While we’ve all be lamenting about the current state of traffic/pedestrian safety on Foster Road, as well as the city’s seemingly slow response to a long overdue need for change, the NA’s and transportation chairs in the respective neighborhoods straddling Foster have been organizing a meeting to promote local citizen involvement in the eventual implementation of the Foster Streetscape Plan.
What does this mean for you?
It’s time to participate in the process. Many good ideas, thoughts, and opinions have been shared here about the future of Foster Road, and it is that input that will ultimately shape our main thoroughfare into what we want it to be. So be heard and share your vision and ideas. Get together with your neighbors from Foster-Powell, Mt. Scott-Arleta, and Lents, to discuss what will impact us all: traffic and pedestrian safety on Foster, as well a friendly and livable, neighborhood-scale commercial corridor that’s inviting and accessible to all. Be there, Wednesday, June 20, at the Mt. Scott Community Center. Meeting will start at 6:30 p.m. (see flyer below for more info).
There’s a lot of energy swirling around the neighborhood, and it’s almost been difficult to keep track of all the goings in our little corner of the city. Thanks to everyone who’s been sharing news and participating in conversation about life along Foster. Let’s keep it going.
Now on to your weekend tidbits….
- First, make sure you’ve marked your calendars for the Bob White Reconstruction, a summer series of events that kicks off next Friday, June 1, at….naturally, the Bob White Theatre. Secondly, get your tickets in advance. You can buy weekend-long passes (wristbands), which will give you access to morning and daytime history speaks, craft shows, and other entertainment, as well as nighttime concerts. Or, you can buy individual passes. Please remember that the Reconstruction is a campaign to help the theatre pay for itself. Support your local theatre, the arts, and your community. Tickets can be bought/picked up at the Crafty Underdog shop at 6004 SE Foster.
- PBOT and the PPB conducted a crosswalk enforcement on Foster two days ago, netting 13 citations and 9 warnings in just over an hour. The numbers only reinforce the need for traffic safety improvements. Cross your fingers there won’t be any more delays in getting the streetscape implemented.
- Volunteer day and potluck at the Arleta Triangle, or “Dig-n-Dish,” as the monthly work party is called. Bring some food and get your hands dirty in an effort to maintain the Arleta Triangle at SE 72nd and Woodstock. Meetup is at 10 a.m.
- The word’s already out, but due to my taste for beer, as well as excitement for new business in the ‘hood, another mention should be made about a possible bottle shop filling the (sadly) vacant, former Guapo space.
- Get your fill of tortas and margaritas this weekend, as Torta-landia will be closed for the week of 5/28-6/4. Kyle needs a vacation, too. Word is, he’ll be opening for lunch upon his return.
- The Portland Mercado is one step closer to calling Foster Road home, specifically at the vacant lot on SE 72nd. Filling one of two empty and fenced lots at the important crossing of two neighborhoods, Hacienda CDC and the PDC have completed a letter of intent giving site control to the group hoping to locate the Portland Mercado in outer SE. Plans for the site will be unveiled at the June 6 Mt. Scott-Arleta NA meeting.
- If you missed their big party last weekend, Gemini Lounge should be pretty live this Saturday, with five dj’s spinning through the evening. As always, drinks will be tasty and strong.
Happy weekend, y’all.
If you know of an event or have news to share, feel free to drop us an email or leave a comment.
As noted on Bike Portland blog this morning, the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) and Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) gave out 13 citations in their crosswalk enforcement mission yesterday on Foster. With a pedestrian decoy on the street, between SE 68th and 69th, eight drivers failed to yield at a crosswalk in just over an hour’s time. There were five other citations given for various unsafe driving, as well as nine warnings. Again, this was in just over an hour of enforcement, so these numbers are revealing…and a little scary.
But it’s not demonstrating anything we don’t already know.
Thanks to BikePortland for bringing an even greater focus to this issue, as it’s often ignored outside of our own neighborhood. You can find the article here.
Could it be that Foster Road is able to absorb yet another alcohol-related establishment? Someone thinks so, and I’m not so sure he’d be wrong. What appears to be plans for a bottleshop and tasting room, an OLCC application confirms that a permit for off-premises and limited on-premises sales is being sought for the former Guapo Comics and Coffee Space (you’re still missed, Guapo).
If this is all true, we’re not talking about another bar. Rather, you may now have easier access to those craft brews that are hard to find at Fred Meyer, and can haul them off for consumption later. More plans may be in the works, and it’s unknown whether this establishment will serve beer on site. If they do, however, I believe Oregon state law would require food to be served as well.
Hopefully we’ll learn more soon. Let’s just hope it’s not another convenience mart.
The Bob White Reconstruction is upon us, and FoPo’s own, historic theater will be open for business starting in June. With a series of weekend-long events throughout the summer, the Bob White Theatre will be kicking its restoration into high gear and raising money for its efforts. What that means for you, the loyal and eager FoPoians, is live entertainment two weekends a month through August.
Yes, the Reconstruction.
Nick Storie has shared his theater several times with the community, and we’ve seen first hand that he and his crew of promoters know how to throw a party. Now it’s time to start paying our way and help get the theater fully restored.
With the purchase of a ticket for these events, you have an opportunity to directly benefit the theater’s renovation as it transforms into a fully operational events venue. Starting Friday, June 1, the Bob White Reconstruction series of events will kick off with live music and refreshments, then proceed through Sunday with daytime craft shows, a lecture series for history buffs, more live music, more refreshments, and more community benefit.
With the success of the neighborhood appreciation party a few months ago, as well as the recent event headlined by the March Fourth Marching Band, it’s safe to assume you’ll get your money’s worth. With such performances by Chervona and the Alialujah Choir, as well as sessions with Kick Ass Oregon History’s Doug Kenck-Crispin and Crafty Underdog shows, the Bob White is bringing something special to the neighborhood. Get your tickets now and help support the cause.
You can buy your tickets at the Crafty Underdog shop at 6004 SE Foster Road. For an individual daytime pass, there’s a $6 suggested donation (with $1 going to the Arleta Elementary Boosters); nighttime event passes are being sold for $10; wristbands for a weekend-long pass will sell for $35; children under 14 are free. Again, these events are to help pay for the theater’s reconstruction, as well as to bring good entertainment to the neighborhood.
Long viewed, depending on your view, as a nuisance and/or a unique asset, many in the Foster-area neighborhoods have debated on what to make of our alleyways. On one side of the fence (no pun intended), alleyways pose a privacy and security concern to residents whose backyards become witness to a wide array of public use (i.e. dirt bike courses, parking spots, graffiti, trespassing, etc.). Others, and it’s not mutually exclusive, see the great potential of our network of alleyways and view them as an asset. I’ve heard people suggest they be used for urban hiking trails, community gardens, public art, or just a way to enlarge your backyard by extending fence lines.
But what a task all that can be, especially when it would involve consent from the city and your neighbors, as well as the creative energy and manpower to see it through. Not everyone’s as easily discouraged as I am, however, and a group of folks on the south side of Foster are bringing the concept of alley gating/greening to the neighborhood. Evolving mostly from crime deterrent techniques, alley gating has been popular in the UK for years, and has now grown into a way for communities to take ownership of their neighborhoods, as well as a means for placemaking.
In that same vein, neighbors of the SE 63rd-64th alleyway, between Foster and SE Schiller, are hoping to turn an unused stretch of weeds, gravel and dirt, into a shared garden and common space.
Example of City Repair’s placemaking
As part of this year’s Village Building Convergence, the placemaking arm of City Repair, residents in the Mt. Scott-Arleta neighborhood will be attempting to make use of their alleyway to better their neighborhood and create a greater sense of community. While most of City Repair’s placemaking sites are usually on streets, sidewalks, or more visible to the public, the plan off of Foster brings a new dimension to the placemaking event, and brings a whole new realm of possibilities for our miles of alleyways.
Here is the description of the project, dubbed “Alley-Oop:”
”During this VBC’12, we at Alley-Ooop in our Mt. Scott/Arleta SE neighborhood are be- ginning a multi-year project which is currently unprecedented in Portland to increase community engagement, reduce crime, and represent a radical approach to neighbor- hood stewardship and shared space: Alley-Gating/Alley-Greening!
The project site is a block-long alleyway adjacent to Fosterville ecovillage where there is energy to improve the neglected area towards a useful shared garden and common space that is embraced by the community.
Come join our design charrette and explore the questions, concerns, legalities, and pos- sibilities raised by the radical concept of AlleyGating and Greening. Build a micro-garden with us in the alley! We’ll be joined by VBC keynote speaker and expert soil-builder Nance Klehm to get inspiration and feedback about our composting a soil-building ca- pabilities in this public space. What else will we create?!
Gather with our neighbors, designers and facilitators. Come experience this neighbor- hood engagment model and educational, inspirational Placemaking process.”
This presents an amazing opportunity, not only to get involved with something innovative and beneficial to the neighborhood, but to run with an idea that can be transformative and truly great. The next gathering for this event will be May 27, from 2-4 p.m. For more information or to get involved, contact Sarabel Eisenfeld: 610-804-6656.
In the heart of SE Portland lies a little ole road called Foster and they have a sweet little community that rules. This is their story. Share your story...
contact us at fosterpowellpdx@gmail.com
In the heart of SE Portland lies a little ole road called Foster and they have a sweet little community that rules. This is their story. Share your story...
contact us at fosterpowellpdx@gmail.com
What does this mean for you?
