, information on potential tenants, a user survey, proformas, brochures (proposed marketing packages), documen-tation regarding the upcoming National City Waterfront Adventure Center, a study of arts and entertainment in the district, an interview with a representative of the National City Chamber of Commerce, and articles referenced in this report.

Each pair of students produced a brochure (refer to Addendum E in the Appendix). Though they are reproduced in the addenda in shrunken versions, they are better viewed as full, individual PDFs, so those are provided separately. Elements of these brochures might be useful for future marketing of the area.

Throughout this process, students had an array of homework assignments and mile-stones specifically created to prepare all necessary research and gather resources for this project. Each scholar completed ten homework assignments, plus a few custom tasks. Some were intertwined and used to build on one another to get a concluding result and some were solely for finding a specific body of information. Each pair of stu-dents also met fifteen milestones, incremental assignments that led to this report.

The Sage Project Contact Info
Kristofer Patron
Program Administrator
kpatron@sdsu.edu
(619) 594-0103

University Faculty Contact
Seth Kaplowitz
General Studies

Local Government / Community Contact

City Manager

Alternate Modes of Transportation in the City of Lemon Grove

Victor Manzanilla — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 03:38:58 +0000

The bike lane network plans outlined in this report were created through the partnership between Lemon Grove and the Sage Project at San Diego State University during the fall of 2016. Upper-division undergraduate and graduate students in Geography 484, under the guidance of Dr. Atsushi Nara, used Graphic Information Systems (GIS) infrastructure to formulate a new circulation plan for a project site in the Lemon Grove Promenade.Proposals were developed to support sustainability and tactical urbanism in compliance with the City of Lemon Grove’s General Plan and the Bikeway Master Plan. Unique pro-posals were to meet key needs identified by the city while developing a GIS-based asset management project to enhance the Lemon Grove biking experience.GIS data were collected for bike routes and bike storage using ArcCollector, ArcGIS, and ArcMap. These data were incorporated into a proposed bike lane map for the City of Lemon Grove that included existing marked and unmarked lanes, optional routes, and proposed new marked routes. This report also includes several suggested improvements to increase bikeability and pro-mote alternative transportation in Lemon Grove. These recommendations include install-ing LED warning systems; adding crosswalk beacons, bike lanes, safety markers, and signs that acknowledge shared routes; installing designated cyclist stations with solar panel lighting that would provide readily available tools, such as bike pumps and emer-gency poles; and placing bike racks and bike storage in convenient locations. Improving the quality of bicycle travel can also positively impact public health and the environment. These impacts can reduce costs for individuals, the city, and society at large. This report concludes by highlighting the most compelling designs and solutions to meet the needs of Lemon Grove and incorporate sustainable practices in the Lemon Grove Promenade. Proposals need not be adopted as comprehensive plans, but rather individual compo-nents of various plans can be implemented to enhance bikeability in the community.Keywords: bikeability, circulation plan, bike lane network plan, sustainability,GIS, environmentAlternate Modes of Transportation in the City of Lemon Grove

The Sage Project Contact Info
Kristofer Patron
Program Administrator
kpatron@sdsu.edu
(619) 594-0103

University Faculty Contact
Atsushi Nara
Geography

Local Government / Community Contact

Assistant City Manager

Sustainable Urban Design Framework Seminar

Victor Manzanilla — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 03:38:29 +0000

This studio project was organized around the plans for a new TriMet light rail line to Tigard, Tualatin, and Washington County. Though this Southwest Corridor project is still in the early phases of planning and design, the studio collaborated with TriMet planners and the City of Tigard to visualize the future of a site that is likely to become a major station area. In addition, the site is seen as a critical location for a Park and Ride structure as this point marks where traffic into Portland drastically increases. The merge from Pacific Highway (99W) onto Interstate 5 (I-5) lies one-half mile east of the site, and the intersection of the two sees daily congestion and long waiting traffic.
This site provides opportunities beyond transit. Older development near the site has potential to be acquired by the project for use as Park & Ride, LRT station, and for potential development of parking and transportation-related uses. Other adjacent sites can be critical
purchases for developers given the benefits of the transit station. The City of Tigard supports plans for these future developments that include sustainable transit-oriented design, and restoration of environmental assets, such as Red Rock Creek, as opposed to box commercial development that maintains an auto-oriented focus. Students were tasked with considering the area surrounding the future station site as well as places that may be developed in later phases.
The class divided into groups of various sizes, each focusing on a different approach to the transit-oriented development (TOD) proposed around the new TriMet station. Most teams developed 80- and 40-scale designs to create a cohesive master plan across the site before taking a more individual approach on an area with a smaller extent and more detail. Groups included:
• “Stormwater Impacts”, Chrissy Stillman
This design focuses on Red Rock Creek as its own entity. Chrissy calculated on and off-site storm water entering the creek, its ephemeral flooding zones, and the impacts of more hardscape in the area. Much of her design strategies for reducing the
“flashiness” of the creek occurred east of the study area toward I-5.
• “68th and Rock Creek Parking Structure”, Kailee Bell
This design focuses on the opportunity of an off-site parking structure west of SW 68th Parkway that could provide rooftop amenities and access to a multimodal path along the bridged rail line leading into the station. This alternative solution frees up space
for transit-oriented development in the site south of the station by providing at least half the required parking within a reasonable off-site distance.
• “Place over Parking”, Thomas Copper and Nick Sund
This design focuses on the maximum integration of parking in a high-density transit-oriented development site adjacent to the light rail station. This team focused on TOD1, the second thing likely to be built by developers after the station.
• “Positively Tigard” Adam DeHeer and Yumna Imtiaz
This team focused on a design of the station and the transit-oriented development with an approach of impact mitigation and sustainability. This group focused on the station plaza and TOD1 and worked closely with Chrissy Stillman for assessing storm
water impact of their design proposal.
• “Tigard Terraces”, Brianna Heese, Emma Stone, Bocong Li, and Tori Murphy
This team focused on the topography of the site to integrate a medium density transit-oriented development. The team proposed designs for the station plaza, TOD1, Red Rock Creek, and TOD2 to meet the long-term phasing goals of TriMet and Tigard.
Students generally found the site challenging in terms of balancing programmatic requirements with creating livable and enjoyable spaces. The student designs offer the best attempts to combine the two goals and do so in many ways. The required amount of parking was a challenge, and most students found that the best way to create a functioning transit-oriented development was either to invest in a parking structure below development or to site the parking across SW 68th Parkway. Additionally, if Tigard and TriMet desire sustainable and ecological designs, many teams suggest partnering with developers now and planning for elements to be incorporated. Finally, Red Rock Creek presents a potential flood problem for nearby development. Teams recommend multiple ways to reduce the flashiness of the creek, such as capturing stormwater on site for any new development.