• Population: 4,370.
• Must see: Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, annual Fourth of July Parade, annual BirdFest and Bluegrass event.
• Website: http://www.ci.ridgefield.wa.us.
Anyone lucky enough to stumble upon this small city probably feels like a time traveler. It has a quaint small-town feel that many cities lost long ago, a community where everyone knows everyone and nobody hesitates to help a neighbor in need.
“Ridgefield is like a family,” Mayor Ron Onslow said. “Anytime we have a project, everybody shows up.”
• Population: 4,370.
• Must see: Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, annual Fourth of July Parade, annual BirdFest and Bluegrass event.
• Website: <a href="http://www.ci.ridgefield.wa.us">http://www.ci.ridgefield.wa.us</a>.
Community projects to plant trees and flowers or build walking trails draw dozens of volunteers who want to help beautify their small town. Local business owners donate the supplies that make the projects possible.
A grass-roots effort to establish a new city park drew support from residents across the city. A committee of volunteers raised money to make monthly payments on a parcel of land until the city had the funds to purchase the property. Volunteer work parties formed to clean up the littered land.
And volunteers joined forces with the city to apply for a state grant to make the park a reality.
Last summer, the city received a $783,000 grant to construct a welcome center, amenities and a park overlooking the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge. Construction of the park, tentatively named Overlook Park, is expected to begin this spring.
Ridgefield may be akin to Mayberry, but it also has a surprising thread of urban quirk. Sure, there isn’t a McDonald’s or supermarket, but you can get a fine cup of coffee at Lava Java, whose owner, Phuong Tran, was the 2005 U.S. Barista champion.
If seafood is more your thing, head over to Pacific Northwest Best Fish Co. The fish market and cafe are surrounded by farmland and expensive ranch-style homes. The retail store and fish processor may seem out of place, but it’s a popular lunch spot that also supplies New Seasons and Whole Foods markets.
And newcomers shouldn’t overlook the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge. The 5,218-acre refuge features a mixture of lush seasonal, semi-permanent and permanent wetlands, along with grasslands. It was established in 1965 to provide wintering habitat for the dusky species of Canada goose.
The refuge is a popular destination for nature lovers and bird watchers. It’s celebrated during the Annual BirdFest and Bluegrass event, which draws nature enthusiasts and music lovers to the tiny town on the same weekend.
Ridgefield’s leaders have plans to move their town up the ranks of north Clark County’s attractions. A proposed 40-acre waterfront strip of shops, offices and plazas is in the cards for Ridgefield.
The vision for the now-contaminated site off Lake River is a bustling mixed-use park to pump more money into the town’s economy and become the area’s prominent waterfront destination.
The city and port are now working together to create a unified vision for downtown and the waterfront.
The idea behind the collaboration is to figure out a way to implement both entities’ plans — the city’s comprehensive and downtown plans; the port’s waterfront plan — so they leverage, rather than negatively impact, each other.
The city may look and feel like Mayberry, but it offers plenty more.
