The city of Ridgefield has been on the “fastest growing cities” list in the state of Washington for the past three years, and if current activity is any indication, that designation isn’t going away any time soon.
Witness to the town’s tremendous growth, Mayor Ron Onslow has seen the population more than double since taking office.
“When I became mayor eight years ago, we were just short of 3,000 people, now we’re at 7,000.”
In 2015, the city of Ridgefield issued 228 permits for the construction of new homes – more than double the 104 permits issued in 2014. Fast forward to this year, as of April 14, the city has already issued 134 building permits, with another 65 under review. That’s close to 2015 levels already.
“There are a lot of things going on that probably contribute to it,” said Onslow, when asked about the growth rate. “Number one is the availability of land in north Clark County – the availability to build on lots that have infrastructure like sewer [and] water, all in the city of Ridgefield.”
Jeff Niten, Ridgefield’s community development director, believes the city’s growth rate will dip, but officials are still gearing up for steady growth.
“We just finished our update to the comprehensive plan not too long ago and our projection – a 20 year plan – for 2035 is a little over 25,000 people,” said Niten. “The linear growth projection is about 7.8 percent/year, every year for the next 20.”
Currently, the city is experiencing 9-10 percent growth per year, which is above even its own growth projection.
“We are planning on the 25,000 number and I don’t see that slowing down any time soon,” Niten said.
Both Mayor Onslow and Niten are quick to tout Ridgefield’s many amenities: access to the wildlife refuge, strong building codes, a well performing school district, and a historic downtown. However, it’s not just homebuyers who are interested in making the move to Ridgefield.
“We’re seeing growth at the [Interstate 5] junction and a lot of businesses are being added,” said Onslow. “Three new businesses within the last three years have come in, and one of them is already expanding. We’ve got around 2,000 jobs in and around the junction.
“If you want to live close to your work, you’ve really got an opportunity to do that in Ridgefield,” he added.
City officials are taking expansion in stride, working to meet the growing demands of businesses trying to open their doors.
“There’s quite a clamor for new and small business space,” said Onslow. “The city is working on it. We’ve have a new group in town that has been in effect for about a year and a half – the Ridgefield Main Street program – and they’re working on the downtown area. The junction area is pretty well set with industrial/commercial… We’d like to get good businesses here that provide jobs.”
Other future ventures in the area include Clark College, whose designs for a north county campus are still in progress, and the Department of Fish and Wildlife, who are finalizing negotiations with the Port of Ridgefield to build their new headquarters for Southwest Washington there.
According to Niten, folks from virtually all corners of the country see Ridgefield as a place to call home.
“I’ve talked to people interested in moving here from Colorado, California, all over the western parts of the U.S.,” he said. “I talked to a lady in Florida once who was interested in moving here. They’re coming from everywhere, but the vast majority are from the Portland metro area.”
Niten suggested that the city’s proximity to Portland has spurred much of the growth.
“It’s 20 miles to the [Oregon] border; we’re fairly close, but we have a lot of employment opportunities here too – a very good jobs-to-housing ratio,” he explained.
Despite all of the city’s recent growth and development, Niten said it’s important that Ridgefield maintains much of its small town feel.
