Strengthening the Assets

At the end of August the City of Blaine, WA, made an unparalleled decision to eliminate water and sewer connection fees hoping to incentivize development. Their move was bold and brave. To further this incentive they eliminated impact fees. In taking these risks, they are forming a public-private partnership that stands to help them create the vision they have been working to build for twenty years.

As stewards of the land, how does a community strengthen internally to build its assets and resources with the hope of creating a beautiful, meaningful, and sustainable place? Further, how does a community invent itself to build public and private partnerships that meet this end?

Recently the NY Times published an article titled Reinventing America’s Cities: The Time is now. The author drew attention to the importance of building public and private partnerships, and balancing social and environmental concerns. Addressing the importance transportation plays in the role of connectivity for community he wrote, “last week the federal Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development announced the creation of an urban task force that would promote the development of sustainable communities linked to public transportation — a small but encouraging step in advancing a more integrated approach to urban growth.”

The article provided ideas for building sustainable, livable, and socially just cities and referenced Frank Gehry’s suggestion that concentrating more public transportation and cultural institutions along a thoroughfare, a city is able to find its center, both geographically and socially.

Blaine is both a geographical and a social center, a nexus. A nexus is a connection, a tie, a link. It connects a series or group and is defined as the core, or center. In biology it provides intracellular communication and adhesion. In its origin, nexus is defined as a binding, joining, or fastening. Dr. Gary Daynes (Westminster College, Salt Lake City, UT) offered a geographical nexus, as a pinch point, “a place in the life of a community where the currents rub up against each other and in so doing create something new…new friendships, views, agreements, a vision for the future, a commitment to the past...all built out of the old ideas."

Blaine sits at the heart of two nations, located in precise position to serve as a geographical and social nexus, connecting two countries and several destination communities. With this concept in mind, bridging the gap between Canada and the United States, Blaine stands now to create something exciting and new. Any developer working in and with Blaine has the opportunity to contribute to and benefit from this venture.

Organizing collaborative and effective public/private partnerships is essential. The City of Blaine has shown its commitment to this end. In executing the vision, placemaking elements that build people and community are critical. These elements (food, water, beauty, meaning, sustainability, connection, accessibility, design elements of interest) are basic, but are key to creating success and distinction.

A place well visioned and executed (such as Fairhaven) has the power to build resources, create partnerships, foster community, and strengthen the local economy when it provides for charm and connection. People are the assets. If an individual is supported and sustained, a family, community, and society is strengthened by extension. In making our places beautiful, meaningful, and sustainable, good design and creating collaborative partnerships is essential.

In Blaine, we aspire to create a place people love to be, informed by the people who live there, their history, their culture, their stories, and their hopes. People are the assets we hope to strengthen with our work. As developers with stewardship of the land we build on, we hope to work with Blaine to create a destination community that will thrive, flourish, and mark the map as a place made with excellence and teamwork.