2. The purpose of site analysis is to attempt to understand the social,
physical, environmental, and legal context of a site to better inform
the design phase of a project. In person Site Analysis of the Redmond
Midtown Neighborhood and Central Business District areas was con-
ducted to assist in determining strengths, weaknesses, opportunities,
and threats that exist within the area. Further site analysis was con-
ducted using maps and data provided by the City of Redmond, De-
schutes County, and US Census. An extensive review of Redmond’s
own planning documents was conducted, and tools such as city-data,
walkscore, and Oregon Prospector were further utilized as a part of the
site analysis process.
Site Location
The study area, although shown with hard lines in this document’s fig-
ures, has necessarily loose boundaries that recognize the permeabil-
ity and connectivity of neighboring areas, and the influences that our
site exerts and that are exerted upon it. The Redmond study area is
bordered by 6th St. to the West, Antler Ave. to the South, NW Hemlock
Ave. to the North, and Highway 97 to the East. Within this broad study
area, our group was selected to conduct more concentrated analysis
within the Central Business District of the four blocks contained by NW
Elm on the North, 4th Street on the East, NW Cedar Ave on the South,
and 6th Street on the West, of which we will refer to as the Focus Area
for the rest of this document.
Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats
A strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) table is
a useful tool for identifying and classifying existing site conditions.
Strengths and weaknesses refer to internal site conditions, while op-
portunities and threats refer to external influences on the site. By
classifying site analysis as internal and external to the site it is easier
to see where targeted site specific actions may be taken for internal
conditions while external conditions may suggest the need for more
comprehensive city wide actions.
R E D M O N D A S A P L A C E T O S T A Y
S i t e A n a l y s i s
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3. Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats
Wide streets have potential for
increased streetscape elements
along with bicycle and pedestri-
an paths.
Canal Park offers potential rec-
reational and aesthetic value as
well as being a potential sound
and visual barrier to HW 97.
Historic Homesite located in the
Canal Park can provide historic
value and context for Redmond,
as well as serving a role in place-
making for the Midtown neighbor-
hood.
Alleyways in the Midtown support
pedestrian and bicycle friendly
housing frontages with parking
access in the rear.
The flat topography of the area
supports bicycle and pedestrian
use.
Residential tax lot sizes can sup-
port higher density than the exist-
ing detached family houses.
R-5 Zoning of the Midtown Neigh-
borhood supports higher density
development.
The Midtown has an existing
WalkScore of 65 out of 100.
Non-contiguous sidewalks within
the Midtown Neighborhood are a
barrier to walkability.
The broken street grid within the
Midtown Neighborhood is a way-
finding challenge and decreased
connectivity in the neighborhood.
The large surface area of exist-
ing parking lots makes mixed use
more challenging as it is a physi-
cal, aesthetic, and environmental
barrier between people and land
uses.
The streetscapes of 5th and 6th
have retained a car centric “high-
way” character.
The one way couplet of 5th and
6th are constraint on the econom-
ic viability of these streets as one
way streets often underperform
two way streets.
Brownfield sites exist within the
Central Business District.
The climate conditions are favor-
able for bicycle and pedestrians
during a large portion of the year.
The Medical Business District
proposed for just north of the
Midtown Neighborhood will bring
people, jobs, and economic ac-
tivity to the area.
The Midtown Neighborhood is
within a single mile of the Red-
mond Downtown, the future Med-
ical Center and the associated
shopping, business, and social
spaces.
HW 97 is a large physical con-
straint on development to the
East and further constrains con-
nectivity while also presenting a
safety, noise, and aesthetic threat
to the site.
Climate is expected to be more
dry with less snow pack each
year, which will impact crop pro-
duction in Central Oregon over
the next 30-50 years.
Greenfield developments of Ob-
sidian Trails and Pavlicek are
drawing resources and develop-
ment efforts away from the Mid-
town Neighborhood.
Lack of interest from outside de-
velopers to bring private infill de-
velopments into the area.
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4. Fir Ave as a Living Street
The current design of Fir street utilizes the worn out ideas of auto-centric trans-
portation with wide parking and driving lanes, automobile right of way, and limited
multi-modal infrastructure. The design that we propose is one that includes all
modes of transportation, but has an emphasis on alternatives to automobile traffic.
This design would be characterized by a two way bike highway segregated by
buffers on both sides, including planters and trees to provide a physical barrier
between bicycle and automobile traffic. Parking would face east and would be
placed as a further buffer between the proposed bike highway and the two way
automobile traffic. Pedestrians would also be segregated from automobile traffic
by medians, trees, and the bike highway, in an effort to foster a feeling of safety.
A base infrastructure such as this, combined with the forecasted increase of pop-
ulation in the Midtown area would increase the utilization of this safe corridor and
its benefits as a connector would quickly be realized. Corners and blocks could
be activated by mixed use development, to provide nearby business amenities to
the residential population and to increase the use of the living street.
Form-based code implemented by the city would provide an ideal atmosphere for
the city to promote the development of mixed income housing in the form of row
houses and garden apartments that bring the living population closer to the living
street, and further increase its cozy, “vital” feeling. An emphasis on vegetation and
clean streets would further emphasize the street’s beauty.
This street could act as a central hub for the midtown district’s activity, providing a
space for all families to feel comfortable and a welcome place to make use of the
new form of the area. Redmond should draw upon the experiences and success-
es of existing street redesigns including the following case studies.
Living Street Case Studies
Portland, Oregon
Siskiyou Street in Portland is an example of the redesign of a residential street to
be a more welcoming place for pedestrians. The street redesign included a nar-
rowing of the automobile right of way in an effort to calm traffic, an expansion of
pedestrian right of way, and the installation of rain gardens to “greenify” the street.
Siskiyou is considered a success for not only its pedestrian friendliness but also
the environmental impact of its rain gardens, which help to filter particulate runoff
pollution from the ground water.35
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