On November 18, 2025, the City Council was presented with the Tacoma 2035 strategic framework, developed by the City of Tacoma’s Center for Strategic Priorities to build on lessons from the previous Tacoma 2025 strategic plan. Once finalized and adopted, it will align City work under four core values and six goal areas.
At the heart of the Tacoma 2035 strategic framework is a new, aspirational vision statement for Tacoma’s future: “Tacoma is safe, housed, connected, working, sustainable, and thriving.” This vision is supported by a focused mission statement regarding the City’s role: “The City of Tacoma provides high-quality municipal services to enhance the lives of all Tacoma community members.”
To achieve this vision and mission, within the Tacoma 2035 strategic framework, all City of Tacoma programs and policies will be driven by four core values:
- Belief and Trust: Ensuring all City efforts serve the community with integrity, respect, dignity, and excellence.
- Fiscal Responsibility: Making the financial health of the City a key consideration in all decisions.
- Access, Opportunity, and Belonging: Providing services that support all Tacoma community members in pursuing their goals and reaching their full potential.
- Resilience: Maintaining continuity and effectiveness of City systems through all shocks and stresses, such as climate or financial challenges.
The six goal areas referenced within the Tacoma 2035 strategic framework build off the existing City Council priorities.
- Community Safety: This goal area addresses safety needs by going beyond traditional police and fire services, while still including those critical departments. It focuses on aligning City work in support of creating safe places and neighborhoods, supporting specific populations, responding with care, and supporting community healing.
- Housing and Homelessness: This goal area addresses the full spectrum of housing needs, from funding for immediate shelter to various supports for affordable housing developers, to zoning for more housing types. It focuses on aligning City work in support of providing immediate shelter, keeping people in their homes, affordable housing development, and zoning to allow for more types and density of housing.
- Transportation and Mobility: This goal area addresses the need to create a multimodal Tacoma with high-quality, functional roads, bike lanes, sidewalks, crosswalks, and intersections. It focuses on aligning City work in support of “15-minute neighborhoods” where community members can easily access their daily needs and achieving zero traffic deaths and injuries.
- Jobs and Economy: This goal area addresses how the City supports workers and businesses already in Tacoma and brings more jobs and businesses here in the future. It focuses on aligning City work around investing in workforce development, increasing livable wage jobs, and supporting businesses to help them thrive.
- Climate and Environment: This goal area addresses how the City adapts to and mitigates the effects of climate change and protects Tacoma’s environment through its utilities – specifically solid waste, stormwater, and wastewater. It focuses on aligning City work around protecting the health of the Puget Sound, managing waste, reducing urban heat islands, adapting to sea-level rise, and reducing air pollutants.
- Placemaking and Experiences: This goal area addresses how the City contributes to what makes Tacoma unique – including historic buildings, libraries, art, iconic venues – and supports key events and festivals. It focuses on cultivating a creative artistic eco-system, providing welcoming spaces, increasing events access throughout Tacoma, and celebrating Tacoma’s unique history across cultures and communities.
Details on the Tacoma 2035 strategic framework, including ways to engage in the process, are available here.