Brown Bag Lunch To Discuss Urban Transportation Corridors

Anytime there’s a possibility that a quorum of SRTC Policy Board members will be in one place at one time, we’re legally required to tell you. So here’s your notification that SRTC will host a brown bag lunch session for Policy Board members immediately preceding the November 8 Board meeting. Guest speaker and Economist Dena Belzer will talk about Urban Transportation Corridors, what they are, the market for this type of development in the Spokane region and what it would take to make this approach work here.

The brown bag is being held in conjunction with work to update SRTC’s long range transportation plan, Horizon 2040. The plan will identify and prioritize transportation projects and programs to be implemented through the year 2040. Traditional transportation measures such as congestion levels, transit ridership, and safety will play important roles in the plan. However, given the recent economic crisis, the role that transportation can play in supporting economic activity has gained a much greater emphasis. The emphasis has shifted from reducing congestion to using transportation investments to create and sustain jobs.

Ms. Belzer, founder and president of consulting and research firm Strategic Economics, specializes in connecting regional economic and demographic growth trends to real estate development activity and local policy initiatives. Her firm helps local governments, community groups, developers, and non-profit organizations understand the economic and development context in which they operate in order to take strategic steps towards creating high-quality places for people to live and work.
Ms. Belzer’s presentation will focus on urban transportation corridors, which encourage higher density, mixed use development along specific corridors served by quality transit. The corridors would be walkable,  create a sense of place, and  be well integrated with adjacent neighborhoods.

The brown bag session is from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the SRTC conference room. Members of the public are welcome, but must provide their own lunch. The brown bag session will be immediately followed by the regularly-scheduled Policy Board meeting at 1 p.m.