| Project Rating: |  |
| Project Snapshot: | A remarkably well-preserved main street makes major street improvements with an array of creative financing sources. |
| Project History: |
Most towns would salivate for the wealth of nineteenth century architecture that exists in the historic town of Independence, Oregon. Oddly, the town benefited from being bypassed by major highways in the 1960s, and today has revitalized a beautiful historic district that had seen rough times. In 2001, the City of Independence broke ground on the $870,000 project that would completely rebuild their main street, with expanded sidewalks, street trees, new street furniture and lighting and even updated public utilities under the street. The key to the street reconstruction project was the City's creativity in gaining state downtown redevelopment funds, lottery funds, arts grants, federal transportation enhancement funds and even support from the National Guard! The City's leaders showed uncommon vision and tenacity in making these projects happen at little added cost to local residents of this rural town of just 6,100 residents (for more on how the project came together, be sure to visit the news chronology of the effort). In 2002, the City of Independence joined with two neighboring towns to hire a shared downtown manager - a step that will build on the capital improvements made in 2001, and is another indication that the City is committed to main street revitalization. |
| Best Ideas: |
The Independence project is a clinic on how to tame an orphan highway that still divides a small town. Though not extravagant, the rebuilt main street uses excellent design principles and well-placed street furniture to create a great streetscape. The wider sidewalk dimensions (and correspondingly narrow traffic lanes) and corner treatments are the strongest elements, with especially good details at the corner of Main and Monmouth streets. The project also features tasteful, understated street fixtures that perfectly complement the historic architecture, without drawing attention from the grand old buildings that line Main Street. The City's banner and flower basket programs are also a fine detail that make great use of the new street fixtures. |
| Worst Ideas: | The only weak element of the design is the lack of traffic control at the C Street intersection. This is likely the result of highway department engineers looking for "warrants", and not of the City's doing. Still, approaching traffic from the north consistently fails to yield to pedestrians here, or even slow down to posted limits by the time they reach this intersection. Hopefully, a retrofit to this intersection will come in the future. |
| Contact Information: |
City of Independence P.O. Box 7 Independence, OR 97351 (503) 838-1212 e-mail: independ@open.org web: http://www.open.org/~independ/ |
