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MEDFORD'S VISION We love the climate and hate the traffic Profile of Medford helps vision process By JIM DAVIS Did you know that nearly 10,000 homes were built in Medford in the past 20 years and the city's population has doubled since 1970? Did you know that, according to a 1997 survey, most people were happy with recent growth but were split on whether they want the growth to continue? Hundreds want to join vision committees Medford's call for volunteers to draft a vision of the city's future has drawn a huge response. By Wednesday's deadline, 339 people signed up to be part of the vision planning process. The vision project is a city-funded program asking residents to come up with their highest aspirations for the city. The volunteers signed up to serve on seven task forces that deal with topics from transportation to arts and culture. The cultural diversity and human services task force attracted 68 people. The task force that attracted the least interest was public safety, with 17 people signed up. The task forces will meet three times through mid-March to come up with ideas for the city's future. Those ideas will go to a steering committee made up of citizens appointed by city leaders. The committee will distill the ideas and write a report that will go to the council on May 12. Once the vision is set in May, the Medford City Council can tailor the city's budget to fulfill the goals. The city has put aside $75,000 to pay for the vision project. Did you know the rate of serious traffic accidents in Medford has gradually decreased since 1983? This is just some of the information in a community profile of Medford, gathered by a Portland consulting firm as part of the city's vision planning process. The 30-page report contains all sorts of information about the city, ranging from housing to a breakdown in job types to estimated drug use by eighth-graders. The profile was given to the city's vision steering committee this week and will be passed along to the more than 300 people who signed up to be part of the process, said Preston Polasek, an assistant to the city manager. The consulting firm -- Cogan Owens Cogan -- used a 1997 telephone survey of 300 Medford residents as well as statistics gathered from the city, county and state. The report is meant to give members of the panel an easy-to-grasp, one-source guide to the present status of Medford. Here are some of the highlights of the report: Racial minorities are a small but increasing proportion of the community. Hispanics are the largest group, making up 5.1 percent of the population in 1990. Also, the 2000 Census is expected to show a major increase in the Hispanic population. The population of Medford was 28,973 in 1970 and is now estimated at 57,964. The population is expected to increase to more than 79,500 by 2015. According to the phone poll, 60 percent of Medfordites said that growth has been good for the area. But respondents were split on whether they want that growth to continue, with 45 percent for more growth, 40 percent against and the rest with other opinions. Nearly a third of those polled moved to Medford because of a job. Others cited family and friends, small-town environment and the outdoors. Coming in a distant fifth place was climate. However, after moving here, the single thing that people most liked about Medford was the climate, followed closely by the small-town environment. The thing that Medfordites like the least about the city: traffic. More than 80 percent of commercial land has been developed in Medford; nearly 40 percent of residential land is vacant. The number of serious traffic accidents excluding those causing only property damage rose from 350 in 1983 to a peak of about 425 in 1988. The accident rate, according to the city's public works department, had decreased to about 200 by 1996. The incidence of less-serious crimes has fluctuated since 1991, but the rate of serious crime has remained steady since then. On air quality, particulate matter from wood stoves has decreased considerably from 1986 to 1998. But the growth in motor vehicle particulate emissions has made up for those gains. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA