What Should Edmonds Be?

What Should Edmonds Be?

Edmonds is facing a budget emergency, and on the path to financial insolvency. Frances Anderson, our beloved parks, and other assets will be on the chopping block in perpetuity, unless we identify and pursue new and sustained revenue sources to run the kind of thriving city we want to live in.

Help us build a budget that enables Edmonds to thrive—not just survive.

This conversation ran from May 9th-25th, and is now closed.

Here's how it works:

1

Vote on community ideas

Review the ideas that other people have submitted, and vote on them: "agree," "disagree," or "pass."

Vote
2

Add your own ideas

Is an idea missing? Add it to the conversation by typing it in the box below, and clicking "submit."

Vote

Help us ensure a civil, productive conversation – learn more in our moderation policy.

Join the conversation

This conversation is now closed

Stay tuned for our final report, releasing in early June!

What's next?

We're analyzing all community input and will share our findings in a comprehensive report. Thank you to everyone who participated in shaping Edmonds' future!
Girls wearing bike helmets
Welcome to Edmonds sign
Five Corners Grocery
sunset over mountains at beach
Rylan at Walnut St. Coffee

What comes next?

Volunteers from Keep Edmonds Vibrant will compile the ideas gathered from the community during What Should Edmonds Be? to make formal recommendations to Edmonds leadership as they proactively plan for our city’s future. Project volunteers will deliver their recommendations in late May 2025.

Drop us your email for future updates from Keep Edmonds Vibrant and the What Should Edmonds Be? initiative!

Your contact info will not be shared. Unsubscribe at any time.

Bob and Sandy Gates
Bartender at Leftcraft

About this project

What Should Edmonds Be? is a month-long civic imagination initiative hosted by Keep Edmonds Vibrant. Through focus groups and online conversation, we’re inviting our community to share their unique ideas for the future of Edmonds.

We have a unique opportunity to imagine, and proactively plan for, our collective future. Our hope is to contribute to a long-term, strategic planning effort that affords Edmonds the opportunity to thrive for generations to come.

Keep Edmonds Vibrant

We're a group of residents committed to ensuring our city’s long-term financial resiliency and vibrancy. We came together out of deep concern that Edmonds is currently on a path towards financial insolvency, and that without policy change to generate new and sustaining revenues, our city will be less vibrant tomorrow than it is today.

Our belief is that without new, long-term sources of revenue, our beloved amenities – Frances Anderson Center, our parks and greenspaces, Yost Pool, Wade James Theatre, etc. – will return to the budget chopping block and be under threat year after year.

Cuts alone can’t and won’t solve our structural budget deficiencies. We must grow and diversify our revenue base. Our goal is to advocate for a budget that enables Edmonds to thrive—not just survive. If you’re interested in getting involved with our work, drop us an email at team@keepedmondsvibrant.org .

– The Keep Edmonds Vibrant! Team
Adel Sefrioui, Elise Hill, Mackey Guenther, Erik Houser

Frequently asked questions

Find everything you need to know about What Should Edmonds Be?, how to participate, and why your voice matters in shaping Edmonds' future.

Brackett's Landing

Moderation policy

We're committed to fostering a civil, productive conversation where all voices can be heard.

Edmonds soccer field

We aim to foster a robust, open, and civil conversation on the future of our community.

While no topics are off limits, a team of moderators consisting of local volunteers from the What Should Edmonds Be team will review all statements before they are made live in the conversation.

Moderation Guidelines

We want to see as many of your ideas as possible, so moderators will only remove comments from Polis for one of the following eight reasons:

  • Redundancy. If a new statement repeats an idea that has already been posted, it will not be added to the conversation.
  • Unclear. If the idea expressed in the statement is not clear to a reader, it will not be added.
  • Profanity. If the statement includes profane or abusive language, it will not be added.
  • Attacks. No attacks against any individual, business, or group of people will be allowed.
  • Personal Information. Any statements including personally identifiable information will not be included.
  • Multiple Ideas. If a statement expresses multiple ideas, making it difficult to respond with "Agree," "Disagree," or "Pass," it will not be added as-is.
  • Off Topic. If a statement is unrelated to the future of our community, it will not be added.
  • Suspicious Activity. If we detect a flood of submissions clearly coming from outside the region, those statements will not be included.

All ideas submitted, including those held back by moderators, will be made available for download on a weekly basis (with personal information redacted).

Restating & Reposting: If an idea is not added for any reason, the moderation team will make an effort to restate it in a way that aligns with our guidelines.