Moving Forward Milwaukie Site Tour

City Councilors, Planning Commissioners, members of the Moving Forward Milwaukie Project Advisory Committee, and City staff visited Oregon City's and Lake Oswego's downtown areas on June 2, 2014. The purpose of the visit was to cultivate ideas and learn from other jurisdictions about how to invigorate Main Street and commercial areas.

Those taking part in the tour paid careful attention to how the public and private sectors have worked together in those communities to build successful development projects and public spaces, and how capital improvements like streetscape amenities can encourage private investment. See the MFM Site Tour Handout for more information.

The tour was part of the Moving Forward Milwaukie Project (MFM) - the City's effort to remove barriers and encourage appropriate development in Milwaukie's commercial areas. Proposed programs and code revisions will be discussed at the June 24 Planning Commission meeting and the June 26 Public Advisory Committee, both of which are open to the public.

Additional information about the communities visited (as well as Mississippi Ave), including the tools each area has used to revitalize their commercial areas, is available below.

A note: although we didn’t set out to highlight communities that used urban renewal to fund their revitalization programs, it turned out that each of these communities had. There are examples of other communities that have not used that tool (including Sellwood in Portland and West Linn), but most communities in the Portland metro area have established urban renewal areas.

Oregon City

Highlighted Projects:

• Main Street Streetscape upgrades
• Various façade and interior improvements along Main Street
• Restoration of the Arch Bridge and reestablishment of a two-way street grid downtown

Tools discussed:

• Urban renewal
• Oregon Main Street Program  
• Vertical Housing Development Zone
• Downtown Parking Overlay District (allows an automatic 50% reduction for new development within this district, with provisions for an additional 25% reduction)

Lake Oswego

Highlighted Projects:

• Millennium Plaza Park
• Lake View Village
• Sundeleaf Plaza
• Lake Twin Theater façade improvement
• 555 2nd – Condominiums

Tools discussed:

• Urban renewal
• Façade grant program

Mississippi Ave (not visited)

Highlighted Projects:

• Mississippi Commons (adaptive reuse)
• Mississippi Marketplace (food carts and bar/restaurant)
• Tupelo Alley (mixed use residential development)

Tools utilized in the area:

• Urban renewal (part of Interstate URA, adopted in 2000)
  • Storefront Improvement Program
  • Development Opportunity Service Program
  • Commercial Property Redevelopment Loan Program