Rick Gill, Brad Howton, Steve Welch and Walter Valenta are residents and business owners on Hayden Island.
What do you think of when you hear Hayden Island? Jantzen Beach Super Center? Home of Hooters? Tax-Free Haven for Vancouver residents?
For the nearly 5,000 people, we call this island home--home to our families, our businesses and our community. For us, Hayden Island offers a community that is unique in Portland. It also means we face some distinct challenges as an island community: one (very congested) way on and off the island; underdeveloped riverfront property; the lack of a town center; safe pedestrian and bicycle travel; transit options; and preservation of affordable housing.
But we see beyond these barriers. We see the potential for this island as much more:- I-5’s Scenic Gateway to Oregon from the North and Washington from the South (I-205 is the By Pass)
- Portland/Vancouver’s Cruise Ship Port-of-Call with tourist friendly mass transit to downtown Portland and Vancouver.
- Portland’s North Waterfront District to complement the South Waterfront District
- A town village with a coherent development plan with higher density (total of more than 3,000 residential units) that maintains the diverse demographic of residents and types of housing; enough small retail, commercial, service, and light industrial businesses so residents do not need to leave the island; and open space parks with public access to the Columbia River and an inter-island paved bike/pedestrian trail system connected to Portland and Vancouver