Transit-Oriented Communities Come to Bellingham

Thanks to a small grant from the Community Food Co-op’s Member Affairs Committee, Futurewise Whatcom worked throughout the summer months to bring a new smart growth principle called ‘Transit-Oriented Communities’ to Bellingham for local policy makers and the community to learn about and employ. The grant covered a two-pronged effort, including a community forum called the “Transportation Tailgate” in July, and an informational exhibit that will be on display in Bellingham’s City Hall throughout August and September.

The principles of Transit Oriented Communities help us to think about land use and development in a manner that’s good for both people and the planet, envisioning urban growth patterns that give people choices in housing and transportation by creating more mixed-use and mixed-income neighborhoods with excellent pedestrian, bicycle and transit connectivity.

Transit Oriented Communities allow more people to access homes, jobs, and community services without relying on personal vehicles, thereby reducing household transportation expenses and promoting better physical health. Additionally, they help us ensure long-term environmental sustainability and prevent the conservation of natural resources by directing development away from working farms and forestlands, helping to protect food and fiber production, wildlife habitat, and water quality.

The community forum, ‘Transportation Tailgate,’ held in partnership with Sustainable Connections’ Green Building and Smart Growth Program, took place on a mild Saturday evening in July at Bellingham’s Parkade parking garage. About 150 folks packed in their camp chairs on the top floor to view 6 short film clips on transportation issues and solutions like physically separated bike lanes, increased parking turnover, downtown economic development, increased transit services, reduced parking incentives, and more. Panelists Ken Bothman (La Fiamma/Fiamma Burger), Bob Hall (Daylight Properties), Susan Horst (Smart Trips), Kyle Morris (The Hub Community Bike Shop) and Frank Ordway (Bellingham Transportation Commission) provided insights pertinent to local Bellingham issues for the audience in between films, and Mallard Ice Cream and Boundary Bay Brewery’s root beer floats capped the evening’s festivities for folks to enjoy with their sunset over Bellingham Bay.

Additionally, a traveling visual exhibit consisting of more than 10 color panels on the details of Transit Oriented Communities will hang in Bellingham’s City Hall through the end of September. We hope as many citizens and policy makers as possible will stop by for a visit and check out the principles comprising TOC, which are set up visually for the exhibit like a transit map as the viewer follows details on the context for planning, evidence of benefits, types of areas that could benefit, how to measure the benefits, and more.

The exhibit was created by Futurewise, the architecture firm of GGLO, and Transportation Choices Coalition and was made possible through the generous funding of the Bullitt Foundation, the Northwest Fund for the Environment and the Boeing Charitable Fund.  It has been in Seattle and Spokane most recently and will travel throughout the state during the next year. It is a companion piece to our publication Transit-Oriented Communities: A Blueprint for Washington State which can be downloaded here.

Thank you so much to the Community Food Co-op and their members for supporting innovating solutions like Transit Oriented Communities in OUR community! If we can utilize TOC principles for planning the next phase of our city’s development, quite possibly our future in Bellingham will be even better than the current place we all enjoy.