Sherry Montgomery recently conducted an unofficial count of the neighborhoods in Washougal as part of her latest project in her role as the city of Washougal’s community aesthetics program coordinator. She said that she was surprised when her count added up to about 200.
“We can never really give a hard and fast number, because we’re always in the process of putting a new one out there,” she said, “but (200) seemed like more than I expected. Each neighborhood brings its own beauty, its own charm, and identity to the overarching community.”
The city of Washougal is now giving every one of those neighborhoods an opportunity to connect with the City and each other in an effort to improve aesthetics, foster community connections, and enhance civic pride.
The City’s recently-launched homeowners association (HOA) and neighborhood registry, located on the City’s website, creates a visual representation of individual HOAs and neighborhoods on an interactive map, and includes contact information, including the HOA or neighborhood’s website if they have one.
“Our vision is to provide a responsive and dynamic program, led by community need and initiative, and strengthen and empower our neighborhoods,” Montgomery said. “The registry is the framework (for that program). We’ve created this framework as a means of connection. The registry is a conduit through which we will develop and employ supportive programming for the neighborhoods. Our goal is to empower and support the different micro-communities within our boundaries, as every neighborhood has differing strengths, desires, and challenges.”