CHAPTER 1. A VISION FOR LEWISTON IN 2020
“Where there is no vision, the people perish” Proverbs 29:18
“Where will we be as a community in the year 2020?”
I. Assumptions concerning the future:
Job creation will continue
strong, with Valley Vision successful in creating at least one thousand living
wage jobs in the next several years.
These high quality jobs will enable the youth of Lewiston to return to
or remain at home to make a life for themselves and their families. Over the next two decades, the employment
structure will continue to diversify away from heavy reliance on timber based
industry but wood products will continue to play an important role in our
community.
Meetings around the community
over the past several years, sponsored by both the Planning and Zoning
Commission and the City Council, have asked this question in a neighborhood
setting. While there were differences
in specifics among the neighborhoods, certain elements were common throughout
the community.
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First, people
of all income groups have safe and adequate housing available; residential
areas are protected from commercial incursion. A variety of housing types are
provided throughout the community while respecting the development pattern of
the neighborhood in which they are located.
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Second,
commercial areas will be contained in commercial nodes with traditional strip
commercial areas redeveloped over time to a more efficient use of land, but we
will make sure there is adequate land available for the expansion of our
commercial business sector. Commercial areas located in the transitions between
residential and commercial uses will be controlled through design review or
other means to minimize their impact on the residential uses nearby.
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Third, economic
development will have diversified our economy, adding living wage jobs keyed to
the future so our children can graduate from high school and college and find
high quality jobs at home. These new business opportunities will be centrally
located in our community so workers will have multiple ways of accessing the
job opportunities created.
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Fourth, we
respect the environment in which we live, protecting our air and water quality
and the lands more suited for wildlife than for urban development. We will site
new business and industry in those areas where they will have the least impact
on our quality of life.
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Fifth, we have
a superior transportation system, serving the needs of all segments of our
community, from walkers to drivers, bicyclists and joggers.
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Sixth, we
are a compact urban community, preventing sprawl and efficiently using
our land resources and infrastructure, understanding that the random spread of
a community wastes valuable resources while adding little to the tax base.
Development will be occurring next to already developed areas, rather than in a
random, leapfrog pattern and will be developed to city standards.