•
Cogan Owens Cogan Celebrates 35 Years!
Passion drives our work at COC. We are inspired by our clients, the communities with whom we work and all our partners and friends.
While we are encouraged that 2010 has started off with a bang, it will continue to require efficiencies in our work, creative partnerships and innovation. Through professional development and work with our clients, we continue to advance and refine our integrated practice areas of planning, community engagement and sustainability. We have had the good fortune to continue to be able to stretch our professional wings in broadening our creative and strategic partnerships in energy, climate change, urban design, asset management, community engagement, social media, strategic planning and process facilitation.
We hope to have the chance to work with you this year. Please continue reading for a sample of what we are up to!
~ Kirstin Greene, Managing Principal
Welcome Ric Stephens!
We are pleased to welcome planner and urban designer Ric Stephens to COC. Ric’s practice on local and national levels helps us stay on the cutting edge of public engagement and community building. In addition to his work in Chehalem, Urban Reserves projects, the Dominican Republic and Haiti recovery planning, Ric is closely involved with community initiatives such as the recent urban design charrette in Beaverton. The Oregonian gave impressive coverage to this event. It attracted elected officials, experienced urban design and planning professionals, and agency staff to work with 70 high school students to design attributes and uses for the long neglected Westgate Theater site.
Building on his extensive expertise creating meaningful and memorable communities, Ric continues to inspire us all with his ideas and creativity in youth engagement, innovative community planning and urban design.
Climate Action Planning
As part of our 2010 commitment to continuing work on helping solve our most challenging problems, COC hosted a brown bag on Climate Action Planning on January 7. Twenty committed professionals doing work in this field enjoyed a presentation by former COC planner Damian Pitt, PhD, on his recent research on climate action planning at Virginia Tech. The discussion that followed was intense and enlightening. 
We were fortunate in 2009 to work on various aspects of climate change and greenhouse gas reduction strategies, and look forward to a continued focus in this area in 2010. Let us know if you would like to be apprised of our next gathering on this or related topics. Please email us at coc@coganowens.com.
Community Renewal
In Oregon City, we are helping the community decide how to maintain and enhance the iconic Carnegie Center, a community asset that has been vacant for more than a year.
For the Office of Portland Mayor Sam Adams, we are facilitating meetings of a group of veterans for their perspective on how to revitalize and reuse the historic Memorial Coliseum.
In Rainier, COC assisted business owners, elected and appointed officials, railroad and ODOT representatives to reach consensus on a vision for A Street that will guide public investments to attract redevelopment along the city’s main downtown thoroughfare.
In Clackamas County, we are wrapping up an update to the County’s economic landscape project. The strategy will help decision makers and the business community guide investment, policy and regulatory decisions to maximize the benefits from both public finance and land use decisions. Also in Clackamas County, we are facilitating Lake 
Oswego’s review of its sensitive lands ordinance to ensure compliance with regulatory standards, increase flexibility for property owners and simplify the permit process.
Internationally, we are initiating a new project to develop an eco-city master plan for Langfang, China, near Beijing. COC is part of a team that includes the Woo Group, HOK Hong Kong, CW Group of San Francisco and others selected to develop a master plan to add to and 
redevelop an existing city of four million people. The plan will focus on all aspects of urban development and redevelopment. Our firm will focus on the public policies necessary to implement and advance the eco-city vision and master plan.
Continuing our precedent-setting work in Asia through Team Oregon, we have completed work with Origin International on an Eco-City Plan for the City of Taipei, Taiwan. See Net Green News’ coverage of this planning effort. Bob Wise’s presentation on this groundbreaking initiative given to the Natural Step of Oregon and other organizations is available here.
Sustainability Plans Roll On
Our 2008-2009 sustainability plans in Corvallis, Palm Springs, Clackamas County and Taiwan continue to gather momentum. In Corvallis, volunteers created action teams to implement top community-based recommendations in the areas of transportation, energy, food, land use, natural areas, waste prevention and water. The Coalition is comprised of more than 130 community groups. COC designed and facilitated meetings with over 600 participants at three key points during the planning process.
Community Engagement
Individuals at COC remain personally committed to community involvement and participation. We volunteer our time to the Oregon Environmental Council, Urban Land Institute, Oregon Chapter of the American Planning Association, Hands On Greater Portland, International Society of Japanese Gardens, Three Rivers Conservancy and others. Karen Beal with Hands on Greater Portland had this to say about COC’s Alisha Dishaw:
“…This is exactly the kind of experience that we hope for on MLK Weekend of Service. I am grateful that you stepped up as you always do. Being a good leader is all about relationship and inspiration and you’ve accomplished both with intention and grace.”
~ Karen Beal, PhD, Hands On Greater Portland
Recent Projects
Planning
- Civic Engagement and Land Use Framing Paper, Intermountain West Funder Network
- Floodplain Zoning Ordinance Update, City of Stanfield
- Stafford Triangle Infrastructure Cost Inventory and Analysis, Clackamas County Business Alliance
- Salem-Keizer Regional Economic Opportunities Analysis, Mid-Willamette Valley Council of Governments
Sustainability
- Sustainability Planning Assistance, Metro
- Eco-City Master Plan, Langfang, China
Facilitation
- Listening Sessions, Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board
- Marine Reserves, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
- Memorial Coliseum Veterans Focus Group, Portland Development Commission and Portland Mayor’s Office
- Multnomah County Initiative Food Summit, Multnomah County
- Oregon Jobs and Transportation Act, Section 18 Implementation Project, Oregon Consensus and Oregon Department of Transportation
- Board Facilitation, Lewis & Clark College
Public Engagement
- Planning and Community Engagement, City of Damascus
- Junction City Transportation System Plan Update, Oregon Department of Transportation
- Complete Communities Healthy Communities Implementation, Clackamas County
Be in touch!
www.coganowens.com
Follow us on Twitter @coganowens
Tags:
China,
Climate Change,
Land Use Planning,
Planning,
Public Involvement,
Sustainability,
Taiwan
•
Following are two recent articles highlighting COC’s work with the City of Keizer, Oregon and the Highlands Neighborhood Association in Longview, Washington. Enjoy!
*********************************************
The following article on the City of Keizer’s Community Vision appeared on the front page of the Keizertimes newspaper on July 24. It also is available online: http://www.keizertimes.com/news/results.cfm?story_no=11510.
Citizen vision is clean, green
By JASON COX
Of the Keizertimes
What do Keizerites want from their community?
According to a tentatively approved visioning statement prepared by a Portland consulting firm, desires include growing responsibly, keeping the volunteer spirit, more jobs and a green city with lots of recreational opportunities – and no new high schools.
Keizer city councilors received the report at their Monday, July 20, meeting, and asked staff to prepare a resolution formally adopting the visioning statement.
Prepared by Portland firm Cogan Owens Cogan, the report was commissioned to guide city planners and councilors through the next 20 years.
What surprised Community Development Director Nate Brown was a strongly-stated desire for more recycling opportunities and general greenery, along with a general sense that the community should become more sustainable.
“It came through pretty clear, I think, that everyone is pretty engaged with the current issues on the environment and sustainability,” Brown said.
Specifically on the environment, themes included plenty of trees and greenery, protecting groundwater sources, reserving adequate land for outdoor recreation, and encouraging recycling, energy efficiency and reducing waste.
As for growth, it’s difficult to put into specifics what Keizerites mean by keeping the “small-town character,” but Elaine Cogan of Cogan Owens Cogan said the desire is there.
“Even if we grow we want to maintain that,” Cogan said. “As you grow, and obviously you are going to grow, how do you keep that connectedness?”
“It was definitely not an ‘Oh yea, let’s grow.’” Brown said. “It was pretty divided, and I think as we have seen in previous questionnaires, people are pretty divided on the issue, and no one just wants all-out growth.”
The report shows a desire for enough land to support local economic opportunities and diverse housing options, but respondents also want well-planned mixed-use, at least in part to preserve the aforementioned “small-town character.”
Respondents also wanted lots of ways to get around, although overall support for public transit was relatively low in the survey.
In the area of business, there was a desire for “a local economy where people can live and work,” but Cogan also noted Keizer residents “Do not want to be the center of a big renaissance in economic development that’s going to bring lots of big industries here.”
In the report, Cogan cites living-wage jobs, a diverse local economy and businesses with ties and investment into the community.
Another theme was continuing the volunteer activism Keizer has become known for, including chances to celebrate the town’s history, traditions and accomplishments and providing easy access and options to participate in local government.
In the area of civic amenities, residents spoke out about wanting “high-quality parks” and “community gathering places, including an identifiable downtown area, library and community/youth center.”
The “vision” was reached via a citizens advisory committee, two public forums, an online survey, a youth forum with McNary High students and an open house at the recent Keizer Civic Center opening.
Cogan was still beaming – months after the fact – about the youth forum in particular.
“Many of them would like to live here after they grow up,” she said. “They’d like employment opportunities and retaining one high school. This was a very interesting concept.
“McNary is big and it’s going to grow … These young people are very intuitive. (They said) we like McNary the way it is because it brings everybody together in Keizer, and if we have two high schools we have two different communities.”
Cogan added that the students were “very critical of Keizer Station, frankly, because it’s for old people. There’s no places for kids to shop.”
What now?
“I wish we had more specifics in the plan, but I keep having to check myself in that the intent and purpose of a visioning statement is pretty aspirational,” Brown said. “It’s pretty much, ‘What do we want to be when we grow up?’
“From here we’ve got to develop an action plan and sit down with those values and objectives and say just that: What is it we’re going to do to accomplish this value?”
Of course the elephants in the room are these questions: Should Keizer expand its urban growth boundary? If so, by how much? And what’s the political strategy for convincing Salem as well as Marion and Polk counties?
These questions are still “a couple of years” away, Brown said. But a critical component – assessing the land left in Keizer for residential, commercial and industrial building – began with the visioning report and will continue throughout the summer.
Councilor David McKane and Craig Prins are on a regional Economic Opportunities Policy Committee, which is trying to establish a statement on industrial trends in the area and setting some general policies.
“It’s all very foundational stuff at this point,” Brown said.
###
The following article on our work as Community Coach for the Highlands Neighborhood Association in Longview, Washington was posted to The Daily News Online on July 28. It is available online: http://www.tdn.com/articles/2009/07/28/area_news/doc4a6e7c50b0d27291041938.txt
As Highlands residents brave the heat to meet new coach and brainstorm
Tuesday, July 28, 2009 6:19 PM PDT
By Amy M.E. Fischer
It was nearly 100 degrees outside, and inside the community building of the Highlands Baptist Church, it was even hotter.
But despite the heat, roughly 45 neighborhood residents of all ages packed the room for the Highlands Neighborhood Association’s ice cream social and general meeting Monday night.
With the doors propped open, box fans blowing and ice cream digesting, HNA President Janice Barrera introduced the new community coaches, Steve Faust and his supervisor Elaine Cogan, on whom the HNA has invested its hopes in showing them how to turn their blighted neighborhood around.
Cogan, of the Portland land-use planning and communications firm Cogan Owens Cogan, took the floor. In three words, how did residents want to be able to describe their neighborhood three years from now? she asked.
“Clean, more lights and trees,” said a flushed young girl planted on the carpet with her friends.
“No more broken beer bottles in people’s yards,” a woman said.
“Organized, better parks and safe,” chimed in another.
The answers flowed from the audience. “Family oriented.” “A neighborhood of choice.” “Happy.” “Community involvement.” “Less drugs, alcohol and crime.”
Cogan spoke again. “Those are the types of things we’ll be working on and more over the next three years,” she said.
Those may sound like lofty goals, but Faust and Cogan are undaunted. Between the two of them, they’ve helped dozens of neighborhoods organize and develop strategic plans. (To read about their work experience, visit www.coganowens.com and click “Our People.”)
“People have the same basic desires. It’s how they manifest them in their community,” Cogan said.
Monday, Faust and Cogan formally signed a three-year contract with the HNA, which is funding the community coach position with a $221,000 grant from the Northwest Health Foundation.
“We did our research in before putting in our proposal, and we said we think this is a neighborhood we can work with and we can help,” Faust said.
They’re encouraged by the enthusiasm of the HNA board members and the city of Longview’s support for Highlands revitalization, they said.
“Not every neighborhood has that,” Faust added.
Also, Cogan said, for a neighborhood to win such a large grant is unusual.
“It speaks to how they were able to express themselves to a funder who gets lots of requests,” she said.
In the first year of their work, Faust and Cogan plan to focus on building the internal strength of the HNA through training and strategic planning. Many details remain to be hashed out about exactly what the coaches will do from day to day. One challenge will be to work with the HNA to get other neighborhood residents interested in their community, Cogan said.
One thing she’s learned, said Cogan, who established her company in the early 1970s with her husband, is “how important certain values are to people, and you can’t get too far ahead of them.”
She and Faust were impressed by the high turnout at Monday’s meeting and are curious to know what the people do and where they come from.
“It’s a great start,” Cogan said.
###
Tags:
Planning,
Visioning
•
Managing Principal Transition
As the world restructures to engage the challenges of the 21st century, we at Cogan Owens Cogan (COC) are doing so as well.
As of July 1, I have the distinct privilege of succeeding Arnold Cogan as our Managing Principal. Everyone who has worked with Arnold knows his are enormous shoes to fill. Instead of trying to fill them, we have decided to walk together. Arnold, Elaine Cogan and Jim Owens will continue as full Principals.
We all are concerned with the many challenges we face locally and globally – climate change, energy, water, economy and biodiversity just to name a few.
These economic restructuring and threats to the global environment weigh heavily on the communities we work with. Recognizing that these issues are interrelated, COC collaborates with public and private leaders to develop strategies that leverage the economy, environment and community livability. Our strategies draw on the best in both the creative and scientific fields.
COC is mission-driven, focused on engaging people to create and sustain great communities. We are committed to utilizing best practices in community engagement and planning to help solve our emerging problems. With our more than 30 years experience providing top-level strategic advice and planning to communities throughout the west and Asia, we are passionate about stepping up to new, complex challenges and prepared to do so.
In spite of our global challenges, we are optimistic. We firmly believe the world is abundant in resources and human potential and look forward to continued opportunities to work with all of you on these pressing issues.
Please stay in touch.
Kirstin Greene
kirstin.greene@coganowens.com
EcoVision Development Taipei, Taiwan
Bob Wise, senior project manager at COC, traveled to a national conference in Taiwan to present the latest Oregon and Portland-area sustainability efforts. Bob is leading a consulting team drafting the Taipei 2050 EcoCity Vision, a long-range planning document for Taiwan’s largest city. He made his presentation about Oregon sustainability efforts at the Taiwan National Council for Sustainable Development’s annual conference.
“We’ve worked in Taiwan off and on for 10 years,” Bob said. “They’re always interested in what Portland and Oregon are doing as leaders in sustainable development.”
Look for an article on the Vision 2050 process and metrics in the fall issue of InterPlan, the International newsletter of the American Planning Association. He also will speak on this topic in the fall for The Natural Step.
Meier & Frank Building
We are delighted to receive word that the project to convert the iconic Meier & Frank building in downtown Portland to Macy’s department store and the boutique Nines Hotel has just received a 2009 National Preservation Honor Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Serving with a team of architects and other professionals under the leadership of the Portland Development Commission, Elaine Cogan wrote the informational brochure, interviewed key stakeholders, and designed and facilitated public meetings.
Backcasting and Least Cost Planning
Senior project manager Dave Mayfield has led several discussions on the applications of backcasting and least cost planning as effective decision-making tools for transportation planning.
These related approaches are value-driven, focusing on achieving an agreed-upon outcome rather than responding to projected demands for services. As both of these processes can be “trend breakers,” they can help in times of rapid change. Used correctly, they can focus public and private efforts on identified goals such as meeting greenhouse gas emissions targets. Least cost planning is a guiding principle of the 2009 Jobs and Transportation Act and is expected to be utilized broadly in Oregon.
Dave’s commitment to sustainable mobility led him to give a series of presentations on this subject for the Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium, Oregon Department of Transportation, Portland Metro, the Oregon Metropolitan Planning Organization Consortium and the Coalition for a Livable Future.
Water Water Water
Principal Jim Owens continues his focus on intergovernmental relations and water. This spring, he brought together multiple diverse interests in science-policy workshops that identified new nearshore disposal sites along the southwest Washington coast for dredged material from the mouth of the Columbia River. He also continues to facilitate stakeholder involvement in Oregon’s efforts to achieve recovery for salmon and steelhead. This fall, he will lead COC’s public involvement efforts for a water reuse project in Corvallis.
Facilitation and Mediation
Arnold Cogan has just completed a two-year term as Planner-in-Residence at the Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning at PSU. During that time, he assisted graduate planning students with career counseling and their projects. Arnold continues his facililtation and mediation work. He is a consultant to the City of Rainer to resolve a downtown redevelopment issue. For the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, he has been retained to lead efforts to review the wildlife, habitat and public use activities on the 11,000-acre Sauvie Island Wildlife area.
Healthy Communities Congress Success
Participants of Congress VI May 16th at Clackamas Community College made this an inspiring and successful event. In addition to elected officials, neighbors, business leaders and representatives of governmental agencies attended. The theme was Healthy Communities. Participants identified characteristics of a healthy community and innovations the County should consider to improve the health of communities in Clackamas County. See the County’s Web site for more information: (www.co.clackamas.or.us/community).
Promotions
We recently promoted Ellie Fiore to senior planner, Daniel Christensen to associate, and Alisha Dishaw to administrative and public engagement assistant.
Ellie holds a master’s degree in urban and community planning from Portland State University and is on the boards of directors of the Oregon Chapter of the American Planning Association and Housing Land Advocates. Daniel received a master’s degree in urban and community planning from the University of Oregon. Alisha holds a degree in human development and family sciences from Oregon State University.
New Projects
We have several recent projects that we would like to share with you if you haven’t already heard.
- Safe Routes to School Workshop for the City of Madras
- Grant Writing Support for the Oregon Department of Transportation – Governor Kulongoski’s Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Working Group
- Presentation Training for the Oregon Recreation and Park Association
- Community Coach for Highlands Neighborhood Association, Longview
- Clackamas County Economic Landscape Report
- Sauvie Island Draft Management Plan Public Meetings
- Training, City of Tigard City Center Advisory Committee
For more news, follow us on the web at www.coganowens.com or on Twitter: @coganowens.
Don’t miss out! If you didn’t receive our July eNewsletter in your inbox, contact us to add you to our e-mail list.
Tags:
American Planning Association,
Clackamas County,
Land Use Planning,
Metro,
ODOT,
Planning,
Portland State University,
Public Involvement,
Sustainability,
Taipei,
Taiwan,
Transportation,
Visioning
Cogan Owens Cogan Celebrates 35 Years!
Welcome Ric Stephens!
We were fortunate in 2009 to work on various aspects of climate change and greenhouse gas reduction strategies, and look forward to a continued focus in this area in 2010. Let us know if you would like to be apprised of our next gathering on this or related topics. Please email us at coc@coganowens.com.
