Terminal Park current land use

Terminal Park is a well-traveled southern entrance into downtown Auburn. It is a triangular area between A Street SE to Auburn Way South and Highway 18 to 17th Street SE. The total neighborhood is approximately 345 acres. Nearly 60% of it is paved. Out of 136 zoned acres, 123 acres has some type of improvement on it and 13 acres are vacant.

Residential

Most of the houses in the Terminal Park neighborhood are relatively small. According to the Census Bureau, the typical house has 4.4 rooms. The average house on the north end of the neighborhood is nearly 60 years old; whereas the houses in the south end of the neighborhood are roughly 35 years old. Approximately 60% of the housing units have one or two bedrooms.

Over half of the housing units in the Terminal Park neighborhood are rentals. Out of 642 housing units in the Year 2000 Census, 43% were owner-occupied and 57% were rentals. Out of 424 single-family housing units, approximately 240 units were rentals. According to the Census Bureau, the average renter stays in their unit for 14 months. The tenure of homeowners is approximately eight years. Given that Terminal Park has more rental units than owner-occupied units, more residents move out each year than stay. In 2002 the Terminal Park Elementary School had the second highest mobility rate (55%) in the Auburn School District.

Commercial

Most of the commercial development located in Terminal Park is along Auburn Way South. A neighborhood survey conducted in 2001 found 65 businesses employing approximately 450 people. These businesses occupied approximately 24 acres. In 2001 Terminal Park had roughly 19 employees per commercial acre, which is less than the city average of 66 employees per acre. Approximately one-third of the commercial property in Terminal Park is underdeveloped. In other words, the land is more valuable than the improvements located on it. Out of 111 parcels with a commercial zone, 39 parcels, or 37% of the total commercially zoned property in the neighborhood, has a single-family house sitting on it.