Downtown Vitality Strategy Task Force publishes final report

July 7, 2026 - The Downtown Vitality Strategy Task Force (DVSTF) has issued its final report to the Corvallis City Council with recommendations about specific actions and strategies to improve downtown Corvallis. The report is available on the City website and is scheduled to be presented to the Council at the July 20, 2026 meeting.

The Task Force was created by the Council in 2025 and charged with engaging the community around possible actions and strategies to revitalize and improve downtown Corvallis.

The Task Force consisted of 40 members representing a broad cross section of downtown stakeholders, including property owners, business leaders, community members and representatives of partner agencies. To emphasize the importance of downtown to the entire Corvallis community, all nine City Councilors participated as members of the Task Force.

A priority on community engagement

Over the course of a year, the Task Force met 35 times to carry out their work. Task Force members discussed and developed a list of actions and strategies to improve downtown Corvallis. The community was invited to review and rank these strategies to help the Task Force understand community priorities. More than 2,000 responses were gathered through a variety of qualitative and quantitative feedback opportunities. 

Task Force members fanned out into the community, driving engagement by hosting or attending 18 community meetings, including the 2026 Mayor's Town Hall and various business association meetings.

Conclusions and a call to action

The Task Force analyzed community input and crafted a list of eight overarching goals to help "nurture a thriving downtown as the hub and character of  Corvallis." These include: 

• Enhance downtown cleanliness and safety.
• Foster a vibrant and successful retail, service, office, and entertainment economy.
• Make connections to the Willamette River an integral part of downtown.
• Emphasize ease of access, walkability and accessibility within and to downtown.
• Provide housing opportunities that contribute to a vital downtown community.
• Invest in cultural and public spaces, and buildings and services that contribute to a successful and engaging downtown.
• Advance downtown’s structural, environmental and economic resilience through strategic investments, policies, and partnerships among utility service providers, property owners, and government.
• Develop and submit to voters an urban renewal plan, including a tax increment financing district, to provide funding support for downtown improvements.

For each goal contained in the report, the Task Force identified which stakeholders might be involved in addressing the issue, including public agencies, private businesses and property owners, or nonprofit service providers.

Recommendations from the Task Force report will be considered by the Council on July 20, 2026.