Matt Driscoll: Does the Tacoma Mall Neighborhood deserve a new name?

Residents and city officials agree: There are some serious issues to address in the Tacoma Mall Neighborhood.

But is the name really one of them?

And if the name is a problem, what should the area be called?

That’s the pressing question being posed to online survey takers as part of ongoing efforts to flesh out the Tacoma Mall Neighborhood Subarea Plan, the dense document that hopefully will guide the hundreds of acres of land surrounding the Tacoma Mall into a more sustainable future.

The area in question actually incorporates a number of smaller neighborhoods, such as Madison (west of Pine and south of South 38th Street), and Lincoln Heights (east of Pine and north of South 38th Street). But for city planning purposes, it’s all come to fit under the umbrella of the Tacoma Mall Neighborhood.

And, for some, that’s a problem.

“There’s been speculation from some of the stakeholders that a different name might do better to capture people’s imaginations, or help people to see the neighborhood in a new way,” said Elliott Barnett, an associate planner who’s helping to guide the work.

He’s got a point. As it stands now, the Tacoma Mall — merely by being the massive commercial anchor of a sprawling, auto-centric blob — has secured free naming rights to a huge chunk of the city. It’s a little like the Stadium District being known as the Stadium Thriftway District, or Proctor being called the Proctor Station Neighborhood.

(Ducks for cover).

“We’ve consistently been hearing that there are some people who want to revisit the name, but you have people on both sides, and that’s been clear,” Barnett continued. “No one can really rally around a single name yet. We didn’t want to just impose anything, and it seemed like a broad discussion was warranted. We’ll just wait and see what people think.”

That’s where the democracy kicks in. The online survey, which will be available until July 20 and only used as a tool to help make recommendations to the City Council, includes the following choices drawn from community suggestions: Cascade Park, Cascade Plaza, Midtown, Oakes District, SoTac, Tacoma South and Travers Green.

The survey also includes an option for respondents to provide their own suggestions. I’m expecting Sonics Guy to launch a campaign to get this part of Tacoma named after him any day now.

“We knew from the beginning that we were talking about some significant changes to how the neighborhood is now, and a name change could be appropriate given the scale of change that we’re envisioning,” Barnett told me. “At the same time, we’re very conscious of trying to impose something on the neighborhood that doesn’t ring true. … We don’t want something that feels unauthentic.”

So why are we doing any of this?

As part of the city’s exhaustive subarea plan work — which began about this time last year and will conclude in early 2017 when the City Council is expected to sign off on it — city planning staff have been immersed in a community outreach effort to hash out a clear vision for the future. Objectives include promoting sustainable growth, increasing transportation options, promoting smart development, and creating “a unique, attractive and livable neighborhood.”

All of this is key because the city and the Puget Sound Regional Council have designated the 485-acre area around the mall as a “Regional Growth Center,” meaning it’s a “focal point” for future jobs and housing concentration. By 2040, the city expects just over 8,000 new residents and 7,600 new jobs in the area.

A clear vision is also important because of the history — or lack thereof — when it comes to sustainable urban planning in the area. The traffic and sprawling parking lots that currently define much of the area are stifling, to put things kindly.

But, while a new name might help, according to at least one resident, solving these longstanding issues should come before a rebranding effort.

“I don’t mind if the name’s changed, but it’s not the most important thing that needs to be done,” 73-year-old retired nurse Beverly Bowen-Bennett, who’s lived in the Tacoma Mall Neighborhood for nearly 17 years, told me last week.

“There is so much we need in this neighborhood, spending time, energy and maybe even money on figuring on what to call it doesn’t seem near as important to me as some of the other issues.”

She, too, has a point.

Specifically, Bowen-Bennett focuses on a lack of safe spaces for kids to play, a lack of community meeting spaces, as well as a lack of grocery, medical and pharmacy options.

“We could call the area Junkhouse if we got what is needed,” she concluded.

Luckily, Barnett told me Junkhouse is not being considered.

This story was originally published July 11, 2016 at 9:36 AM with the headline "Matt Driscoll: Does the Tacoma Mall Neighborhood deserve a new name?."