Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) wants your input to shape the future of 82nd Avenue. Visit the Building a Better 82nd Avenue Online Open House and take the survey to help us understand your priorities for future investment.
Critical fixes are coming soon and your voice can reaffirm community priorities for the next $105 million of investment. As the open house launches, PBOT are recruiting 18 community members for the Building a Better 82nd Ave Community Advisory Group (CAG). Volunteers will help the project team engage with the community to make 82nd Avenue better for all. Applications to the advisory group are due September 8.
Thank you to all the amazing neighbors that painted the Arleta Triangle Square last Saturday! We couldn’t have done this without you all. It has been a year for all of us and we could not be happier to have you here with us.
Missed the activities? There are still opportunities to be involved in creating community space with neighbors and an opening celebration coming up!
All events are at the Arleta Triangle Square located at 5961-5999 SE 72nd Ave, Portland OR 97206.
8/25, Thursday 9AM-NOON Painting Day
Paint finishing touches on the plaza and extend its longevity with a second layer. Paint supplies provided. Interested but unsure? Accommodation is available. Everyone is welcome!
Neighbors painting the Arleta Triangle Square
8/27, Saturday 10AM-NOON Work Party
Garden, clean, and help make a good place better. Interested in adopting a planter? The Arleta Triangle Project invites local artists to contribute designs and paint the planters.
Arleta Triangle Summer Work Parties
8/30, Tuesday 9AM-11AM Tree Install Prep
You heard right, trees are coming to the Square! We listened to the feedback and have trees on the way. Temporary planter pots and helping hands are needed to transition yarrow plants out of the concrete barricades. Work crews are on site the next day to install small trees and need the space clear beforehand.
Wood furniture will be assembled on site for the plaza this week. Help is needed to stain the wood and ensure it survives through the seasons. Stay tuned to our social media channels at the end of this post for details as they become available.
Celebrate community with youth storytelling by Habiba Addo, enjoy organic cotton candy from Sweet Day, and enjoy music together. Don’t miss the chance to dance with DJ Prashant for FREE! Celebrate the launch of Dance United starting at 6PM as they improve the lives of immigrants, refugees, and the BIPOC community by celebrating diversity across cultures and uniting people through music and dance. Interactive dance lessons for all ages and abilities provided. And EVERYONE is welcome to attend. Guests from Community Safety Division, elected officials, and more will be present for the celebrations. Outdoors & All Ages Friendly. We’d love to see you there!
Dance United presents Bollywood Block Party with DJ Prashant
The community painting is made possible through support from the City of Portland, PBOT, PSU Center for Public Interest & Design, SymbiOp, The Arleta Triangle Project, Office of Community & Civic Life, Community Safety Division, SE Uplift, City Repair, Pickathon, Mt. Scott-Arleta Neighborhood Association, and neighbors like you. Thank you!
(rendering provided by Portland State University Center for Public Interest Design)
Portland has a new community plaza and it is right here in beautiful Mt. Scott-Arleta! The Arleta Triangle Square opened earlier this month and thanks to hundreds of responses from the community a vision has emerged.
(rendering provided by Portland Bureau of Transportation)
Last year the neighborhood experienced a dramatic increase in gunfire violence and reckless driving. Thanks to the support of multiple bureaus, a community-initiated plan led by impacted neighbors saw a 64% reduction of confirmed shootings over a three month pilot period in the area surrounding 72nd Ave and Woodstock.Violent crime remained steady city wide during the same time. The opening of the Arleta Triangle Square is the next phase of the community safety strategy and one that started decades ago.
(photo provided by the Arleta Triangle Project)
The Arleta Triangle Project began in earnest thanks to a cohort of community members in 2005. They were interested in creating a safer crossing of 72nd Ave at Woodstock and building out space for community use from an “island” of land at the intersection. The linden tree shown above in the photo is still present today. The project is a rare autonomous space within the city organized and supported by community volunteers. Thanks to City Council, the Office of Commissioner Hardesty and the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT), the neighborhood now has a plaza with increased safety and access for public gatherings. The Arleta Triangle Square is your shared space for events, gatherings, public forums, celebration and relaxation.
(photo provided by Mt. Scott-Arleta Neighborhood Association)
The genesis can be traced back to 1994 when the Mt. Scott-Arleta Neighborhood Association (MSANA) adopted support for the Mt. Scott/Arleta Neighborhood Plan. This included a vision for the neighborhood in 2020 centered on livability and community pride. Sidewalks are accessible to people walking and “the streets are safe and traffic through the neighborhood is limited.” That plan is city ordinance today and approved by resolution back in 1996.
(photo provided by Mt. Scott-Arleta Neighborhood Association)
Over the next few months, the Portland State University (PSU) Center for Public Interest Design, PBOT, the Office of Commissioner Hardesty, MSANA, Portland Parks & Recreation, Multnomah County Youth Violence Prevention Office, and Anderson Construction Foundation will grow our partnerships. Later this week we hope to have outdoor furniture available and begin implementing the plaza plan later into the summer. The design is based upon input from hundreds of community members which indicated a strong desire for public performances, plantings and access to nature, arts and murals, and flexibility to host community events. The colors and art may change.
(rendering provided by Portland Bureau of Transportation)
Please join us for our monthly work parties held on the last Saturday morning of each month throughout the summer. Light refreshments will be provided. Thank you for being a neighbor and making the neighborhood a safe, welcoming space for everyone. We hope to see you outside this summer at the Arleta Triangle Square!
Portland has continued to witness a variety of gun violence related tragedies this year. We are still reeling from 2 weekends ago, when a person was killed in front of children who were also injured, a police officer killed someone, and a deadly mass shooting occurred targeting racial justice advocates.
It’s all so sad and shows that we will need to take on the various forms of violence that continue to be on the rise – from gun violence to traffic violence to domestic violence – carefully and without a reactionary, one size fits all solution. We need an all-hands-on deck approach where every City bureau is diving in deep to collaborate and be a part of the solution. We must stay focused on long term solutions that address the root cause of this violence while responsibly acting with urgency to mitigate the violence in the short term.
On Tuesday, March 1st at 5:00pm, we invite you to watch a virtual forum on gun violence with residents from the Mt. Scott-Arleta neighborhood.
Beginning last October in response to a drastic rise in reported shootings in the Mt. Scott-Arleta neighborhood and a local community eager to see their ideas implemented, the City of Portland piloted a violence hot spot intervention in collaboration with multiple bureaus.
During the event, we will review the results of the first 3 months of data collected following the violence hot spot intervention from October – December of 2021, answer questions from the community, and talk about what potential next steps could look like.
Joining Commissioner Hardesty will be Mt. Scott-Arleta Neighborhood Association Chair Matchu Williams, Boston University School of Public Health’s Dr. Jonathan Jay, and City staff who have worked on this pilot project.
