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Portlanders can now watch more than a dozen movies by local filmmakers about growth and development in Portland
On Wednesday, April 29, 2015, the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, in partnership with the Oregon Chapter of the American Planning Association, hosted the Portland Is Growing Film Festival at McMenamins Kennedy School. A standing-room-only crowd of about 130 people filled the gymnasium, including members of United Neighborhoods for Reform, the Albina neighborhood, and the local filmmaking community.
The event featured films covering a variety of perspectives on growth and development in the city. Through their lenses, filmmakers shared stories about demolition and infill, gentrification and displacement, coal trains, the Memorial Coliseum, bicycling, urban design and more.
Some of the highlights included Ruth Ann Barrett, who created her short video using her iPhone, encouraging the audience to “flex their civic engagement arm, not just their consumer arm.” Rick Potestio’s presentation about focusing growth around parks or “commons” met with some vocal resistance from the audience. Karina Adams’ plea for bird-friendly design was graphically portrayed in the movie she made as a student at Portland State University. And even a 35-year-old Douglas fir tree made compelling viewing as the audience watched it being systematically de-limbed and cut down.
Two films stood out as poignant reminders of how far we’ve come but how much more we need to do to address displacement and gentrification. Future Portland by journalist Ifanyi Bell and Kathleen Holt of Oregon Humanities features slow moving shots of Portland interspersed between interviews with several prominent African Americans living in Portland, who talk about the loss of community and connection when whole swaths of people are displaced. And Richard Wilhelm and Sue Arbuthnot’s digest of their full-length feature film Imagining Home about how Columbia Villa became New Columbia was a touching close to the evening.
If you missed the event or would like to rewatch the videos, visit the film festival page. Then enjoy the work of local filmmakers and hear different stories of Portland’s past, present and future.
CC2035 SE Quadrant Plan — hearing; Comprehensive Plan — work session
Agenda
Meeting files
An archive of meeting minutes and documents of all Planning and Sustainability Commission meetings are available at http://efiles.portlandoregon.gov/webdrawer.dll/webdrawer/search/rec?sm_class=uri_7223&count&rows=50.
City Council will hear public testimony at June 3 Portland City Council meeting.
Deconstruction is the practice of dismantling structures in order to salvage and re-use materials, such as cabinetry, light fixtures, tile or support beams. These recovered materials can then be incorporated into another building, sold, or donated to material salvage nonprofits for a tax deduction. Deconstruction helps Portland meet waste and emissions reduction goals expressed by the Comprehensive Plan Update and the Climate Action Plan.
The Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability (BPS) has convened a Deconstruction Advisory Group (DAG) to explore options for increasing deconstruction activities relative to traditional mechanized demolitions, and to share expertise critical to making deconstruction work for Portland.The advisory group is made up of a wide range of experts including deconstruction contractors, salvage retail outlets, historic preservationists, developers, a recycler/hauler, the Bureau of Development Services (BDS), Mayor’s office, and Metro staff, as well as members of the Development Review Advisory Committee (DRAC) and United Neighbors for Reform.The DAG has convened four times over the past month, discussing a wide range of program options.
The conversation has focused on these key topics:
BPS will make recommendations to Portland City Council on June 3 regarding ways to increase deconstruction activity in Portland
BPS will recommend deconstruction incentives and next steps before City Council on June 3rd. At the hearing, there will also be an option for public testimony.More information about the Deconstruction Advisory Group, meeting minutes, calendar, and contact information are all available on the BPS website at https://www.portlandoregon.gov/bps/67421.
BPS recognizes Solar Forward donors for contributions to Lent Elementary solar array.
Educators know that solar energy systems are powerful teaching tools for school-aged children. Solar is a visible demonstration of science in service of sustainability. This is why the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability and Portland Public Schools partnered to install a 10-kilowatt solar electric system on the rooftop of the Oliver P. Lent Elementary School music building.
On April 22, dozens of children, parents and educators gathered in the garden next to the music building to celebrate Earth Day and the power of the sun. Jesse Hunter, science teacher, garden educator and overall force for sustainability at Lent Elementary, welcomed the crowd and kicked off the festivities. A group of music students entertained the crowd with songs. Kyle Diesner, BPS, was on hand to present the school community with a commemorative plaque recognizing all the Solar Forward founders and donors.
Jeff Hamman, Energy Specialist at Portland Public Schools, told the crowd, “We know that this solar system combined with all the other great initiatives that are taking place here at Lent School will help provide unique learning opportunities and demonstrate to our students and the community our commitment to being both good citizens and environmental stewards.”
The Lent Elementary solar array is the second of three systems installed under Solar Forward, a pilot effort by BPS to test crowdsourcing for community-based renewable energy projects. The other two arrays are located at Portland Parks and Recreation’s Southwest Community Center and at Hacienda Community Development Corporation’s Ortiz Center.
Through extensive transportation and land use modeling, the report shows how the new land use plan will increase Portlanders’ access to complete neighborhoods, transit and parks while reducing per capita vehicle miles traveled.
In the next 20 years, Portland will be home to approximately 123,000 more households and 142,000 new jobs.
Portland’s existing zoning and Proposed Comprehensive Plan provide more than enough room to accommodate future residential growth. This means we can choose the best places to focus or prioritize new housing. The recently released Growth Scenarios Report evaluates several patterns — or scenarios — against a set of criteria for new residential development.
The Scenarios Report evaluates both the expected distribution of future growth throughout Portland and the benefits from infrastructure investments identified in the Citywide Systems Plan (CSP) and Transportation System Plan (TSP).
The Growth Scenarios Report shows that Portland’s long-range plan for growth, coupled with transportation and infrastructure investments, makes significant progress toward the Portland Plan’s aspirational goals for 2035.
Read the revised Growth Scenarios Report.
By focusing growth in vibrant centers and along bustling corridors, the draft 2035 Comprehensive Plan helps us reduce carbon emissions, gets people closer to jobs, provides more affordable housing, and creates demand for stores and restaurants. It also makes better use of our existing infrastructure like streets, transit systems, parks and pipes.
Impact Analysis
As a supporting document for Portland’s Comprehensive Plan Update, the Growth Scenarios Report serves as an impact analysis of future development in Portland through the year 2035. Many of the criteria for the analysis come from the Portland Plan Measures of Success adopted in 2012.
Through extensive transportation and land use modeling, the report tells us how the Proposed Comprehensive Plan will perform against measurements for transit and active transportation, complete neighborhoods, access to parks and family-wage jobs, and carbon emissions.
Specifically, the report shows that the Proposed Comprehensive Plan:
Portland can accommodate future household growth and do it in ways that help meet our goals. But providing enough affordable housing, especially for the lowest income households, will continue to be a significant challenge.
The City needs to pursue a coordinated growth and investment strategy to meet its objectives. The growth strategy supports development in high-performing centers and corridors that already have relatively complete infrastructure systems. The investment strategy fills gaps in historically underserved areas to reduce disparities and increase equity.
Against a high bar, the Growth Scenarios Report demonstrates that the land use and investment decisions in the Proposed Comprehensive Plan gets Portland 75 to 80 percent toward our 2035 goals.
Public hearing at Planning and Sustainability Commission
The public is invited to submit testimony to the Planning and Sustainability Commission on the Growth Scenarios Report in writing or in person at a public hearing on Tuesday, June 23, 2015. Please check the PSC calendar one week prior to the hearing to confirm details.
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