Previous Reports from 2008

Looking Forward Into Our Future

This special issue of Your City blends information about the past, current and future for our City. As a community we have grown significantly in the last 40 plus years. Our population has ballooned since 1960. The official census is as follows: 5,937 residents in 1960; 18,577 in 1970; 31,962 in 1980; 53,307 in 1990; and 76,129 in 2000. Today, our official population totals nearly 87,000 people. I have proudly served you, beginning with the Beaverton Planning Commission, since 1981. We have grown nearly three times in population since I began my involvement with the City!

In 1962, when I moved to Beaverton from Portland at the end of my seventh grade school year, our town was a sleepy little community. Although we had multiple freight trains blocking traffic many hours of the day, not much else was happening here. Tektronix and Electro Scientific Industries (ESI) were very new and small, Nike hadn’t yet been founded, Intel had not yet opened shop in Washington County, and the Cedar Hills Crossing Shopping Center was still a small private airport. Sunset High School had just recently opened and was only the second high school in the Beaverton School District. I’ve witnessed rapid change.

Today, ours is the most diverse city in the state with ethnic minorities making up more than 28 percent of our community. Nearly 40 percent of our residents have earned at least a Bachelor’s degree, well above the state average. We are engaged in our community, savvy about world affairs and take pride in our homes and business successes.

So, where do we go from here and what will our community look like in the future? That is really up to you. I think we’ve laid many of the foundations for a positive, vibrant, diverse, interesting, racially and ethnically tolerant community. Our City finances are in great shape, the underground infrastructure is reliable and a plan is in place to keep our infrastructure that way, and in this past year you have given us your vision for the future. Hundreds of citizens were involved in numerous Community Visioning meetings and several follow-up sessions. We’re ready to begin fashioning our future based on the information citizens provided during the Community Visioning process. This fall we’ll appoint a Visioning Advisory Committee (VAC) that will review the information citizens gave us and, over the coming year, the VAC will make recommendations to the City Council to define and prioritize future actions. The defining process will be open to the public and your opinions will matter.

I believe that Beaverton has a bright future. I’ve watched our evolution as a City and have appreciated being able to help shape our destiny. I’m confident that our downtown core area will continue to evolve and will emerge as a destination for residents to live in and enjoy. The future core will be interconnected with the other neighborhoods via walking routes, bike paths and improved mass transit. Our downtown will continue to grow as a local employment center. The Westside Max Light Rail Line will connect us with the entire region, making it attractive for future retailers and employers. I have been involved since the beginning planning for and implementing the WES Commuter Rail Line that will connect us with Tigard, Tualatin and Wilsonville. We have become a strong transportation hub with Beaverton located at the confluence of several state highways, Westside Max Light Rail and the new WES Commuter Rail Line.

Enjoying reading about our City’s past, present and future!

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