Now this is how to talk about Vision

Tomorrow morning:

“A Conversation on Infill”. I know, it doesn’t sound like something you would want to give up a beautiful Spring morning to attend. But wait, it’s actually the kind of program that should have been happening all along in the VisionPDX project. It could have many titles. If you’re a citizen who cares about one or more of Portland’s 95 special neighborhoods, call it “What is Neighborhood Character and how do we keep/achieve it?” If you’re an architect or developer-type, think of it as “Urban Design” or even “Context Development”, which I hear is the latest shorthand for “new homes that don’t stick out like sore thumbs and are mostly sold to new immigrants from states where real estate is even more expensive”. Or even, “Portland in 2015 – what kind of homes do we want to live in, and how do we want to live once we step outside them?”. This is a practical, here-and-now discussion about what Portlanders want and how to get it.

This forum will be useful even if no community members show up. Its participants include:

Government: Gil Kelley, Director, Bureau of Planning; Veronica Valenzuela, Mayor Tom Potter’s Office; Dorene Warner, Human Solutions; Rich Rogers, Commissioner Eric Sten’s Office; John May, David Douglas School District, Information Services Administrator

Small Business: Jean Baker, Incoming President, Alliance of Portland Neighborhood Business Associations; Claes Almroth, Hawthorne Business Boosters; Noni Causey, City of Roses Disposal & Recycling

Community Planning/Historic Preservation: Peter Wilcox, Renewal Associates; Marcy McInelly, Urbsworks (community design); Rick Michelson, Inner City Properties (historic preservation); Bill Cunningham, Bureau of Planning (Infill Project); Henry Kunowski, Parks Bureau

Neighborhoods: Linda Nettekoven, Past Chair, Southeast Uplift Coalition; Leonard Gard, Southwest Neighborhood Coalition (Land Use Planner); Debbie Bischoff, N/NE District Liaison, Planning Bureau; Jim Chasse, Powellhurst/Gilbert Neighborhood Assn. Land Use Chair; Lynne Coward, Sullivan’s Gulch Neighborhood Association; Willie Brown, Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods Executive Director

Environmental: Robert Liberty, METRO Councilor; Tom Liptan, Bureau of Environmental Services; Linda Bauer, Pleasant Valley NA/Stormwater Manual Committee; Jim Labbe, Audubon Society of Portland

Developers/Builders: Tom Skaar, Pacific Western Homes; Gary Whitehill Baziuk, Realty Trust; Art Duhon, Duhon Consulting & Design, Palace Construction; Alan Beard, GBD Architects (green building); Jeff Prose, building arts workshop, inc. (context development).

This is an outstanding gathering of diverse participants, all in one place at one time to discuss how Portland should develop. Attendance should be worth giving up the morning – even if you didn’t receive a specific invitation, your viewpoint is needed and welcome. I see one gap in the participant list, probably due to the Environmental Justice conference unfortunately being held concurrently. More on that in my next post.