North Tabor Land Use/Transportation Agenda: November 4th meeting

This Land Use/Transportation meeting will take place from 6:30-8:00pm at Laurelhurst Café.

The proposed agenda is as follows:

1. Application for the MURP Program Graduate Students to study the East Burnside High Crash Corridor.

   Background: Every Year the graduate students at PSU’s Masters in Urban and Regional Planning take an urban center or corridor to study, modernize, do outreach and create a planning document. In the past they have created “Lombard Re-imagined” and the urban center of small town across the region.

   Bob Kellot of SEUL thought that East Burnside through our region would make for a great candidate since it is a manageable chunk of the city, with complex, but not too complicated problems. Applications are due November 15, and I think it would be a good idea to apply. Let us talk about it, work out a draft application letter (there is no official form) and send it. On the off chance we actually make the short list, then a more formal proposal can be brought before the full board.

2. A String of Pearls: Micro-parks for North Tabor
   Background: We are a neighborhood without a central park or school. Previously, the commitee has endorsed the possiblity of a series of micro-paorks for the neighborhood, so let us talk about locations and throw ideas out there.

   Possibilities: Instead of building out NE Oregon as part of the MAX station access TGM grant NE 61st to 64th, we could make it a cul-de-sac with only ped/bike access and park space with bioswales, seating and a drinking fountain.

   Behind the Fred Meyer on NE Oregon at 65th. This area is either not safe to build on due to the slide possibilities, or too expensive due to the retaining wall needs. We could work with a group like De-pave and narrow the pavement down to as small as possible and allow for only local access. Then we would have room for a liner playground with slides or other playground type equipment. This block has a sidewalk on the north side of the street already, so let us use the open space to the south.

   NE Everett-Davis Greenway. There are several locations where the sidewalk ends on one side, or if we de-paved Davis down to the minimum required, the planting strips, which are very wide here, could be integrated into a linear park. This Greenway could be turned, slowly over time, into a central String of Pearls through the neighborhood of micro parks every few blocks.

   We could call it the North Tabor Promenade…

   NE 45th. This is a VERY wide street north of Davis. This intersection could be narrowed to the point of eliminating the cut-through traffic problem at the same time making a small micro-park or active transportation rest stop.

   In our letter we could point out that as we grow, the park’s development charges could be used to build these amenities one micro-park at a time.