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Monday, March 18, 2024
March 18, 2024

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In Our View: Cities Must Get It Right

As smaller communities such as Camas grow, they should strike proper balance

The Columbian
Published:

The pertinent question can be found on the City of Camas website: “Do you wonder what the City will look like in 20 or 30 years?”

That inquiry is going through the heads of many Camas residents who, not coincidentally, are much more numerous than they were just a couple years ago. The population within the city limits grew 2.8 percent from 2013 to 2014, and areas surrounding the city have expanded, as well.

That’s just the most recent growth; over the past couple decades, Camas has ballooned to the point where it is unrecognizable to longtime residents. As proof, portions of the city now butt up against developed areas of Vancouver. As further proof, Union High School has a Camas address but is part of Vancouver-based Evergreen Public Schools. In other words, the isolation that Camas once enjoyed as a small mill town has given way to the realities of an expanding population throughout Clark County.

This, by itself, is not necessarily good nor bad. But it is a situation that has been faced by countless other cities, and it is a situation that allows us to take a look at how small communities deal with the inevitable growth that is headed their way.

“What’s happened over the last 10 years is, Camas grew, and I would say it grew smart,” Mayor Scott Higgins said this week during his State of the Community speech. “We care about getting this right.”

That is an issue facing all governments throughout the county. Over the past year, Clark County exhibited the third-fastest expansion in the state, and Ridgefield ranked second among all Washington cities in terms of population growth. This undoubtedly is good news, demonstrating that residents have created communities that are desirable to outsiders. With an economy that is showing a robust recovery, with well-respected schools, and with an attractive location near the urban center of Portland, this part of the state is a magnet for outsiders.

Camas, which over the past 20 years has transformed into an enclave filled with upscale housing, has served as one example of that desirability. In August, Family Circle listed the city as one of the 10 best in the United States for families. “That’s not an accident,” Higgins said. “That comes because there’s been a focus and a vision to create that kind of a community here for a very long time.” Along the way, Camas has managed to avoid the type of sprawl that results in architecture best described as post-modern strip mall.

These days, much of a community’s growth is dictated by the state Growth Management Act. Adopted by the Legislature in 1990, the GMA calls for local governments to designate urban growth areas while protecting critical areas and natural resource lands. Along with similar land-use regulations in Oregon, it provides an approach that adheres to the ethos of the Northwest, one that lends great weight to environmental concerns and to striking a balance between development and the region’s inherent natural beauty.

All of which brings us back to the original question: What will Camas look like in 20 or 30 years? What will Ridgefield or La Center or Battle Ground look like after that passage of time, accompanied by inevitable population growth? The fact is that Clark County’s population will continue to expand and its cities will continue to grow toward each other.

For Higgins and future Camas leaders and governments in other cities, it will be more important than ever that they care about getting this right.

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