Fourth Plain for All

Mural by MJ Feliz done in bright blues, purple and fuscia that include 4 people and multiple flowers

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The City of Vancouver will invest more than $25 million into central Vancouver neighborhoods near Fourth Plain Boulevard thanks to federal funds received through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). The Fourth Plain for All project team worked with community members to create a long-term investment strategy for the Fourth Plain community, called Fourth Plain for All.

The Fourth Plain for All Investment Strategy has two main objectives:

Create a comprehensive list of investment actions to be implemented in the Fourth Plain community over the next 10 years; and

Highlight specific priority projects that can utilize ARPA funding between now and 2026.

Thank you to those who have helped identify community needs and challenges that the investment strategy should address. The Investment Strategy can be found here for more information.

Vancouver City Council approved the FPFA Investment Strategy on November 13, 2023. The project team will continue to use this project webpage to provide updates on implementation of the investment strategy, so community members can track how investments are being made in their community.

Investment Strategy Overview

Fourth Plain for All is a community-driven process to identify, prioritize, and implement a community vision that will improve conditions and expand opportunities for central Vancouver neighborhoods. Fourth Plain for All seeks to address impacts from COVID-19 as well as long-standing disparities to foster a more prosperous and resilient community that thrives into the future.

Fourth Plain for All Vision Statement. Through continued investment, the people who live, work, and go to school in our community are healthy, safe, and have greater access to opportunities. Our ties to one another are strengthened through spaces to celebrate diverse cultures. People feel safe and are safe - whether walking, taking the bus, or visiting a park. Our neighborhoods are not only a local hub, but an international district that people love to visit - a Fourth Plain for All.

This effort is supported by federal funding awarded to the City of Vancouver from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), a federal program to address public health and economic impacts caused or made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic. The City received $32.6 million and 75% of the funds (approximately $25 million) are dedicated to the Fourth Plain area. This funding is a once in a generation opportunity to invest in and strengthen the Fourth Plain community. It specifically builds on recent investments from the City of Vancouver in this area and sets the stage for a sustained investment program.

The table below highlights the ARPA-funded investments. However, the complete strategy includes more than 40 actions to guide investments in Housing, Community Building & Public Health, Parks & Public Space, Transportation & Safety, and Economic Development. In addition to ARPA-funded investments, this document also identifies community priorities that will advance through other funding sources.

Investment Strategy table of ARPA-Funded Investments. The table shows ARPA funding per main category in the investment strategy. Housing will receive $9.5 million in ARPA-funding; Community Building and Public Health will receive $2.25 million; Parks and Public Spaces will receive $7 million, Transportation will receive $4.25 million, and Economic Development will receive $2 million.

Project Area

The project area includes the neighborhoods north and south of Fourth Plain Boulevard between I-5 and I-205, including: Rose Village, Central Park, Fourth Plain Village, Maplewood, Meadow Homes, Bagley Downs, Ogden, Van Mall, and Walnut Grove.

What is the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)?

The COVID-19 pandemic created dual nationwide crises: a public health crisis combined with an economic crisis. The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) was passed in 2021 to deliver immediate relief for American workers and families and build a bridge to an equitable economic recovery. One of the ways ARPA provides support to struggling communities is through the distribution of more than $360 billion in emergency funding for state, local, territorial, and Tribal governments.

The City of Vancouver is receiving $32.6 million in funding to help support our efforts to recover from the pandemic-induced economic and housing crisis, which disproportionately impacted socially and economically vulnerable communities and small independent businesses. In addition to the ARPA allocation, additional general funds are being leveraged for a combined $40.6 million in one-time resource allocation to deploy to serve critical needs in the community.

Community Engagement

The Fourth Plain for All project includes two phases of community engagement:

Phase 1 (Winter-Spring 2023): We had discussions with the community to better understand current challenges, needs and hopes of the Fourth Plain community. Activities included:

Community Survey – Over 300 people completed our survey between March 16 and April 30. Investments most important to survey respondents include affordable housing and homelessness prevention (65%), safe streets, crosswalks or sidewalks (55%), crime prevention and enforcement (51%), and parks and green spaces (46%).
Investment Strategy Committee (ISC) – The ISC met twice during the first round of engagement, providing input around current community needs and challenges, their vision for how to best uplift and strengthen central Vancouver neighborhoods, and project investment goals and evaluation criteria.
Business Canvassing – Multilingual staff and project ambassadors visited over 70 central Vancouver businesses in April to discuss current challenges, needs, and desires for the future of their neighborhoods.Business canvassing along the Fourth Plain corridor.
Community Tabling – We shared information about the project and collected feedback from the community while tabling at the Vietnamese Lunar New Year Celebration (January 28), Sea Mar Community Health Center (March 30), and Bagley Community Park (April 22).
Neighborhood Meetings – We presented information about the project and collected feedback at four neighborhood association meetings in March and April (Meadow Homes, Fourth Plain Village, Rose Village, and Walnut Grove).
City Council Meetings – Shared project updates with City Council on April 10.

Input collected during the first phase of engagement was used to create a list of potential investment options.

This image shows community members speaking with a member of the project team during an open house event at the 2023 Multicultural Resource Fair. Shown in the background are three boards on easels, which explain different aspects of the project.

Open house event at the June 3 Multicultural Resource Fair.

Phase 2 (Spring-Summer 2023): The project team took the list of potential investment options back out to the community to:

Confirm that we interpreted input from the first phase of engagement correctly and created investment options that the community would like to see implemented.
Invite the community to help prioritize projects and programs that they would like to see implemented using ARPA funding between now and 2026. This input was used to create the final investment strategy.

Phase 2 engagement activities included:

Updated Community Survey – Identified specific projects and programs most important to the community that can utilize ARPA funds.
Investment Strategy Committee – Hosted two ISC meetings to seek input around investment evaluation criteria, budgeting, and priority projects and programs that can utilize ARPA funds.
Open house event at the Multicultural Resource Fair at Hudson’s Bay High School (June 3).
Community Tabling at the Juneteenth Freedom Celebration at Esther Short Park (June 17), Recovery Café of Clark County (July 12), and Grocery Outlet on Fourth Plain Boulevard (July 14).
Business Listening Session at Clark College with current and prospective business owners in central Vancouver (July 24).
City Council Meetings – Presented findings and investment strategy recommendations at the July 10 and August 28 City Council workshops.

For more information about the community engagement done for the Investment Strategy, please see the Phase 1 and Phase 2 Engagement Summaries.

Investment Strategy Committee

The Investment Strategy Committee (ISC) is made up of 15 community members who live, work, own a business or own property within the following Vancouver neighborhoods: Rose Village, Central Park, Fourth Plain Village, Maplewood, Meadow Homes, Bagley Downs, Ogden, Van Mall, and Walnut Grove.

The group met four times between March and June 2023 to provide input This image shows members of the Investment Strategy Committee standing around a table looking at project materials. Investment Strategy Committee Meeting #3 around current community needs and challenges, identify a vision for how to best uplift and strengthen central Vancouver neighborhoods, and provide feedback regarding investment goals, evaluation criteria, budgeting, and priority projects. Their input, alongside feedback collected via other community engagement methods, was used to develop near-term and long-term investment strategies for central Vancouver neighborhoods.