Category Archives: Uncategorized

Environmental Education for Youngsters at Portland Parks

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School has started and the classroom learning has begun! But children still need to spend time in nature! The mission of Environmental Education at Portland Parks is to build nature awareness, knowledge and a sense of place through games, exploration and play in our parks & natural areas.
 
Many of these spaces are in your neighborhoods! Our programs run city-wide, and help connect children & their families to nature through hands-on learning.
Here are some highlights!
For very young children (toddlers & preschoolers) – Ladybug Walks happen every Friday morning at 10am through Nov. 7th! Preschool naturalists guide children & their grown-ups through a different park each week. See our website for the full schedule: www.portlandoregon.gov/parks/ladybug
 
For children ages 3-11 – Lil Nature Kids classes & Nature Recess After-school classes teach ecological concepts of the Pacific Northwest through stories, games, exploration & play.
Fall Season begins Sept 15 for Lil Nature Kids!
Locations:
  • Mt Tabor Park
  • Laurelhurst Park (NEW Site!)
  • Irving Park
  • Peninsula Park
  • Sellwood Park
  • Albert Kelly Park (NEW Site!)
See our website for details: www.portlandoregon.gov/parks/natpreschool
 
For more information,

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Info on Portland Housing Bureau’s upcoming public meetings for allocation of new public housing funds.

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Citywide Equity Committee

What is this project?

The project is a $20 million financing initiative in North/Northeast Portland over the next five years. The effort is focused in the Interstate Corridor Urban Renewal Area in response to the community’s well documented need for affordable housing and other investments in neighborhoods most impacted by displacement.
While the funds, along with those previously budgeted and programmed, will mostly be used to invest in buildings, the process for determining how and where to spend the money provides an opportunity to engage community members in ways that begin to address a long history of institutional racism and displacement of residents and businesses. (more)

 

Your voice is needed.

Community input will help shape the strategy. During Summer/Fall of 2014, Portland Housing Bureau (PHB) and community stakeholders will design a set of recommendations for prioritizing investment of these housing resources, that begins to address affordable housing needs.

Attend a Community Forum:

You will learn information about the current opportunities and how available affordable housing tools can be used. Participants will also see alternative scenarios for investments and programs. The goal is to seek consensus about which strategies most directly improve affordable housing stability and choices.

 

Here’s how you can be involved:

  • Attend a Community Forum
  • Learn more here (reports, media, etc.)
  • Join the email list here
  • Send us your thoughts and ideas here (email and phone)

Inner NE Sewer Extension Construction Update: August 19th.

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As part of the City of Portland’s effort to provide properties with sewer connections that comply with city code, Environmental Services continues construction on the Inner NE Sewer Extension project. This project will also help protect public health, property, and the environment by increasing the capacity of the public sewer system, reducing the potential for basement backups, and reducing the likelihood of emergency maintenance work in the future.

 

A project map is available at www.portlandoregon.gov/bes/InnerNE.

 

DEVELOPMENTS OF NOTE

Periodic traffic delays on NE Prescott will continue through mid-September

  • On and off through mid-September, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, motorists and cyclists should expect delays on NE Prescott Street between NE 6th and 10th avenues.  Crews will be installing new main public sewer pipe and constructing several manholes in phases. Some phases will require flaggers to direct traffic around the work zone.

 

CONSTRUCTION SCHEDULE

Below is the estimated Inner NE Sewer Extension construction schedule for the rest of this week and the next two weeks. As the contractor completes work on each street, crews apply a temporary asphalt patch over trenches used for construction. They will return at a later date to apply permanent paving.

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Sewer construction update.

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Inner NE Sewer Extension Construction Update: August 7, 2014

As part of the City of Portland’s effort to provide properties with sewer connections that comply with city code, Environmental Services continues construction on the Inner NE Sewer Extension project. This project will also help protect public health, property, and the environment by increasing the capacity of the public sewer system, reducing the potential for basement backups, and reducing the likelihood of emergency maintenance work in the future.

 

A project map is available at www.portlandoregon.gov/bes/InnerNE.

 

DEVELOPMENTS OF NOTE

  • Beginning next week and continuing on and off through mid-September, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, motorists and cyclists should expect delays on NE Prescott Street between NE 6th and 10th avenues.  Crews will be installing new main public sewer pipe and constructing several manholes in phases. Some phases will require flaggers to direct traffic around the work zone.

 

CONSTRUCTION SCHEDULE

Below is the estimated Inner NE Sewer Extension construction schedule for the rest of this week and the next two weeks. As the contractor completes work on each street, crews apply a temporary asphalt patch over trenches used for construction. They will return at a later date to apply permanent paving.

 

The rest of this week

  • NE 7th Avenue (Going – Wygant) – main public sewer pipe and manhole construction
  • NE 8th Avenue (Going – Wygant) – main public sewer pipe, manhole, and lateral branch construction

 

Week of August 11

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N/NE Portland Affordable Housing Working Group meets this Thursday.

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The N/NE Portland Affordable Housing Working Group meets this Thursday. Exciting stuff is on the agenda — invite a neighbor to join us!
Thursday, June 5, 6:30-8:30pm
Discussion of advocacy possibilities w/ Oregon Opportunity Network
@ Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods (4815 NE 7th Ave.)
 
AGENDA ITEMS:
  • Oregon ON is a statewide coalition of community development and affordable housing organizations, which is currently developing a campaign to advocate for “new, significant and sustainable resources for affordable housing and anti-poverty services in Multnomah County.” Executive Director John Miller will join us to talk about this new campaign, and how we can get involved.
  • We will get updates on the work areas that were identified at our last meeting. Two of these will have important discussions:
Coalition-building: This sub-committee has prepared a draft letter that we can present to our various neighborhood associations and other community-based organizations, asking them to endorse our objective of increasing the stock of affordable housing. We will review and revise this letter, and discuss a plan for presenting it to our organizations. 
 
Identify specific advocacy opportunities/campaigns: There are two immediate opportunities for advocacy that have come up in recent weeks: 1) A proposal by Commissioner Saltzman to dedicate funds from a lodging tax on short-term rentals (e.g. Air BnB) to affordable housing; and 2) The allocation of $20 million for affordable housing in the Interstate Corridor Urban Renewal Area. We will discuss how we want to be involved in these two issues.