Dear Neighbor,

 

Please come and share your ideas about what you envision for your neighborhood over the next 20 years. This workshop is but the first step in a broader conversation we would like to support on what it means to be a livable neighborhood.  At this workshop we will ask what opportunities and challenges we face that might impact that livability and how, together, we can pool our ideas and leverage resources to continue enhancing the livability of our area for generations to come.

The City of Portland has almost completed its process of updating the next 20-year, 2045, Comprehensive Plan document and map. The Planning and Sustainability Commission is sending its recommendation on this document to the City Council this summer.  More public hearings on the Comprehensive Plan Update will take place at the City Council this fall.  It is not too late to respond to what is proposed, but it is getting close.  The document includes information on land uses, housing affordability, transportation, environment, and public involvement.    Click on the high lighted text to see chapters of the Comprehensive Plan Update.  RCPNA has responded to this proposed Plan through Board approved letters and testimony over the past year.  See: Testimony Letters dated March 4, 2015 , February 23, 2015, and November 5, 2014.  Nonetheless, the comprehensive plan is but one tool by which our neighborhood can help promote livability.

At the RCP Community Visioning workshop on Tues. April 28th our Board members, leaders in the community, and city staff will help as we provide an overview of where we are now and what is being proposed over the next 20 years based on the Comprehensive Plan Update.  Click on the highlighted area and you can view a copy of the Comprehensive Update Map for Rose City Park  In addition to the land use and transportation elements of the Plan, we will provide information tables about other elements of livability that affect our neighborhood including schools, infill, safety, business, and public services.  Still, there are probably elements affecting livability that have not yet identified.  Now is your chance to help identify what is missing in our neighborhood that we will need or would like to have by 2045.

Several things we know are likely to happen over the next 20 years: Our neighborhood of just over 5,000 people is likely to double in population through added density primarily along Sandy Blvd. and that the 60th Ave. Max Station Area; The city will limit the development of future parking spaces to encourage the use of alternative transportation, including transit, bicycle, and shared car usage; The baby-boomer generation, born 1946-1964, will likely want to age in place; and “texting” will be established as a verb in most dictionaries while technology continues to change the way we communicate.

We have added a Blog feature to allow as many people as possible to provide us comments on what they think makes our neighborhood livable and help identify what opportunities we should consider as we grow.

The information that we gather at this workshop will be posted on this website within a couple of weeks following the event.  The RCPNA Board will meet on May 5th and discuss our next steps on continuing this dialogue and how we might address the top issues identified.  New committees might need to be formed, additional workshops held, and/or regular topical discussions arranged.  How we proceed is up to you and those who you elect to the RCPNA Board.  Please consider becoming a member of the Board or join one of our committees, Land Use & Transportation, Community Clean Up, Communications, and Entertainment.

I look forward to seeing you soon.

My best,

Tamara DeRidder, AICP
Chair, RCPNA
Co-Chair, LU & TC