Beaverton residents may be looking at a drastically improved central business district in the future. That’s thanks to the Tualatin Hills Park and Recreation District board, whose members unanimously supported the city’s proposed $151 million urban renewal plan earlier this week.

The urban renewal plan was created with the general idea of ameliorating some issues as well as simply upgrading Beaverton’s 900-acre downtown area, but it will do so by focusing on a few chief points.

Paramount among those will be the daylighting of Beaverton Creek. Essentially that means that the creek will be uncovered—opened up a bit—something many have been clamoring for over the years as the creek has continually been neglected, resulting in poor water quality and a diminished fish and wildlife habitat.

Also a focus in the urban renewal plan will be streetscaping projects downtown, creating a more appealing environment for foot, bicycle and car traffic, which in turn should benefit the surrounding businesses.

The primary concern with the project is the property tax revenues the city will have to go without, but proponents argue that the projects improvements will strongly benefit property values and quality of life, which will more than make up for the temporary decrease in tax revenue.

Following the TRPRD board’s approval, the project, which would be funded with a 30-year bond, is now expected to be voted on in the November election.