Framing City South is a community outreach project so that you can let us know how we can plan for a bright future together. The project is a partnership between the City of Federal Way and Sound Transit.
Why do we need to reimagine South Federal Way?
Our city and our region are continuing to grow. We need to think ahead and plan for smart ways to manage this future growth so that we can benefit from these big opportunities! South Federal Way is a unique and growing hub in our city that will soon be transformed by two major projects:
- A second Sound Transit light rail station that is planned to open in 2030.
- A new off-ramp that will better connect I-5 with South 356th Street and is planned to be completed in 2027.
These projects feel like they are a long time off, but we need to start planning early! We need your help as we create a Vision Framework plan that will help to guide how South Federal Way will feel in 2030, 2040, 2050 and beyond. Similar to our past work with the City Center, our Framing City South project may mean new zoning or development rules to guide development toward achieving a community vision!
What we heard in 2019
Our first Framing City South online open house was open in fall 2019, from November 20—December 15. We also held a Planning Commission workshop on December 4. At these events, we presented information about the visioning process, and visitors had the opportunity to share how they use City South today and how they imagine using the area in the future once new transportation and transit projects are completed.
Overall, 552 unique visitors joined us online and 69 people completed the survey. We’ll consider feedback and use it to start developing big principles that will help us best plan for City South’s future. We’ll come back to you and give you the chance to review draft guiding principles to make sure that we effectively captured your ideas.
See all the responses here
Delay in Online Open House #2
The original plan was to have a second Online Open House #2 in March together with Sound Transit’s Station Access online workshop. However, Covid-19 changed the way our work is done and we have been postponed during this pandemic. While Covid-19 does not impact the ability to put things on the web, it does impact our ability to try and reach people to have them take the survey on the website. Without visits to the website, we won’t hear what we need to from the community.
Sound Transit has decided to move forward with their station access online workshop in Fall 2020. The City is evaluating how we can move forward with Online Open House #2 for Framing City South or whether there is at this point a better way to look to the future of the South Federal Way area.
Project Schedule
If you’d like to keep up to date on the visioning process and learn more about upcoming events, sign up for our email list by clicking here.
Staff Contact
Ryan Medlen
Sound Transit Liaison
Community Development
City of Federal Way
(253) 835-2632
Ryan.Medlen@cityoffederalway.com