The City of Tacoma, Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber, Tacoma Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the Economic Development Board of Tacoma-Pierce County are the newest participating employers in Downtown On the Go‘s “Live Downtown” program. At no cost to the employers, their employees now have access to incentives to buy or rent in downtown Tacoma.

The Live Downtown program is in its second year. Modeled after employer-assisted housing programs, Live Downtown offers discounts through local lenders (select lenders at HomeStreet Bank and the Legacy Group) and property owners (O’Connor & Associates, Vue 25 and Albers Mill) to create a package of incentives for downtown employees to buy or rent downtown.

The City of Tacoma decided to participate in the program because “Connecting our employees to their communities and to varied alternate transportation options is very important to the City of Tacoma,” said City Manager T.C. Broadnax. “Increasing residential density in the urban core, and specifically downtown, is important to the success of our downtown businesses and our community and overall economic vitality,”

Shortening the distance between work and home, and creating transportation options for downtown employees was the key objective of the program but Downtown On the Go also sees value in creating residential density downtown. “Residential density creates vibrancy and life, and that leads to more commerce and a thriving business community,” said Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber President and CEO Tom Pierson. “We’re excited to lead by example and we think this program has the potential to do great things for our downtown.”

Already participating in the program are Columbia Bank, Tacoma Art Museum, BLRB Architects, University of Washington Tacoma, SiteCrafting, Inc., Broadway Center for the Performing Arts, Tacoma Symphony Orchestra and TRA Medical Imaging.

More information is available online at downtownonthego.com.