City of Orlando City Planning

WASHINGTON SHORES BULLETIN

Community Planning Day

Please join Commissioner Ings and staff from various City departments for a Community Planning day to envision the future of Washington Shores, in order to make this neighborhood one of the best on the west side of the City.

WHEN: Saturday, September 12, 2009. 8:30 AM to 12:00 Noon

WHERE: Hope Church, 3032 Monte Carlo Trail, 32805

WHO: Washington Shores citizens, business owners, property owners.

A wide range of topics will be discussed, including future development opportunities, traffic, housing, parks, urban design and security issues. More information regarding a Vision Task Force that is participating with the community can be found below.

Contact Michaelle Petion - City Planner, at 407.246.3837 or michaelle.petion@cityoforlando.net to RSVP.

Light breakfast will be served.

Washington Shores is a stable neighborhood facing challenges. At the heart of the neighborhood is a well used, but struggling, business district located on Columbia Street, next to a LYNX "superstop" (Superstops are transit hubs that serve several bus routes). The neighborhood businesses do not appear to entirely support local needs, and potential business revenue is leaking to surrounding activity centers.

The area has a prominence of well maintained single-family housing, a generational gap between long-time residents and newcomers, a moderate rate of home-ownership rate (55% in the 2000 Census), and public housing at its periphery.

In order to bridge these gaps and guide development in the future, the City’s Planning Division will embark on a strategic review of the Washington Shores neighborhood with a Task Force made up of stakeholders from the surrounding neighborhood and business district. We anticipate that this will be a positive process that will involve the many activities that involve the community to create a vision to shape future development.

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The Washington Shores Ning network is a means of keeping the Task Force, staff and all of the Washington Shores community connected. Available on the site are means to create forum topics, blogs, events as well as post pictures. This site has the potential to be a great tool to keep neighbors informed on a wide variety of issues.