What is Thimble Creek Village?

Thimble Creek Village is a new kind of sustainable live/work community envisioned on the edge of Oregon City. Named after a creek that runs through the 124-acre property, Thimble Creek Village will offer real public benefit by serving as a national model for excellence in green building and innovation, and by supporting green jobs, diverse housing, natural open spaces, child-safe roads and eco-friendly updates to the existing Oregon City Golf Club amenities.

The City of Oregon City, Clackamas County, hundreds of local residents and some of the region’s best innovators in sustainable design have come together to develop a bold plan for this property, and for Oregon City’s future. Their vision for Thimble Creek Village includes:

• A Green Economy Center that will serve as a green working and learning center, fostering productive synergy among leading-edge employers and educators in the green technology sector. The center has the potential to add thousands of local, family-wage, sustainable jobs to Oregon City, and to provide education and training for the future leaders in these fields.
• A LEED-certified live/work community that will be a national model for environmental stewardship. The community will function as a living laboratory and demonstration site for environmental education in such areas as sustainable small-plot farming and eco-tourism. Housing options will include senior, single-family and multi-family housing, as well as mixed-use live/work units, all designed for a variety of residents and income levels.
• Green spaces and family-friendly roads and parks, featuring integrated bike paths, hiking trails and wild spaces that offer recreation and refuge, provide safe places for children to play, and preserve wildlife habitat.
• Innovative and sustainable municipal services, such as on-site green waste treatment, gray water systems and geothermal energy, which will reduce the city’s infrastructure and operations costs and will ensure that Thimble Creek Village maintains a light footprint on the Earth.

Why vote YES on Measure 3-331?
Measure 3-331 will allow the property proposed for Thimble Creek Village and the Green Economy Center to be brought into the Oregon City limits. The property already has been brought into the Urban Growth Boundary, designated as “future urbanizable” and woven into Oregon City’s Beavercreek Road Concept Plan for a sustainable community. It is clear that this property is destined for development. The community now has a choice: Do we vote YES on Measure 3-331 to annex the property now and support thoughtful, forward-thinking, sustainable development that contributes meaningfully to the future of Oregon City and to the planet? Or do we vote no, throw out years of thoughtful planning and citizen involvement, and open our community instead to the same old prospects for strip malls and dense suburban development on this land in the future?

The plans for Thimble Creek have involved some of the brightest leaders in green design, have been presented in dozens of community meetings, and have received widespread support. Please vote YES on 3-331 to keep the momentum moving forward and give a GREEN LIGHT to Oregon City’s sustainable future.

Arguments against 3-331
The single argument in opposition to this measure in the voters’ pamphlet is based incorrectly on old economic data focusing on traditional development methods — not on the environmentally and economically sustainable methods planned for this property. The truth is: “Through green strategies that are wiser, that look to the future, and that reduce the costs of both infrastructure and operations, Thimble Creek is expected to cost 33% less than traditional developments, and aims to zero out all remaining unfunded costs.” Please read the message from Amber Holveck and Ed Starkie, below, to learn more about how “going green is not just politically correct — it is economically correct.”

We invite you to explore this site to learn more about Thimble Creek Village, and to sign up for our e-mail list to receive updates as we progress.

To read more from other supporters of Thimble Creek Village, click here. (Note: You will need to scroll down to view all the articles.)
(Click on the image below to view the full-size image.)

Letters in Support - The Herberger Family, Oregon City Golf Course

To read more about the benefits of the proposed annexation, click here.

To the Citizens of Oregon City:

The Herberger Family, owners of the Oregon City Golf Course since 1949, are asking for your YES vote on Measure 3-331 because it puts in place the opportunity to site an educational and economic center while continuing to operate the golf course.

Call it green innovation, sustainability, earth-friendly practices or old fashioned common sense. No matter what you call it, it works. What we need now is citizen support to turn opportunity into reality.

Voting Yes on Measure 3-331 will mean intelligent solutions to Oregon City problems. Prosperity today and tomorrow; education and jobs in the green sector will help move our city into the future. Being green has become one of the most highly sought after competitive advantages in business. “Green Collar Jobs” are “clean” and in the renewable and environmental fields, and are not likely to go overseas like the manufacturing industry.

Oregon City is growing. Some in our community see that as a negative and are inclined to do whatever it takes to stem that growth. Will we, the current citizens and users of city services, be a part of bringing our city into the future? Or, will we be remembered as the generation that let our city decline?

Please Vote YES for Green Education, Green Jobs and YES for Measure 3-331.


Thank you.
The Herberger Family

To read more about the benefits of the proposed annexation, click here.

To read more from other supporters of Thimble Creek Village, click here.
(Click on the image below to view the full-size image.)

Learn more about Thimble Creek Village

Check out these additional PDFs and PowerPoint presentation to learn more about the background and future ideas for the Thimble Creek Village.

Beavercreek Road Concept Plan (PDF) - the purpose of the Beavercreek Road Concept Plan is to provide a conceptual master plan to be adopted as an ancillary document to the City of Oregon City’s Comprehensive Plan, including framework plan maps, goals and policies, descriptive text, graphics and draft development code.

Thimble Creek Village Presentation (PPT) - this presentation takes a closer look at the proposed Green Economy Center (GEC) for Thimble Creek Village.

GEC Feasibility Report (PDF) - this report summarizes findings in assessing the feasibility of a Green Economy Center in Clackamas County, Oregon.

EASC Points Worksheet (PDF) - this worksheet is designed as part of the Earth Advantage®, Inc. Sustainable Community (EASC) standard pilot project by Earth Advantage, Inc. The purpose of the EASC is to provide a certification system for entire residential and mixed use communities that complements the Earth Advantage Silver certification standard for individual dwellings.

January 13, 2008, Editorial from Friend of Thimble Creek Development, George Beard.

Racing to stay ahead of the pack

After more than three decades of showing the world how to think and live green, Portland has a unique opportunity to brand itself as sustainability's global leader

Portland does one thing better than any other city in the world. It thinks green. The seed was planted 35 years ago when Gov. Tom McCall drove a dagger through the heart of the jobs vs. environment argument. Oregon can, he insisted, have both. The state then proceeded, through three decades, to showcase how making short-term sacrifices to secure environmental goals could indeed spawn long-term rewards.

In the process, Portland emerged as a global leader on four fronts:

• In the planning for, and designing of, sustainable cities.
  
• In rigorous husbanding of marine and stream environments.
  
• In artful fostering of sustainable forestry and agriculture.
  
• In innovative harnessing of renewable energy.
  

Time now to relax, right? Not exactly.

Daily we are reminded just how global, competitive and interconnected the modern economy has become. The consequence is clear: In this new world economic order, only the nimble will thrive.

This fresh market reality places cities -- not generally known for being light on their feet -- in extreme peril. Those that have a clear sense of purpose and direction will flourish. Those lacking this trait will wilt.

Few understand this better than Mark Edlen, the Portland real estate developer whose towers are hailed as the world's greenest. Which likely explains why people from all over are beating a path to his Pearl District door. They arrive with a simple question: How's it done?

It's done, Edlen makes clear, by setting some pretty high standards. His blueprint calls for buildings that generate more energy than they consume, and consume more waste than they generate. He wants that model to work for spiffy condos in The Pearl, techno hospitals in South Waterfront and affordable housing downtown. Edlen is convinced that Portland's nexus of expertise in the sustainable design, engineering and construction trades leads the world.

He's also convinced the world has noticed, and is hellbent on catching up. All this means Portland now faces a very brief opportunity to brand itself as sustainability's global leader, and then race to remain ahead of the pack. The sole realistic shot Portland has at achieving that goal involves quickly engaging the city's higher education community. All of it.

Portland's first priority must be creating a major research institute. Imagine a National Center on Sustainability that would anchor the emerging "innovation quadrant" of degree programs offered in the city by Portland State University, Oregon Health & Science University, the University of Oregon and Oregon State University. Imagine, too, a system-wide commitment to infuse sustainability into all college-level programs. And, yes, to reach down into public schools.

Some of this will require new financial resources. That's a task for the 2009 Legislature. In the meantime, much can be accomplished by refocusing current resources.

None of this can wait. The world today is watching Portland. China and India are developing vibrant -- and vast -- economies. Current consumption patterns cannot endure. We all will have to use fewer resources, use them more wisely, reuse them, then recycle them. That is the core of sustainability. That is the manner of living Portland must role-model for the world.


George K. Beard
Executive Leadership Institute
Hatfield School of Government
Portland State University
P.O. Box 751
Portland, Oregon 97207 USA

503.772.0222
gbeard@pdx.edu

www.eli.pdx.eduwww.hatfieldschool.pdx.edu
www.summerinternships.us

Charette No. 1

From a letter to Thimble Creek Charrette participants on October 24, 2007.

The Thimble Creek Brain Trust

On behalf of the Herberger Family and for my part and Bill's, we want to thank you again for your time, talents and input today. We were left so impressed with each of you. Thimble Creek is off to an impressive start because of you. There were so many big ideas today that it's impossible to find the best place to begin. So, I will keep this brief knowing that the ideas will begin to flow to these pages in the coming weeks.

I am grateful that I had the chance today to speak on behalf of my family about this land we have loved for so many decades. Serving the community is in our DNA. So, it's only natural that we desire to see the next stewards of this noble piece of ground adopt this "servant-leader" role. We want to see the natural areas maintained as habitat for all living things -- including people. But, we'd like to encourage that there be a light footprint left integrating what nature has given us with what is necessary for a sustainable and economically-viable community.

Our family recognizes that the approach we are taking might appear to be an unusual one. When you've worked the land for three generations you gain a special appreciation for its value. We believed that if we could take a little extra time to bring you into our collective consciousness then you'd more quickly appreciate our point of view. Based on the feedback we received this afternoon, it's apparent that our intentions were well-received.

For those of you who traveled to the four corners of the property today, you will note that the only thing we've allowed to spoil the land that slopes to Thimble Creek are the blackberries. We have purposely left this piece of our property (mostly) untouched and it is now ready to become a place where nature and people can interact, with nature taking the lead. It's a clean slate. What can we all imagine together for this spot in particular? That's part of our challenge. It might help to start with one small corner of the property and then broaden out to what could become the whole.

Like you, we've seen many pieces of a dream in our effort at self-education on sustainability and green building practices. You can now be a part of ensuring that the pieces come together in a special parcel of land where the Oregon Trail ended. It's just the beginning for us, though. We are all glad you are here and invite you to share your thoughts, best stewardship practices and the like.

Thank you so very much for your creativity and your involvement. See you on the 30th.

Rose Herberger-Holden
rose@ocgolfclub.com