Don Snedecor
gets a walking
tour of River View
Natural Area
– Page 2
KC Cowan
visits a community
farm where people
reconnect with
nature
– Page 4
Lee Braymen-
Cleary takes us
on a virtual trip to
Italy in her
review of Oak &
Olive
– Page 5
The Southwest Portland Post
Volume No. 23 Issue No. 8
www.swportlandpost.com
Portland, Oregon
Complimentary
June 2015
Seniors look forward to graduation, bid farewell to Wilson High School
By KC Cowan
The Southwest Portland Post
On June 10, some 300 seniors from
Wilson High School will march through
Memorial Coliseum for their graduation
ceremony.
At the end of their four years, they
are taking with them not only their
diplomas, but also a treasure trove of
experience and friendships. Let’s meet
four of them.
Madison Schulte graduates as a
member of the National Honor Society.
She was Photography Club president,
and lacrosse varsity team captain. She
will attend the University of British
Columbia in Vancouver, Canada to
study business and marketing.
McKenzie Hopfer was a peer
counselor at Wilson and an Honor
Society member. She won the Smith Book
Award and Joe Loprinzi Scholarship,
and was the editor-in-chief of the
Troyan yearbook. She is headed to the
University of Portland to study biology.
Perry Taylor was the student body
president and played basketball and
baseball. He also worked on the school
newspaper and magazine. He plans to
major in civic leadership at Portland
State University.
Dana Nathanson said it feels surreal
to be graduating. A Wilson scholar who
never failed to make the honor roll,
she was active in soccer, cross-country,
leadership, and choir. She’ll attend the
University of Michigan in the fall.
The Post: Do you feel Wilson prepared
you for college?
Schulte: Yes. Wilson’s Advanced
Placement classes, even though they are
challenging, have helped me understand
what college classes are like. Further,
Wilson’s counselors and other staff are
extremely supportive.
Nathanson: I do feel like Wilson
prepared me for college, especially my
sophomore and senior English classes.
Wilson also helped me develop into a
young adult. Wilson really succeeded
as a high school by letting me express
my individuality while also guiding me
(Continued on Page 6)
The Post interviewed four graduates of the Wilson High School Class of 2015. Back row:
Perry Taylor and Dana Nathanson. Front row: Madison Schulte and McKenzie Hopfer.
(Post photo by KC Cowan)
City holds second open house on Tryon-Stephens Headwaters street plan
By Erik Vidstrand
The Southwest Portland Post
The Tryon-Stephens Headwaters
street plan is being designed to establish
a more connected local street and
pathway network and to improve
stormwater management systems
within an area including Burlingame
and Multnomah neighborhood streets,
as well as Barbur Boulevard.
There have been a layer of
decisions, budget considerations,
and improvements promised for
infrastructure for cars, cyclists, and
pedestrians.
A second open house was sponsored
Denver Igarta, from Transportation, explains data from an earlier open house regarding
aligning streets and stormwater projects. (Post photo by Erik Vidstrand)
Don’t forget to renew your subscription. Form on Page 2.
The Southwest Portland Post
4207 SE Woodstock Blvd #509
Portland, OR 97206
on May 7 by a joint partnership of the city
of Portland bureaus of Environmental
Services and Transportation.
This team has made improvements
in the Cully neighborhood (2012), and
Division-Midway (2014).
“This project is more involved,”
explained Denver Igarta, of the
transportation bureau, “and will take
longer due to the nature of the typology
and number of challenges in this area.”
On this bright, sunny afternoon,
children amused themselves on the
new playground equipment outside the
Stephens Creek Crossing community
center as a few dozen individuals
joined city staff for the latest workshop.
Barbara O’Neill, a 12-year resident of
Multnomah Village, has been involved
from the very beginning when the
city first introduced the project at the
Southwest Sunday Parkways last
summer. She attended the first open
house held last winter.
“I take long walks to the village,”
O’Neill replied, “but it’s difficult to
walk with a stroller or a wheelchair.”
She lives off 31st Avenue near Barbur
Boulevard and there are no sidewalks
let alone a safe shoulder.
“That’s why I’m at all of these events,
to provide input into a better way,” said
O’Neill.
Since the first open house in January,
over 70 community members provided
the city that allowed them to collect lots
of data and created several maps.
“What we learned is that you value
trees, want to keep some roadways
unpaved, and to provide sidewalks at
least on one side of the street,” Igarta
said.
The bureaus found that more
community space and safe pedestrian
crossings were also important. Slower
traffic speeds, keeping natural features
and landscapes while retaining a unique
neighborhood character rounded off
the lists.
According to city records, 88 percent
of Southwest streets are paved; the rest
are dirt and gravel and right-of-ways
for non-motor vehicle use.
Sixty-three percent of these paved
streets lack sidewalks and 31 percent
have no stormwater systems at all.
The small group was tasked with
identifying four types of streets which
could withstand improvements of some
sort.
Type 1 streets are by nature impassable
and Type 6 streets—like Barbur and
Multnomah boulevards—are extremely
busy and have less flexibility for
improvements.
Naomi Tsurumi, from Environmental
Services, discussed matching the street
with the best stormwater system.
“There are traditional streets and
green streets,” Tsurumi explained.
“Other options are separated streets.
Some have curbs and others have
pipes.”
Tsurumi said that planners are still
trying to figure out the process for
Capitol Highway. “It’s its own planning
process.”
The audience broke into teams to
work on street designs. In the next
couple of months, the city will collect
this information and sort it out.
“We’ll use this information to refine
the solutions by July,” Igarta promised.
“How is this in alignment with current
construction and development?”
someone asked. “Take the sidewalks to
nowhere,” one participant remarked.
“We’re coming up with a system,”
Igarta responded. “There is a need to
(Continued on Page 6)