Planning for the Southeast Neighborhoods Subarea

 UW Masters of Urban Design and Planning Class of 2011 works with Shoreline

By Derrick Hiebert-Flamm

 Over the course of the past five months the University of Washington Masters of Urban Design and Planning (MUP) Class of 2011 has worked closely with community groups and the City of Shoreline to identify some of the strengths and opportunities of the Southeast Neighborhoods Subarea. 

Since its annexation by the City of Shoreline several years ago, the parts of the Briarcrest and Ridgecrest Neighborhoods that make up the Subarea have been operating under a temporary comprehensive plan designation. The City convened the SE Neighborhoods Subarea Citizen’s Advisory Committee to create recommendations for the Subarea’s incorporation into the comprehensive plan. Our studio is working on the implementation of those recommendations. Our work groups focused on a variety of topics including land use, transportation, the environment, community participation and social capital, and housing. We explored in detail many of the goals and policies of the SE Neighborhoods Subarea Plan Report, and concentrated on creating plans for their implementation.

The MUP 1st year studio is a practical, experiential learning-based class for first-year masters students at the UW Department of Urban Design and Planning. We work closely with a client and a community on a variety of issues, creating plans or programs for the client’s use. Past plans created through our program include the City of Seattle’s Neighborhood Plan Update Process, for which those students won a major American Planning Association award. As the MUP is a professional degree program, we bring a variety of experiences in a number of fields, including urban design, geographic information systems, architecture, project management, and engineering.  We also bring additional people for use on projects the city may have lacked the staff to undertake. 

We are pleased to be showing the final work products to the communities of Briarcrest and Ridgecrest and the City of Shoreline on Tuesday, June 1 from 6:30 to 8:30 pm at the First Christian Reformed Church Multipurpose Room, 14555 25th Ave NE, Shoreline 98155.