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About The Southwest Portland Post. (Portland, Oregon) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (July 1, 2009)
July 2009 NEWS The Southwest Portland Post • 12 PSU graduate students take a 20-minute walk in West Portland Park By Lee Perlman The Southwest Portland Post Five graduate students from Portland State University’s School of Urban Planning decided to use West Portland Park neighborhood’s town center as a study project. The students were Ali DeMersseman, Sara Wright, Dana Dickman, Laura Spidell, and Nuin-Tara Key. As one of the students, Ali DeM- ersseman, told the Southwest Neigh- borhoods, Inc. board in late May, the group was interested in investigating the idea of a “20-minute neighbor- hood”; a concept currently in vogue with City of Portland planners, it is a community where most social and commercial services can be reached in a 20-minute walk. By their working definition, such a community should have access to institutions, healthy food, and retail. “The connections need to be safe and comfortable,” DeMersseman said. Such a community should also have opportunities for social interaction, diverse housing options and a sense of place. City planner Brian Sheehan suggested West Portland Park as a subject. The core area was designated as West Portland Town Center, a place for significant residential and commercial development, in Metro’s 2040 Plan. “It’s easy to see how the 20-minute neighborhood concept could work in an older streetcar neighborhood,” De- Mersseman said. “It’s harder in a place like West Portland Park.” The class did a series of surveys in local coffee shops and the library. They also held an open house attended by 50 people. And they worked with the neighborhood association. The group, called Intersect Planning, came up with four major findings. First, the physical environment is not condu- cive to pedestrian access to destinations. Second, current commercial facilities lack diversity and quality. Third, there are a lack of characteristics that contrib- ute to a sense of place. Fourth, the group found (on the positive side) given the diversity of residents, there is potential for increased “social capacity.” The group also offered some recom- mendations: improve the pedestrian ac- cess, enhance the destinations, establish a business association, explore redevel- opment opportunities. Additionally they thought West Portlanders needed to build a neighborhood identity and character, through gateway elements among other things. Jim McLaughlin, West Portland Park’s SWNI board representative, said, “The most striking finding for me was how few people knew this was West Portland Park. With the exception of (the Southwest Hills Residential League), it’s probably the same for your neighborhoods. I like what Hillsdale and Multnomah Village have done, but we need to do better outreach.” Jim Thayer of SWHRL said his neigh- borhood too has “an absolute dearth of retail. What there is is very separated. Strohecker’s could become a shopping center.” One of the students said that community groups could work to at- tract quality retail by “letting businesses know what you have to offer.” Parker Realty, Inc. PSU graduate students Ali DeMersseman, Sara Wright, and Nuin-Tara Key give a pre- sentation to the SWNI board relating to their study of West Portland Park. (Post photo by Lee Perlman) NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS By Lee Perlman The Southwest Portland Post Cedarwood Montessori School seeks expansion Cedarwood Montessori School, housed in the former Neighborhood House building, is seeking design ap- proval for changes in the building’s annex to the north. Built in the 1920s, the building has at times been used as a community center, and contains a pool and gym. Cedarwood wants to convert these into a new gym and classrooms, architect Cory Martin and builder Ben Kaiser told the South Portland Neigh- borhood Association last month. Martin said that the improvements would improve the exterior appearance of the building, which he described as “a banal entrance to the main building, a blank wall with no windows.” South Portland land use chair Jim Davis said he could take issues with some details of the plan, but that in general, “It’s an elegant solution to a problem.” Office of Neighborhood Involvement budgets restored A crash savings program by City of Portland bureaus, and early economic performances that weren’t as bleak as originally projected, allowed the City to restore some cuts proposed for this year. City Council approved the so-called Right Budget for the Portland Office (Continued on Page 11) West Hills/Hillsdale $747,500 Portland Heights $729,000 Portland Heights $695,000 4 BR 2.5 BA w/ views. Vaulted formal living room, Family room w/ french doors to large deck. Master suite w/ built-ins & deck. 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