10 Minute Conversation with Lee Rafferty

Lee Rafferty is the Executive Director of Vancouver’s Downtown Association. She has lived in Vancouver since 1974.

Lee Rafferty, Executive Director, Vancouver's Downtown Association

What brought you to SW Washington?
I married a man who lived in Vancouver. I continued to commute to my job in Portland for several years and left that job and sold real estate for a bit and then started my own business, Spanky’s. We had that business for 28 years ago and sold it about two years ago.

What do you love about SW Washington?
I love that we have a rich history and a bright future and a lot of it is tied to the beautiful Columbia River. We also have sports available to us, all kinds of recreation. We have a community that values education. We have community that values giving back and has a great deal of community pride in the things that we support and the things that we oppose. We don’t take an elitist approach to life. Anything that has been accomplished in Vancouver has been accomplished with a great deal of hard work and seeing a vision through. Nothing has been handed to SW Washington. We have always sort of lived in the shadow of sparklier places across the river. We know who we are and we know what we are doing and we are not trying to emulate.

What is the best-kept secret about SW Washington?
I’m in the business of exposing secrets and making everyone want to come here! I’m in the business of making sure that people understand the opportunity on every level that is here. This is a great place to raise a family. This is a great place to bring a business. The tax structure is very favorable for people who want to start a business and this area is completely invested in making sure that economically this area thrives.

As far as downtown Vancouver, I have always said that it is our recent success is because we are a downtown of opportunity. People are coming here, buying buildings, launching businesses and making their own way because it’s possible. We not so priced out of the market yet. There is a real fervor for this reinvention and a new vitality that is palpable. You go out on the street and you can just know that if you have taken stock of what was here last year and you look now at the change of views, rehabilitation of buildings, the plans to rehabilitate, the new businesses that have landed. It is amazing the change. It has happened pretty quickly and we are in the midst of a huge change that is very positive.

Our organization (VDA) is uniquely placed. We’re not government but we work very, very well with government. We don’t own anything but we understand the pressures of owning a building that is underperforming. We understand what it is to have a business that needs more traffic or maybe could use some advice about how to merchandise or how to light and bring in customers. We understand what it is to have issues where you need to be able to navigate permitting issues or know how to bring an event downtown. We are uniquely placed to be able to hook people up with what they need. We are a conduit and that’s pretty exciting. We do have our fingers in a lot of pies.

What is your favorite place to relax or play in SW Washington?
I have a couple of little granddaughters. I have three now. I like the Waterfront Trail, along the Columbia River. One granddaughter is old enough now to ride a bike. And I have one is in a stroller and I’ll probably have one in a front backpack and it’s very fun to go along the river and enjoy that.

The other thing I love is the new library. I am so pleased about the library and how it is becoming ever more a hub for downtown activities and for all ages. (Editor’s Note: The new Vancouver Community Library was just named #2 on the Livability.com list of Top 10 Libraries for Children in the U.S.)

If you didn’t live here, where would you live?
My dad immigrated from Scotland and I always say when I go back to visit that I can see myself living there, not in the city but in the north of Scotland where he was raised, not far from Inverness.

What’s coming up that you are excited about?
I am really excited that we have several property owners who are going to be taking advantage of our façade improvement program, which is half loan and half grant. A mandatory piece of any project we fund is that it needs to include lighting. We are trying to make sure that downtown is a more walkable, safe, inviting place 24/7.

Columbia Credit Union very generously gave us about $5,000 so we put that money into lighting ridgelines and some trees so that is the beginning of hooking place to place together, strong node to strong node. We know which areas we want to light and why we want to light them. We know why we are putting trees along those avenues and flower baskets there and we know why we are putting more art on the streets and where we are placing it because we know which corridors need to be activated.

And it’s not just north and south. We need to be activating east and west as well, especially now that we have this strong node of the library. That needs to be hooked to Esther Short Park and we need to make it a walkable, very intuitive way That is our mission to make everything more connected.

What would surprise people to know about you?
I grew up in Eastern Oregon and excelled at showing and fitting Polled Hereford cattle as a 4-H member. I was usually pretty intimidated by those huge animals, but I knew I could never let them know it.

Somehow not surprising… Lee’s favorite quote is “Nothing is impossible when you work for the circus!” Her favorite part of the quote? “Nothing is impossible.”