Proper, an organization that seeks to empower communities to utilize their resources toward the common good, has extended an invitation for Woodlawn neighbors to join in their event to celebrate Thanksgiving, community style.

FROM THEIR POST:
This event is free. There will be entertainment, fun volunteering, very good food, an opportunity to meet new and old friends on their best and most real behavior. How could we not come back to a table like that? It’s a beautiful thing and we hope to see you there Thanksgiving Day from 12-4pm.

-Vegan and vegetarian options

-Donations: non-perishable Thanksgiving-related food items or paper goods

-Volunteer: pass out flyers, chef, prep food, set up, serve food, cleanup, and more
-General information call Michael at 503-936-3704

-Volunteers call Sara at 503-505-1298 (se habla Espanol)

-Entertainers call Robin at 503-890-5393

We’ll be celebrating at Celebration Tabernacle at 8131 N Denver, next door to Po’Shines Cafe de la Soul – as the space has become just too small for our turnouts. Come out of your self, bring what you have to the Table of Thanksgiving: Music & Storytelling | Good Food | Community. Hope all is well with you and that we’ll see you there.

DIRECTIONS: Take Lombard West past Fred Meyer, second light from Interstate. Street parking, TriMet 4, 6, Yellow MAX -Kenton Station.

MORE INFO: ProperUSA.net
ABOUT PROPER: here

Check out this PDF document for an update on the 13th and Holman Stormwater project.

From Kyle Chisek, project manager: “Currently we have redesigned the location of the stormwater facility to right-size and locate it in an area to provide the maximum benefit. Attached is a notice that has been sent to neighbors.

Both BES and PBOT are working with Portland Parks & Recreation and preparing for a community discussion about the “new” space as well as any modifications to the existing space that we can make with the funds available.

I will update you again as this project progresses.

As far as the other crossing improvements (15th, 33rd & 42nd) – design work is continuing on the same trajectory as 13th & Holman. Because there was heightened interest at this location I felt it was a good idea to keep everyone apprised.”

The invisible (and visible) poets of Woodlawn are being summoned to appear at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, November 8 at Good Neighbor Pizzaria to pronounce their words, ask their eternal question and rant their rants–so long as reasonable decorum is maintained. An open microphone will be provided for a portion of the program, but poets who wish to be assured a place on the program should contact The Imponderable Fool at Martian //at// Teleport.com or 503.309.9556.

David Allred from Bureau of Environmental Services (BES) introduces the talk about a Dekum Stormwater Art Bike Corral. How to get a city-sponsored bike rack. What’s up with the Village Ballroom?

If you didn’t make the October general meeting, you can review the notes here.

Information about this project will be presented at next week’s general meeting.

Environmental Services, the Bureau of Transportation, and the Regional Arts and Cultural Council are planning a green street facility on the southwest side of NE Durham at the corner of Dekum. The project will incorporate a landscaped area, bicycle parking on a concrete pad, and an art installation mounted on the bike parking structure. They are just about ready to get started on this project.

The soil and plants in green street facilities filter pollutants from stormwater runoff and reduce stormwater volume in the city sewer system. Portland is building green street facilities throughout the city to manage stormwater.

Normal work hours are 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. The project will take three to six weeks to complete.

Read all the details in the PDF file. >>

We’re lucky to (finally) have two great places to get coffee (and pastries!) in Woodlawn.

FLORIO is located at 435 NE Rosa Parks Way. The bakery has been there for two years and when the other side of their duplex became available, the owner/baker, Carrie Birrer, jumped at the opportunity to open a cafe. She has previous experience running a popular cafe along Ankney years ago. Florio has long distributed their tasty pastries to New Season’s Market, Food Front Cooperative Grocery, Whole Foods Markets and Market of Choice. They serve Trailhead Coffee, a local coffee roaster who delivers by bike. The cafe is a quiet space with bright light and a nicely diverse rotation of people coming through the door.

WOODLAWN COFFEE AND PASTRY, slated to originally open May 2009, finally opened at Dekum and 8th, next to Good Neighbor Pizza. The cafe features Stumptown Coffee and fresh baked-in-house pastries. The building is from around 1906 and had only a dirt floor for many years until the cafe moved in. Baker Gretchen Glatte also bakes for the Firehouse, across the street. Building owner Justin Rideout fashioned the furniture, including the cafe tables from gorgeous redwood.

Next up: Who is going to start a basic breakfast joint? Any takers?

The owners of the building at 1426 NE Highland propose an adjustment to section 33.110.255 to legalize a fence constructed within the front yard setback. The maximum height allowed is 3.5 feet, but the masonry wall is 6 ft. with iron fencing several inches higher.

What’s really at stake here is land use. Until now, the building owners have followed code and maintained that this is a single family dwelling. Neighbors have long suspected that this is a care facility for the elderly, which is a much different use of the building. According to one neighbor, medical beds are visible in all rooms of the building. One of the adjustment applicants is currently providing senior care. From what I understand, no legal action can be taken until they are up and running as a business, then it can be disputed that they constructed this building under the auspices of a single family dwelling when really they’re running a business.

Woodlawn neighbors have until August 26th to submit written comment regarding the adjustment to the fence height code. There is no General Meeting scheduled for this month. How the written comment will be composed and sent is still being discussed. Hopefully a direct neighbor will want to be the lead person on this. If you’d like to be the person to spearhead this, please contact News//at//GoWoodlawn.com.

A copy of the proposal notice can be downloaded as a PDF here.

Have you noticed those white wooden barricades on the street corners? Those are for Sunday Parkways this weekend on. There are five of these traffic-free routes this summer and the first one kicks off in NE on Sunday! Woodlawn park will be hopping with activities and ton of walkers, rollers, strollers and bikers will be strutting through our neighborhood. The streets are closed to traffic with the support of hundreds of volunteers.

What an amazing sight it will be to see so many people coming through our neighborhood!

Project overview website: Click here.

Based on feedback from the City of Portland’s outreach, this project will move forward for the approval of the City Traffic Engineer and the Transportation Director.

The City of Portland has indicated that the future maintenance and design of the pocket park improvement at NE 13th Avenue will require further discussions with the neighborhood.

Project information for the NE Holman Street Project:

Updated: NE Holman Street – Existing Conditions and Route – Click here.

Updated: NE Holman Street – Project Proposal and Possible Intersection Improvements – Click here.

Updated: NE Holman Street – Possible Intersection Options for 13th, 15th, 33rd and 42nd – Click here.

Updated: NE Holman Street – Crossing at Martin Luther King Jr. Option – Click here.

Updated: NE Holman – Boulevard Evaluation Goals – Click here.

From BikePortland.org
It’s not very often that City of Portland Bureau of Transportation staffers hear rapturous cheers during neighborhood meetings, but it happened last night when over 50 northeast Portland residents packed into the Concordia University library to learn more about the NE Holman Street bike boulevard project.

This open house was a follow-up to an initial PBOT presentation about the project last month. Like they did at that first meeting, nearby residents expressed full support for the project. Cheers erupted from the standing-room only crowd when PBOT announced plans for two specific pieces of the project; the crossing of busy Martin Luther King Jr., Blvd. and plans for a “pocket park” at Holman and NE 13th.

Read the whole story on BikePortland.org