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.