Monroe Planning Suite
In 2013, the City of Monroe commissioned us to lead major updates to its comprehensive plan, along with a new parks plan, transportation plan and economic development strategy. At stake were City policies to address expected growth surges in the wake of the great recession, setting the stage for Monroe's future role among Seattle-metro communities—as a live-work city, a bedroom community, employment center, and retail hub. We vetted a set of differing growth strategies through an extensive outreach process, including a downtown "storefront studio", an interactive Mind Mixer™ website, an advisory committee and much more. Ultimately, the hybrid strategy evolving from four different scenarios "maximized" Monroe's most valued qualities—a strategy the adopted plan expressed in policy and in an innovative, diagrammatic and spatial form. The process also directly linked functional transportation, parks and economic development plans to comprehensive planning policy, ensuring top-to-bottom consistency. Envision Monroe’s planning suite received top Washington APA/PAW honors for small city planning in 2016.
Client Reference:
David Osaki
Former Planning & Permitting Director
Dates of Involvement: 2013 – 2015
Cost: $550,000
