Sage Kiernan-Sherrow | News Editor
Western students may have noticed the increase in construction and development currently changing the landscape in Monmouth’s neighboring city of Independence. Some of the renovations include apartment complexes, a new youth center and the Independence Hotel, which was just opened to the public last Thursday, Oct. 10. Many of these renovations came to be because of the Independence 2020 Vision plan, a plan developed by both the local government and the community to revitalize downtown Independence. Now that these goals have been or are in the process of being accomplished, the Independence Department of Economic Development has set its sights on starting the next chapter — the Independence Vision 2040 Plan.
“Independence is growing. The Oregonian back in May published a story that said we were the fourth fastest-growing city in Oregon since 2010,” said Independence’s Economic Development Director, Shawn Irvine. “The cities faster than us were Bend, Happy Valley and Wilsonville, so kind of cities you would expect, and then there’s Independence.”
Irvine said this growth can be attributed to the fact that “we’ve done a lot in the past 10-20 years to revitalize the community and make it a place people want to be, and that appears to be working.”
In fact, the Independence Vision 2040 Plan marks the third time that the Department of Economic Development has sought community input on future renovations.
“As far back as 1996, folks were worried that Independence was going in the wrong direction, so they took a year and went out, got everybody involved and just said ‘what’s working and what’s not working’ and ‘where do you want Independence to be in 20 years and what do we have to do to get there?’”
In the ‘90s, Independence was known as a “blue-collar, rough-and-tumble town where everybody went to drink,” Irvine explained. “It’s funny, because as we evolve, we don’t want to lose that and become all hoity-toity.” At the same time, safety was a huge concern. Independence locals wanted their town to be “vibrant,” so they realized they had changes that needed to be made.
Now, almost 30 years later and after around 560 surveys were completed, the Independence Vision 2040 Plan focuses on new concerns.
“Folks still want the town oriented around the river, but they want more recreation around the river and more trails … we’re hearing more about … concerns about making sure that housing stays affordable, concerns about the people in our community who are less able to care for themselves … and increased interest in healthy living and lifestyles,” said Irvine, who also noted concerns for Independence’s characteristically young population.
Now, Irvine said, “I’m going to take it on the road and basically go to every local group and community organization and get in front of them to talk about this,” and asserted that, “it’s better to go out into the community and have the community tell the government what needs to happen, because then we can take our guidance and figure out how to implement that vision … and it makes it a whole lot easier to work with the community, to find partners, (and) to get people excited about it.”
For more information, visit http://www.independence2040.org/.
Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu
Photo courtesy of Independence’s Department of Economic Development
