Imagine living in South Park and kayaking to work on the Duwamish River, then returning home to dine on fish you caught on the same pristine waterway.

Farfetched?

"It's totally possible to make this happen," said Cari Simpson, project coordinator of the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition, who presented a "final map," a wish list, of a Duwamish Valley of the future. She spoke recently to nearly 200 people downtown in the REI store's conference room.

"Of course we don't imagine the entire river returned to its natural state," Simpson said.

She said she wanted to see a "softening of the river banks" with a gentler sloping shore and inner tidal areas for salmon.

She presented the program "Envision the Future of the Duwamish Valley" with her colleague, BJ Cummings and Eric Schmidt of Cascade Design Collaborative, a sustainable design firm. The meeting concluded a six-month series of workshops in South Park, Delridge, Highland Park, and Georgetown. People attending those workshops broke down into groups of five or so and created a wish list. Each group received a map of the Duwamish Valley and colored markers to design their personal vision of environmental, economic, transportation, and housing improvements for the river area.

Those maps were collected by the coalition and integrated into a "final map." Input came from a diverse population including Highpoint's Cambodian and Vietnamese community, and South Park Food Bank patrons. Input was also collected from others who did not attend, including Spanish-speaking residents, teenagers, children, and homeless people encamped along the river.

Suggestions varied by community. Those homeless contributed the ideas of covered bus stops, more bus service, and affordable housing. Those from the food bank asked for farmers markets and public shoreline access. Other "visions" included a bowling alley, more pleasure-boat access, recreational vehicle camping, and water taxi service on the river like the Elliott Bay Taxi service now in place.

At the final meeting people affixed stick-it notes to the map with more suggestions. Those included tax breaks for green-friendly housing and home improvements and a "native market" to sell food and wares.

One reoccurring topic was the South Park Bridge, also known as the 14th/16th Avenue Bridge, which is in disrepair. Some want to see it improved and to include a pedestrian walkway. Currently King County has targeted the bridge for possible replacement through its Capitol Improvement Program. The county's Web site states that an environmental impact study on the bridge is underway.

"This is a work in progress," Simpson said. "Living close to work is a priority, and shopping and enjoying recreation within half a mile is also a goal."

"Every group contributing to the map spoke about creating a livable river, from the homeless living on river, fishermen fishing on river, to the communities living around the river," said Schmidt. "There is no way to all get connected again... unless all come to the river which is the central core to tie all together."

Simpson pointed out that the river has mandated industrial zones to preserve jobs but said there could be a nuanced approach to also develop small retail and affordable housing.

Schmidt acknowledged the balancing act between industry and environmental concerns.

"Marine dependant industry on the Duwamish along with a fundamental housing plan is critical. Otherwise, if industry moves out, so do those jobs, and expensive housing moves in." He offered South Lake Union in the 1970's as an example of that scenario.

"We realize we need to be thinking about the bigger picture which has led us to ask the community how it hopes and plans to use the (Duwamish) area," said Cummings. "We want to ensure that we are not making decisions about the river cleanup that are at odds with what the community plans to do along the river in the future.

"We want to prepare for unintended consequences of the cleanup, like rising housing prices. If those living here now advocate the cleanup they should be able to continue to afford living here. We need to bring in tools to help prevent the current community to be driven out by high housing prices and deprived of the river they are helping to clean up. This was a key impetus leading to the envisioning project."

The Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition is the Environmental Protection Agency's Community Advisory Group for the Duwamish River Superfund Site. The coalition will use the results of the Vision Project to help guide the river's pending cleanup. The river was listed as a Superfund Site, one of the most toxic waste sites in the nation, in 2001. The Environmental Protection Agency is expected to release cleanup alternatives by next year.

Steve Shay may be reached at steves@robinsonnews.com