Building communities

Conducting a housing needs assessment, utilizing local and publicly available data, can help identify where housing gaps exist amongst specific populations and areas within cities. Information gathered from the needs assessment will inform the necessary tools and policies cities should consider adopting to fill gaps that exist and create opportunities for future populations. Blueline can help cities develop a housing action plan that outlines policies to encourage the construction of various housing types, both affordable and market-rate, that are accessible to all income brackets.

Cities have increasingly sought to utilize a more comprehensive approach to integrating its recreation programs and parks and open space needs within their community development plans. Blueline provides effective strategic planning to establish visioning, complete needs assessments, affirm consistency with Level of Service Standards, and determine project priorities and funding options. With support from our landscape architecture group, this comprehensive approach to updating and adopting park master plans includes data gathering, in-house design concepts, and cost analysis. Most importantly, successful PROS planning efforts require strong public involvement and facilitation with key stakeholders and the public at large. We employ the right tools to collect such valuable public input including surveys, public presentations, and convening design charrette exercises.

In Washington State, cities and counties planning under the Growth Management Act are required to create and maintain a comprehensive plan. Mandatory periodic updates are required every eight years, which can be quite an undertaking for jurisdictions, particularly smaller ones with limited staff. Blueline offers a full menu of comprehensive planning services, including community engagement, data analysis, policy development, and visual communication.

As cities grow and change, it may become important for them to create a cohesive identity or to preserve specific characteristics in neighborhoods, corridors, downtowns, or districts. Neighborhood and subarea plans allow for a more detailed level of planning than comprehensive plans do, offering a long-term vision and coordinated approach to development. Blueline’s extensive history working in many different types of communities has shown us the importance of carving out space for neighborhoods to grow in a manner they choose. Much like our menu of services for comprehensive planning, Blueline can assist with visioning, community engagement, data analysis, and policy development to create effective plans that will help communities navigate growth more sustainably.

Cities find themselves in need of development code updates, especially in the Puget Sound Region, where population growth and subsequent development has occurred at such rapid rates that jurisdictions have had trouble keeping up. Greater demand for housing, critical area protections, preservation and creation of open space, more diverse transportation systems are all issues cities have encountered. It has become necessary to update municipal codes to accommodate changing needs. Blueline’s extensive experience working with municipal codes firsthand allows us to help our jurisdictional clients write effective and user-friendly code provisions.

With access to open data and our knowledge of the latest software, we can deliver comprehensive data analysis based on our client’s project needs. From educational GIS maps to informed policy recommendations, we can produce an array of products using both qualitative and quantitative methods. We are also proficient at combining our analyst tools with our illustrative software program skills to create clear, concise graphics that accurately reflect a project’s goals.

In today’s fiscal environment, obtaining adequate public funding to develop capital facility and infrastructure improvements can be the greatest challenge to getting an idea off of a Capital Improvement Plan and onto the ground. Our extensive background working within and around various local, state, and federal grant and loan programs help set us apart. Whether the need is for streets and sidewalk improvements, water or sewer system extensions, or parks planning and design, Blueline can provide effective grant writing, coordination, and project management.

What sets us apart from other firms is the care we put into our feasibility analysis. We provide clients with a conceptual site plan that is code compliant, with utility coordination and design that is thorough in its earliest stage. By utilizing the latest software technology such as Lumion, SketchUp, InDesign, and LandFX, not only can we assist the developer with detailed plan layouts and designs, but we can also help visualize and promote these ideas.

We aid the private developer in navigating the land use entitlement and permitting process. Our attention to detail with public agency coordination ensures deadlines are met and development goals are achieved. Possessing a strong background in environmental analysis, we can also facilitate engineering and land use actions through the more complex environmental permitting such as HPA, NPDES, and JARPA as well as reviews under state SEPA and federal NEPA compliance.