People enjoy the nice weather while keeping their distance in Riverfront Park on Thursday, April 9. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
Salem is close to completing its vision board for the future and is asking for community input.
The city’s “Our Salem” project, an update to the city’s comprehensive plan, is currently in a visioning process meant to gather community feedback on the document that will guide growth in the next 20 years.
Eunice Kim, Salem’s planner, said it’s an opportunity for the community to come together and decide how it wants to grow and develop.
Salem’s comprehensive plan dates back to 1973 and has been amended several times but never fully overhauled. Salem’s population in 1980 was 89,233 and by 2035 the population is expected to grow to three times that — 270,000.
Salem City Council approved funding for the update, which guides everything from where homes are built to how parks are managed, in 2017.
So far, the city has done virtual meetings to get feedback from stakeholders and has put out several surveys to guide where certain types of development can be built.
The city currently has a survey on “neighborhood hubs” or areas where people can walk to businesses like laundromats or restaurants from their home.
SURVEY LINK: Neighborhood Hub Survey
“A lot of people want to be able to live in an area where they can walk to meet some of their daily needs,” Kim said. “We created this idea of a neighborhood hub. Folks have embraced broad idea of having small scale businesses within residential neighborhoods.”
The survey asks what types of small businesses residents would like to see in a neighborhood hub, how big they should be and what they should look like. Kim said 550 people have taken the survey, so far.
Kim said the visioning phase started with the question: what are your priorities for growth?
She said one of the main priorities the city got from feedback is the need for affordable housing.
Other priorities included reducing greenhouse gas emissions and making the city more walk and bike friendly.
In a separate recent survey, Kim said a majority of respondents were in favor of mixed-use properties on Northeast Lancaster Drive, Southeast Commercial Street and in downtown.
Another survey found that a majority supported distributing multifamily housing throughout the city instead of concentrating it in one area.
In June 2019, the city released a report card that rated how the city was doing on key metrics like housing affordability, tree canopy, access to frequent transit and proximity to parks. Weak points included walk and transit friendliness, bicycle and pedestrian use, tree canopy, greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution from travel.
After collecting information from community members, Kim will present a draft plan to the Salem City Council in September.
From there, a comprehensive plan update could take until the end of 2021.
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Have a story tip? Contact reporter Saphara Harrell at 503-549-6250, [email protected] or @daisysaphara.
