Urban SUSTAINABILITY Accelerator 2013-2014 El Paso, TX
Elk Grove, CA
Louisville, KY
Portland, ME
Rancho Cordova, CA
Sacramento County, CA
Waco, TX
Wichita, KS
Table of Contents
Our thanks to all those contributing financial support or their time and expertise.
Financial support received from Summit Foundation
Program and Staff Support............................... 3 Portland Downtown Map................................. 4
Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning
PSU Campus Map............................................... 5
Institute for Sustainable Solutions at
City Profiles
El Paso, TX..................................................... 6
Elk Grove, CA.............................................. 10
Louisville, KY............................................... 14
Portland, ME............................................... 18
Rancho Cordova......................................... 22
Sacramento County.................................... 26
Waco, TX..................................................... 30
Wichita, KS.................................................. 34
Participating cities, organizations, businesses and individuals Our faculty advisors and founders Professors Connie Ozawa, Ethan Seltzer, Jennifer Dill
Convening Schedule at a Glance.................... 38
The scores of individuals from business, government and nonprofit sectors in Portland and the Pacific Northwest and the many faculty and staff at Portland State University who have contributed their expertise across a spectrum of urban sustainability topics and assisted with the creation and organization of our program
Convening Schedule & Adviser Bios............... 39
Our 2013 convening staff: Emily Becker, Lisa Harrison, Danel Mason, Lauren Russell Program Administrator Tara Sulzen
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2013 USA Convening Staff
Robert’s Cell: 503.313.9567
Tara’s Cell: 503.504.7769
Sean’s Cell: 503.317.2458
Robert Liberty, Director, has worked in many roles and at all levels of government to promote livable and sustainable cities and regions. Liberty was Staff Attorney and then Executive Director of 1000 Friends of Oregon, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the implementation, defense and improvement of Oregon’s comprehensive land use planning program. He worked as a land use hearings officer, a planning consultant and a speaker on planning topics in the US and other countries. He served as Senior Counsel to Congressman Earl Blumenauer of Oregon, assiting him with federal policy issues concerning livable communities. In his career in higher education Liberty has helped establish relationships with sustainable city planning and design efforts in China and participated in one of US HUD’s sustainable communities regional planning grants, helping to develop triple-bottom line evaluation frameworks for transportation investments. Liberty became director of the Urban Sustainabilty Accelerator in October 2012. He received his BA in Political Science from the University of Oregon Honors College, a Masters in Modern History from Oxford University and his JD Degree from Harvard Law School. During the 2002-03 academic year, he was a Loeb Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Tara Sulzen, Program Administrator, is a fellow with the Institute for Sustainable Solutions in the Young Professionals Appreticeship program at Portland State University. Tara has several years outreach experience in growth management, transportation policy and urban planning in communities across Oregon, and has worked with many sustainability experts across the region. She has most recently served as Outreach Director with 1000 Friends of Oregon, where she coordinated advocacy efforts and managed a leadership development program. She brings experience in organizing, stakeholder management, public engagement, program development and event planning. Tara earned her Masters in Urban and Regional Planning from Portland State University in 2012, and has a BA in Leadership Studies and Urban Practice and Policy from the University of Richmond in Virginia. Tara joined the staff of the Urban Sustainability Accelerator in February 2013 Sean Benesh, Graduate Research Assistant, is a PhD candidate in Urban Studies at Portland State University. He will be supporting student and faculty research efforts occurring through the Urban Sustainability Accelerator. Sean has been involved in urban ministry in the capacity of adjunct professor, researcher, lecturer, consultant, church planter, and has also worked as a hiking and mountain biking guide in southern Arizona and an urban cycling guide in Portland, Oregon. Dr. Benesh has a B.A. in Biblical Studies from Grace University, a M.A. in Church Planting and Church Growth from Simpson University, a Doctor of Ministry (D.Min) in Transformational Leadership for the Global City from Bakke Graduate University. He is the author of four books on urban ministry and is currently working on a number of upcoming books on the topics of gentrification, the urbanity of the Bible, theology of urban mission, and the intersection of missiology and urban form. Sean joined the staff of the Urban Sustainability Accelerator in March 2013.
Emily Becker is a student in the Master of Urban Studies program where her work focuses on Food Justice and sustainable local food systems. Prior to starting at PSU, Emily worked for the Community Food Security Coalition organizing conferences for food systems advocates. When her nose is not in a book, Emily enjoys gleaning and preserving fruit from Portland’s abundant fruit trees and caring for a community orchard in her North Portland neighborhood. Emily’s Cell: 360.333.7502
Lisa’s Cell: 323.447.1445
Lisa Harrison is a second year Master of Urban and Regional Planning student at PSU with a specialization in land use and urban design. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Geography from Cal State Northridge and in 2009 became a LEED AP. For the last five years, Lisa was the Director of Marketing at an environmental education nonprofit based in Santa Monica that worked directly with the City of Santa Monica’s Office of Sustainability and the Environment. For the Urban Sustainability Accelerator convening, she is responsible for the design of program materials as well as sessions and tours support.
Danel Mason is a PSU graduate student. She was born and raised in Kazakhstan and earned her first BA degree from Kazakh University of International Relations & World Languages. After coming to the US, she continued her education and received a BBA in Management from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. She will be supporting and photographing activities of the summer Urban Sustainability Accelerator Cohort as well as editing and managing images in various media accounts for print, web or social media use. Danel’s Cell: 907.687.5549 Lauren Russell is a second year Master of Urban and Regional Planning student at PSU specializing in economic development. Originally from New Jersey, she earned a bachelor’s degree in Growth and Structure of Cities from Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania. Her primary interests include regional and sustainable economic development, demographics, and planning policy.
Lauren’s Cell: 980.500.2136
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Group Dinner Details
Portland City Center
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Picnic House 723 SW Salmon (b/w Park & Broadway)
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Brasserie Montmarte 626 SW Park Avenue (b/w Alder & Morrison)
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Simpatica Dining Hall 828 SE Ash Street (b/w 8th & 9th; a few blocks east of the location on the map)
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Cramer Hall
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Parking Structure 2 Koinonia House
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PSU Bookstore
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Smith Memorial Student Union
School of Education School of Business
Academic and Student Rec Center
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University Center Building
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Project Profile: Downtown El Paso El Paso, Texas
About El Paso Spanish explorer Don Juan de Oñate was born in 1550 in Zacatecas, Mexico and was the first New Spain (Mexico) explorer known to have observed the Rio Grande near El Paso, in 1598, celebrating Thanksgiving Mass there on April 30, 1598 (several decades before the Pilgrims’ Thanksgiving). El Paso is the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and lies in far West Texas. As of the 2010 census, the city’s population was 649,121. El Paso stands on the Rio Grande (Río Bravo del Norte), across the border from Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico. The two cities form a combined international metropolitan area, sometimes called the Paso del Norte or El Paso–Juárez, with Juárez being the significantly larger of the two in population. They have a combined population of 3 million, twothirds of whom reside in Juárez. In 2010, El Paso was awarded an All-America City Award, the oldest community-recognition program in the United States. Ethnically, the city is 86.62% Hispanic or Latino and 13.38% Non-Hispanic or Latino. © E James P
About Downtown El Paso Downtown El Paso, like most other downtown around the US, suffered from disinvestment as many residents and jobs left for suburban areas, during the last half of the 20th Century. Today vitality is returning to downtown El Paso, as the city’s leaders and residents recognize its importance and assets. Those assets include an impressive collection of historic buildings and a network of streets and sidewalks that is human-scaled and walkable. Downtown is also the location for important border crossings to Ciudad Juárez, crossings that bring business people, shoppers, students and tourists to the downtown. Finally, El Paso now has many individuals, businesses and voters ready to invest in the revitalization of downtown.
© Alex Briseno
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Project Scope The city wants to develop a 5-acre city-owned catalyst site to accelerate redevelopment. The property was purchased from BNSF and adjoins the rail line that bisects Old Town, north to south. The railroad imposed a restriction on the property prohibiting residential development, but that may be negotiable if the city can show that the authorized commercial uses might generate even more pedestrians, etc.
Challenges to Overcome TBD by Downtown El Paso Team.
Project Goals TBD by Downtown El Paso Team.
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Project Elements: Downtown El Paso Redevelopment A central element of the revitalization of downtown El Paso is the re-use of existing historic buildings, which Plan El Paso notes are not merely a nostalgic reminder of previous decades or centuries; they represent a significant amount of embodied materials, energy, time, and labor that were put into their creation. It would be more economical to preserve historic treasures than to replace them with buildings of a similar quality. Historic buildings can help inform today’s developers and architects in creating street-friendly, climateresponsive structures of enduring quality. The Accelerator will provide expertise to help private developers, public officials and voters to understand the potential public and private benefits of re-use of existing buildings as a framework for downtown redevelopment. The investments in transportation choices, described below, are another part of the city’s strategy for downtown revitalization.
Green Design & Infrastructure Green infrastructure and design are not central features of the city’s effort. However, some pedestrian improvements downtown, may also serve as green stormwater facilities, for slowing and cleaning street runoff during heavy rainfall events. The city may also examine whether there are opportunities for integrated energy and water conservation across public and private developments.
Transportation Choices Plan El Paso states: A primary vision shaping Plan El Paso is El Paso’s aspiration to become the most walkable and least car-dependent city in the Southwest. To do so, the transportation system must be reimagined from a conventional auto-only perspective towards providing people with many travel choices. El Paso is in the process of investing in developing the Brio bus rapid transit system and has decided to invest in a streetcar loop connecting downtown, the border crossings and the University of Texas El Paso. The implementation team will have the opportunity to examine the performance of the Portland streetcar system and may choose to learn more about Eugene’s BRT system. As part of the implementation of this concept, El Paso will be working on the implementation of a bike-sharing program and considering what investments to make downtown in bicycle facilities and pedestrian improvements. As part of the implementation of this concept, El Paso will be working on the implementation of a bike-sharing program. The Accelerator can also create opportunities for education and support between non-governmental bicycle transportation organizations in Portland and El Paso.
Equity Public investments to increase transportation choices or stimulate downtown redevelopment inevitably raise questions of how the costs and benefits of these improvements are distributed between people and communities of different incomes and ethnicities. During the year, the city implementation team will have help in considering how to address these issues. Successful downtown redevelopment can be accompanied by gentrification and displacement in nearby neighborhoods, like Sunset Heights of Segundo Barrio. The project team will have the opportunity to explore how to anticipate and avoid gentrification and displacement.
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Downtown El Paso Team Marty Howell, El Paso Director of Economic Development and Sustainability, City of El Paso. Contact: Howellem1@elpasotexas.gov Marty has worked for the City of El Paso for five years, leading the creation and implementation the City’s nationally recognized sustainability program.
Lauren Baldwin, Sustainability Program Specialist, City of El Paso. Contact: BaldwinLD@elpasotexas.gov One of her main tasks is to manage the social media, newsletter, outreach and education portion of the City’s Sustainability projects.
Peter Wallish, Redevelopment Manager, City of El Paso. Contact: WallishPJ@elpasotexas.gov Peter Wallish is the City’s newly appointed Redevelopment Manager for the City of El Paso, overseeing the city’s real estate, historic preservation and citywide redevelopment efforts.
Eloisa Portillo-Morales, Sustainability Program Engineer, City of El Paso. Contact: PortilloEC@elpasotexas.gov Eloisa Portillo-Morales is the Sustainability Program Engineer and is responsible for implementation of the City of El Paso’s Sustainability Plan.
Fred Lopez, Transportation Planning Manager, City of El Paso. Contact: lopezar@elpasotexas.gov Among other things, Fred is working on creating a comprehensive bike plan for El Paso. Connectivity is an area we really need to work on, and Fred is trying to make it happen.
Laura Kissack, AIA, Architect, El Paso City Development. Contact: kissacklf@elpasotexas.gov Before joining the City in 2012 Laura had a private architectural practice where her favorite projects were remodels of otherwise-despaired-of buildings with shoestring construction budgets.
Ben Fyffe, Cultural Program Supervisor, City of El Paso Museums & Cultural Affairs Department (MCAD). Contact: mcglynnsp@elpasotexas.gov Ben manages a portfolio of programs and staff serving 2 million people annually that includes grantmaking to local artists and arts organizations, promotion and reporting for the newly designated Downtown Arts District, implementation of the Downtown Art & Farmers Market and the community’s biggest arts festivals. Mike Medina, Assistant Director, El Paso MPO. Contact:mmedina@elpasompo.org
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Project Profile: Old Town Catalytic Site Development Elk Grove, California
About Elk Grove Elk Grove began as a stage stop in 1850, on the route to Sutter’s Mill. It is one of the oldest white settlements in the Sacramento Valley. It grew into a small farming community in the Sacramento Valley before becoming a suburb of Sacramento. It incorporated in 2000 and today it has a population of about 156,000, the second largest city in Sacramento County. The population is majority minority (with a large Asian population.) The residents have a high median household income of about $79,000. It is bisected by old US 99 and the main northsouth railroad line. Interstate 5 runs close to its western border.
About Old Town Catalytic Site Old Town Elk Grove is an area about a third of a mile in length, on both sides of Elk Grove Boulevard. It has several blocks of historic buildings that provide charm and character. The Land Use Element of the General Plan states, “Old Town Elk Grove represents a significant resource of local and national importance—Old Town is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as an excellent example of a 19th Century California town.” Because of its historical significance, it has been designated a special planning area, which means development is subject to area-specific design review standards. The city is fortunate that Elk Grove Boulevard is busy, two lanes, two-ways and narrow, with on-street parking. The city has made significant public investment in sidewalks and landscaping along Elk Grove Boulevard in Old Town. Old Town is served by Elk Grove’s municipal transit system, E-tran. Businesses in Old Town include restaurants, shops, professional offices and a funeral home. A successful brewery/ pub shut down recently in a signature building that requires significant work in to be redeveloped.
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Project Scope The city wants to develop a 5-acre city-owned catalyst site to accelerate redevelopment. The property was purchased from BNSF and adjoins the rail line that bisects Old Town, north to south. The railroad imposed a restriction on the property prohibiting residential development, but that may be negotiable if the city can show that the authorized commercial uses might generate even more pedestrians, etc.
Challenges to Overcome TBD by Old Town Project Team.
Project Goals ď‚ľ
TBD by Old Town Project Team.
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Project Elements: Old Town Catalytic Site Redevelopment The Sustainability Element of the General Plan for Elk Grove (adopted March 2013) contains this policy statement: “Support higher-density, compact, residential development along transit by placing high density residential or mixed-use sites near transit opportunities.” This strategy is also an element of the city’s 2013 Climate Action Plan. Old Town Elk Grove is served by several E-Tran bus lines; a morning and evening commuter service to downtown Sacramento, a weekend shuttle and local routes. © Robert Liberty
Green Design & Infrastructure As part of this project the City will consider whether and to what degree it wishes to require the development to meet green building standards. The 2013 Sustainability Element of the General Plan includes the following action item: “Establish a green building incentive program to encourage developers to integrate green design techniques above and beyond the requirements of Action 1. Incentives may include, but are not limited to, expedited review, plan/permit review fee reduction, density bonuses, tax credits, and/or technical assistance.”
Transportation Choices The General Plan contains a “Vision for Elk Grove” that “includes an increase in the use of alternative forms of transportation: walking, cycling, public bus transit, and light rail.” The site design could include elements that support the use of buses, bikes and walking. More generally, the development of the site will create more varieties of uses in Old Town and help it make a transition to a neighborhood where shops and services can be easily accessed without driving. © Robert Liberty
© Robert Liberty
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Equity
© Pedro Marenco
Old Town Catalytic Site Development Team Gary Davis, Mayor of Elk Grove. Contact:gdavis@elkgrovecity.org Gary is working to innovatively improve the economic climate in Elk Grove and create jobs.
Laura Gill, City Manager, Elk Grove. Contact: lgill@elkgrovecity.org Laura S. Gill has more than 20 years of experience in local government, including 5 years as the El Dorado County Chief Administrative Officer.
Randy Starbuck, Economic Development Director, Planning Director, City of Elk Grove. Contact: rstarbuck@elkgrovecity.org Starbuck has nearly three decades of economic development experience, more than 20 of which as a department director.
Taro Echiburu, Planning Director, City of Elk Grove. Contact: techiburu@elkgrovecity.org With more than a decade of experience as a highly respected planner, Director Taro EchiburĂş was appointed Planning Director by City Manager Laura S. Gill in November 2010. He has worked for the City of Elk Grove for more than seven years, most recently serving as the contract Interim Planning Director.
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Project Profile: SoBro Neighborhood Louisville, Kentucky
About Louisville Louisville is situated along the border between Kentucky and Indiana, the Ohio River, in northcentral Kentucky at the Falls of the Ohio. As of 2010, the Louisville metropolitan area (MSA) had a population of 1,307,647 ranking 42nd nationally. An important internal shipping port in the 19th century. Louisville today is best known as the location of the Kentucky Derby, the first of three annual thoroughbred horse races making up the Triple Crown. Louisville serves as a critical air freight hub, the headquarters for several Fortune 500 companies and is the home of the University of Louisville. As of 2005-2007 the racial and ethnic composition of the Lousiville metropolitan area was 74.8% White (71.7% non-Hispanic White alone), 22.2% Black or African American, 0.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.0% Asian. 2.9% of the total population were Hispanic or Latino (of any race). © Fiora Casey
About the SoBro Neighborhood The SoBro neighborhood received its sobriquet because it lies just south of Broadway, traditionally the southern boundary of downtown Louisville. After the Civil War SoBro was intensively developed with a mixture of housing, commercial , manufacturing and warehouse uses. During the latter part of the 20th Century, a freeway was built through part of the area, many residents and employers left for the suburbs and many of the buildings were demolished to make way for the surface parking that now occupies 60% of the neighborhood’s land area. What has remained are residents who care about their neighborhood, a regular grid of streets and sidewalks and some important institutions and buildings like Spalding University, Presentation Academy, Lampton Baptist Church and the mid-century landmark The 800 Apartments Building, once Kentucky’s tallest building. The neighborhood also retains an interesting mix of land uses and a strategic location between downtown, Old Louisville, the University of Louisville, the airport and UPS facility and Churchill Downs. These advantages make SoBro a logical location for redevelopment to create a distinctive new district adjoining downtown. © triceratopscowboy
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Project Scope The project has as its central focus the revitalization of the SoBro neighborhood through implementation of several elements of the neighborhood plan including enhancing active transportation choices and the integration of this effort with programs underway to install green stormwater infrastructure and increase the urban tree canopy. Important partners in this effort will be Spalding University and the Jefferson Community and Technical College, which have, or will have, campuses in SoBro.
Challenges to Overcome TBD by SoBro Team.
Project Goals TBD by SoBro Team.
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Project Elements: SoBro Neighborhood Redevelopment New commercial, residential, institutional and industrial development in SoBro would build on the existing wide mixture of these uses, to create an interesting and lively district and an alternative to low-density outward sprawl in the region. This project will consider public investments in green infrastructure and transportation choices and how these might be combined with investments by Spalding University and Jefferson Community and Technical College to catalyze a next stage of private investments in housing and commerce. © Robert Liberty
Green Design & Infrastructure The SoBro plan notes that the “greening” of SoBro “should be done in such a way that it can accommodate the needs of SoBro’s educational institutions while at the same time contributing to the public and resident’s needs and the vitalization of street life and neighborhood vitality…” SoBro will provide an opportunity to put some of these ideas into the context of an effort of neighborhood revitalization and the creation of a green theme to the infrastructure in that district. These investments, in the form of rain gardens, can also help address the problem of combined sewer overflows. Landscape designs for the neighborhood that emphasize planting of trees will also help Louisville address an anticipated increase in the severity of the urban heat island effect. The SoBro plan notes that there “are possibilities for Green Development zones that could be educational and environmental for the community.” This project will encourage the exploration of joint investments in greening the neighborhood by the city, Spalding University and Jefferson County and Technical College and consider whether joint development might allow for special investments in energy and water conservation and waste reduction.
Transportation Choices The 2007 SoBro Neighborhood Plan identified several actions to increase transportation choices that also enhance livability including: (1) Improvements and extensions of the bicycle network; (2) Restoring an attractive pedestrian environment next to the existing sidewalks; and (3) Conversion of some of the one-way streets (high-speed and relatively low volume) into a network of two-way streets. The plan also described the deadening effect of the many acres of surface parking lots, and called for organizing “Fourth Street institutions to investigate the feasibility of joint parking arrangements and facilities.” The commencement of the development of a new regional transportation plan provides the opportunity to consider changes to routes and levels of service in SoBro provided by the Transit Authority of River City.
Equity SoBro has a modest amount of residents now but an important share of them is living in market-rate lowcost housing. As part of its implementation work Louisville can consider how to retain these housing choices in SoBro and consider other ways in which it could become a model of an economically and racially diverse neighborhood. © Robert Liberty
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SoBro Neighborhood Team Maria Koetter, Director of Sustainability, Louisville Metro Government. Contact: Maria.koetter@louisvilleky.gov Maria is the Director of Sustainability for Louisville Metro and is responsible for city-wide strategic sustainability planning, policy development and implementation of new programs and initiatives.
Patti Clare, Deputy Director for Transportation Planning, Louisville Metro Government. Contact: Patti.clare@louisvilleky.gov Ms. Clare has over twenty-five years of experience in the planning field, with a concentration in downtown and economic development.
Tommy Clark, Planner, Louisville Metro Government. Contact: Tommy.clark@louisvilleky.gov Tommy Clark is an Urban Planner in the Louisville Metro Department of Growth and Innovation.
Wes Sydnor, Senior Engineer, Metropolitan Sewer District. Contact: Wesley.sydnor@louisvillemsd.org Mr. Sydnor is a Senior Planning Engineer with the Louisville Metropolitan Sewer District working on Green programs and projects, Nine Minimum Controls (of Combined Sewer Overflows), Capacity Management Operations and Maintenance (CMOM) programs, and regulatory reporting. Michelle King, Environment Supervisor, Air Pollution Control District. Contact: Michelle.king@louisvilleky.gov Michelle supervises the Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District’s (APCD) Environmental Programs (EP) section.
Pamela Dumm, Manager of Business Operations, Jefferson Community and Technical College. Contact: Pamela.dumm@kctcs.edu Pamela is active with the Partnership for a Green City and other area agencies. She serves on the Partnership’s steering committee, waste management committee, green buildings/green fleet committee and purchasing directors committee. Kevin Weber, Facilities Director, Spalding University Contact: kweber@spalding.edu
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Project Profile: India Street Neighborhood Portland, Maine
About Portland Portland is the largest city in Maine with a city population of 66,000 in a metro area of 250,000. The peninsula was first permanently settled in 1633 to serve primarily as a fishing and trading village. In 1786 it was given its current name, Portland. In 1853, upon completion of the Grand Trunk Railway to Montréal, Portland became the primary icefree winter seaport for Canadian exports, which would not last long. Portland has become Maine’s economic capital because the city has Maine’s largest port, largest population, & is close to Boston (115 miles to the south). The city is on a peninsula in Casco Bay on the Gulf of Maine and the Atlantic Ocean. Portland has a humid continental climate, with somewhat long, cold snowy winters, & warm summers. According to the 2010 American Census Bureau Estimates, the city’s population was 85.0% White (83.6% non-Hispanic White alone), 7.1% Black or African American, 0.9% American Indian & Alaska Native, 3.5% Asian, 1.6% from some other race and 2.7% from two or more races. 3.0% of the total population was Hispanic or Latino of any race. © Denis Tangney Jr.
About the India Street Neighborhood The India Street neighborhood was where the first British settlers built a community in 1633. Since the 18th Century it has served as a warehouse, commercial and industrial district and a gateway community for immigrants. It was the ice-free port terminus for Canada’s Grand Trunk Railroad. In the 1960s the neighborhood was cut off from downtown Portland by the reconstruction of Franklin Street into a wide arterial of suburban design, connecting the highway with the Maine State ferry terminal at the foot of the street. Many of India Street’s historic structures were demolished during the period of central city decline, although important historic structures, like the Abyssinian Church, fire station, North School and Grand Trunk Railroad offices remain. In the last 20 years, the waterfront and business district of downtown Portland (across Franklin Street) has undergone a vigorous revival. A new cruise ship terminal has been built at the edge of the India Street neighborhood. New housing, hotels and commercial buildings have been built and are being proposed. Portland wants to include sustainability elements into India Street as it redevelops. © Dan Shall
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Project Scope The City of Portland, Maine has asked the Urban Sustainability Accelerator to help the city with planning and implementation for redevelopment of the historic India Street neighborhood, which adjoins Portland’s thriving downtown. Portland is interested in integrating new urban redevelopment with historic preservation, managing storm water through green infrastructure, maintaining and increasing transportation choice, addressing equity issues, and addressing the challenge of sea level rise. The potential role of commuter transportation to serve employees and residents will also be considered. The focus of USA’s work with Portland revolves around the India Street neighborhood that sits adjacent to the downtown.
Challenges to Overcome
India Street
The India Street neighborhood is immediately adjacent to downtown, with many redevelopment sites, and includes a traditional mix of multifamily housing and commercial/institutional uses. In order for the City to grow in a sustainable way, some denser development will likely have to occur in this area. However, this growth must be balanced with respect for the existing built environment and current residents and businesses. There also continues to be a need to preserve affordable housing for residents near downtown Portland that will have to be factored into any redevelopment plans. For example, while the Munjoy South affordable housing development is just outside the study area, it is an important asset to Portland, and subject to expiring affordability restrictions. In addition, since India Street is a naturally pedestrian and bicycle friendly area with some transit opportunities, balancing parking with other transportation needs is a challenge. Finally, as the neighborhood grows and changes, an additional challenge is how best to incorporate green development strategies into the neighborhood.
Project Goals • Develop concepts for new land use patterns and regulations that balance the need for new development with the existing fabric of the neighborhood, such as form based codes. • Determine key green development tools to encourage in this area. • Develop access and transportation options for the neighborhood. • Providing ongoing equity for residents and visitors of all incomes and races in the neighborhood.
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Project Elements: India Street Neighborhood Redevelopment The city wants to accommodate a share of the Portland region’s growth by growing up instead of out. It wants to find ways for redevelopment to occur that it complementary to the historic fabric of the area. Reuse of existing historic buildings are also an important sustainability strategy. Franklin Street needs to be redesigned to increase transportation choices and make pedestrian connections from the neighborhood to downtown.
Green Design & Infrastructure Portland is renovating its stormwater system so that rainstorms do not cause the sanitary sewer system to overflow and pollute Casco Bay. It is interested in integrating green stormwater facilities into the redevelopment of the neighborhood to reduce stormwater overflows, perhaps in conjunction with the redesign of Franklin Street. It may explore opportunities for creating a special district where heat, water, and energy use can used more efficiently.
Transportation Choices The neighborhood can be improved with investments in bicycle routes, improved pedestrian connections associated with the redesign of Franklin Street, and integration of transit facilities for a proposed new downtown circulator connecting the ferry terminal, jetport, Metro Pulse transit hub and downtown commercial area.
Equity As land values rise and the neighborhood becomes a more desirable place to live, the city wants to consider strategies for making sure that people and families of modest means can find places to live in the neighborhood. Another concern is the expiration of affordability requirements for an important Section 236 housing project on Munjoy Hill.
Š Core Templeton Š Tom Cannon
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India Street Neighborhood Team Jeff Levine, AICP, Director of Planning & Urban Development, City of Portland. Contact: jlevine@portlandmaine.gov Jeff has been involved with land use planning on the local and regional level for 20 years.
Troy Moon, Environmental Programs and Open Space Manager, City of Portland. Contact: thm@portlandmaine.gov Troy has worked on environmental issues for the City of Portland since 1997.
Alex Jaegerman, FAICP, Planning Division Director, City of Portland. Contact: AQJ@portlandmaine.gov Alex has directed the Portland Planning Office for over 30 years, during which time Portland has become nationally recognized for its architectural heritage, quality of life, and dynamic urban character.
Bruce Hyman, Bicycle/Pedestrian Program Coordinator, City of Portland. Contact: bhyman@portlandmaine.gov Bruce is a Transportation Planner with over 20 years of experience in smart growth transportation and land use planning in Northern New England.
Douglas Roncarati, Stormwater Program Manager, Public Services, City of Portland. Contact: dar@portlandmaine.gov Doug has a background in open space, conservation and environmental planning.
Caitlin Cameron, Urban Designer, City of Portland. Contact: ccameron@portlandmaine.gov Her areas of interest and expertise include architecture and urban design, food systems planning, sustainability, and climate change adaptation and mitigation.
Rebeccah Schaffner, Director of Land Use Planning, Greater Portland Council of Governments. Contact: rschaffner@gpcog.org Rebeccah has fifteen years of leadership and facilitation experience including experiential and traditional education, non-profit, strategic and public planning.
William Needleman, AICP, Senior Planner, City of Portland. Contact: wbm@portlandmaine.gov For the last 13 years, Bill has been a senior planner with the City of Portland, Maine. While with the City, he has worked with numerous land use, waterfront, and transportation planning initiatives ranging from small development permits to neighborhood-scaled master plans.
Jeremiah Bartlett, Transportation Engineer, City of Portland. Contact: jbartlett@portlandmaine.gov Jeremiah has been a transportation engineer and planner for almost 15 years, first with Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, of Watertown, MA, then Gorrill-Palmer in Gray, ME and now as the Transportation Systems Engineer for the City of Portland.
Kevin Donoghue, City Councilor, District One. Contact: kjdonoghue@portlandmaine.gov On the City Council, Kevin’s policy work has focused on transportation systems, affordable housing, and neighborhood planning.
Alan G. Kuniholm, AIA, LEED AP, Portland Society for Architecture. Contact: kuniholm@pdtarchs.com One of the first architects in Maine to receive his LEED accreditation, and a current board member of the Maine chapter of the U. S. Green Building Council, Alan is known as an advocate for sustainable design and for his extraordinary design and drawing skills.
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Project Profile: Folsom Boulevard Rancho Cordova, California
About Folsom Boulevard Folsom Boulevard is a wide and busy arterial that transects Rancho Cordova. It is bordered by strip commercial development typical of busy suburban corridors across the US. But unlike most American arterials, for part of its length Folsom Boulevard is the route for the Gold Line of Sacramento’s light rail network. The General Plan states: “The Folsom Boulevard Planning Area will serve as the high-intensity development center of the City. Target land uses for this area include a series of Transit-Oriented and Regional Town Centers strategically located at light rail stations and freeway interchanges.” The city has identified a number of “pulse points,” key intersections and transit stops along Folsom that it believes are the best candidates for redevelopment. The project will focus primarily on redevelopment opportunities at one or more the pulse points at the Butterfield, Mather/ Mills , Zinfandel and Cordova Town Center light rail stations.
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About Rancho Cordova Rancho Cordova is a city of 66,000 in the northeastern part of the Sacramento metropolitan area. The beautiful American River forms its northern boundary. It is about fifteen minutes from downtown Sacramento and can be accessed by five light rail stations. Rancho Cordova developed as a suburb under the administration of Sacramento until it incorporated in 2003. About 50,000 people work in Rancho Cordova and more jobs are being attracted to redevelopment sites at the former Mather Field air base. The city’s 2006 General Plan expressed this vision for its future: “Rancho Cordova is not a suburb, not simply an employment center –– it is a City, a regional destination place.”
Project Scope
Challenges to Overcome TBD by Folsom Boulevard Team.
Rancho Cordova adopted ambitious redevelopment plans based on New Urbanist principles. The recession and a sense that the type and scale of projects the plan contemplated are not (currently) realistic is leading the city to reconsider its strategy for redevelopment. It is interested in finding ways to stage redevelopment along Folsom in incremental steps, combining public and private investments.
Project Goals TBD by Folsom Boulevard Team.
Mather Field
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Project Elements: Folsom Boulevard Redevelopment The city has already made investments to make Folsom Boulevard more attractive for pedestrians and cyclists but it still remains, for most of its length through the city, a high volume and high-speed road that creates a pedestrian-unfriendly environment and a barrier that diminishes the impact of development on either side of the facility. In addition, the combination of the American River, Highway 50 and Folsom Boulevard limits the amount of pedestrian accessible market for retail uses along Folsom Boulevard. This means that incremental development may need to focus on redevelopment along the side streets intersecting with Folsom Boulevard. The city has a special opportunity near the Butterfield Station to change the perception of Folsom Boulevard with the investment of $39 million in a new facility by Los Rios Community College. Whether and how this project can be designed and operated in ways that leverage other public and private investment may be a part of the team’s work. There may be opportunity for university students to conduct innovative surveys to determine the size and character of the potential residential market among the people who commute to a job in Rancho Cordova.
Green Design & Infrastructure Green design and green infrastructure investments will be considered as part of the discussion of how redevelopment might be promoted.
Transportation Choices One of the goals identified in the General Plan is ”improving pedestrian and bicycle connections between light rail stations and local retail uses, especially retail uses along Folsom Boulevard.” The team will consider whether and how these improvements could support and promote redevelopment at the Folsom Boulevard pulse points.
Equity Many of the light rail system passengers are people of modest means. There is a perception that the Gold Line is not a safe travel option for middle class people. The implementation team may consider the ways in which this project can improve the transit station experience for all riders and make light rail a more attractive alternative for some of the people currently using their cars?
© Pedro Marenco
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Folsom Boulevard Team Paul Junker, Planning Director, City of Rancho Cordova. Contact: pjunker@cityofranchocordova.org Paul Junker, through a contract with Pacific Municipal Consultants (PMC), has been the City’s Planning Director since its incorporation in 2003. He has been responsible for creating the City’s General Plan and Zoning Code regulations. He is in charge of long-range planning and short-range specifications.
David Sander, City Councilmember, City of Rancho Cordova. Contact: dsander@cityofranchocordova.org Council Member David Sander was elected to the first City Council when the City incorporated in 2003 and reelected in November 2004, 2008, and 2012. He served as Mayor in 2007 and 2012 and as Vice Mayor in 2006 and in 2011.
Cyrus Abhar, Public Works Director, City of Rancho Cordova. Contact: cabhar@cityofranchocordova.org Public Works’ mission is to provide residents, workers and shoppers with safe and efficient transportation systems, quality utility provisions and modernized environmental services to support the quality of life goals identified by our city leaders.
Micah Runner, Economic Development Director, City of Rancho Cordova. Contact: mrunner@cityofranchocordova.org Micah Runner has contributed significantly to the region through key economic development projects such as the build-out of Depot Park and is currently leading the effort to build a new entertainment facility and a Los Rios extension campus in Rancho Cordova. He is also very involved in foster care programs
Curt Haven, Director of Economic Development & Neighborhood Services, City of Rancho Cordova chaven@cityofranchocordova.org As Director of Economic Development and Neighborhood Services, Curt plans economic strategies, oversees redevelopment, and is the liaison to neighborhood associations. Other major responsibilities are to attract new businesses as well as to retain and expand current companies and commercial venues.
Pam Johns, AICP, Principal, PMC Worldwide Contact: pjohns@pmcworld.com Ms. Johns is a principal at PMC who manages both Comprehensive Planning and Planning, Design, and Facilitation services for PMC. She has 20 years of progressively responsible experience in planning and project management in both the public and private sectors. For the City of Rancho Cordova, Ms. Johns serves as special project manager and lead the City’s efforts for General Plan Update, Zoning Code Update, Design Guidelines, and Folsom Boulevard Specific Plan.
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Project Profile: North Watt Avenue Corridor Plan Sacramento County, California
About Sacramento Sacramento County was where the California Gold Rush began in 1849. Today it a county of about 1.5 million people, the core of the Sacramento metropolitan area of about 2.2 million people. In Sacrament County about 22% of the residents are Hispanic, 14% are Asian, 10% are African American and 16% are other races or a mixture of races. There are seven cities in Sacramento County, including Sacramento, Elk Grove and Rancho Cordova. More than a half-million people live in Sacramento County, outside any municipal government. Planning for these areas is carried out by Sacramento County.
© Denis Tangney Jr.
About North Watt Avenue and Nearby Neigborhoods The North Watt Avenue Corridor Plan describes Avenue this way: “The North Watt Avenue corridor is one of many commercial corridors in Sacramento County that reflect a historical pattern of development common throughout the county for several decades from approximately the 1950s through the present. These corridors typically represent a range of shopping and services arranged in strip centers extending along a thoroughfare.” Today the neighborhoods near North Watt Avenue are racially and ethnically diverse. Incomes are below the average for the county. North Watt Avenue is a primary access point for the McClellan Business Park, which was established as a major redevelopment project following the decommissioning of McClellan Air Force Base in 2001.
© E James P © Dan Shall
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Project Scope The project is focused on carrying out elements of the North Watt Avenue Corridor Plan, which was adopted in order to: “implement new land use and transportation development that produce less greenhouse gas emissions than existing forms; builds on the priorities set by the community; and supports the County’s commitment to revitalize its older commercial corridors. The Corridor Plan defines goals and objectives that will lead to the corridor’s transition to a series of mixed-use urban villages and residential neighborhoods supporting the County’s objectives for infill development.”
Challenges to Overcome TBD by North Watt Team.
Project Goals TBD by North Watt Team.
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Project Elements: North Watt Avenue Corridor Plan Redevelopment TBD.
Green Design & Infrastructure TBD. © Casa de Dp
Transportation Choices TBD.
Equity TBD.
© sacotakuatriteaid
© Larry Armstrong © Tom Cannon
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North Watt Team Leighann Moffitt, AICP, Director of Urban Planning and Environmental Review, Department of Community Development, Sacramento County. Contact: moffittl@saccounty.net Leighann has been with Sacramento County since 1988 and worked in the private sector for QUAD Consultants prior to coming to the County.
Judy Robinson, Principle Planner, Department of Community Development, Sacramento County. Contact: RobinsonJu@saccounty.net Judy is a Principal Planner and the Sustainability & Infill Development Coordinator for the County of Sacramento. She has over 20 years of experience with local government, community planning and development.
Adrian Engel, Project Manager, Mark Thomas and Company. Contact: aengel@markthomas.com Adrian is a Project Manager for Mark Thomas and Company (MTCo), a Civil Engineering Consulting firm with over 85 years in California. He leads his office’s Complete Streets practice, specializing in providing planning and design services for multimodal streetscapes and transportation enhancement projects.
Paul Philleo, Director of the Department of Waste Management and Recycling, Sacramento County. Contact: philleop@saccounty.net Paul has 31 years of professional experience in a variety of areas including research, construction, land development, public finance, storm water, waste water, and solid waste.
Alan Hersch, Senior Vice President, Development and Environmental, McClellan Business Park. Contact: ahersh@mcclellanpark Alan Hersh is responsible for coordinating environmental remedial activities, project entitlement, community outreach, government relations, engineering, infrastructure and building construction.
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Project Profile: Greater Downtown Waco Waco, Texas
About Waco Waco is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2010 population of 124,805, making it the twenty-second most populous city in the state (The MSA is 234,906). In 1866, Waco’s leading citizens embarked on an ambitious project to build the first bridge to span the wide Brazos River. They formed the Waco Bridge Company to build the 475-foot (145 m) brick Waco Suspension Bridge, which was completed in 1870. The cowboys and cattle-herds following the Chisholm Trail north, crossed the Brazos River at Waco. Waco is the birthplace of Dr Pepper, the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum and the Texas Sports Hall of Fame. The 2000 racial makeup of the city was 60.78% White, 22.65% African American, 1.38% Asian. 23.64% of the population being Hispanic or Latino of any race. Non-Hispanic Whites were 45.8% of the population in 2010. © E James P
About Greater Downtown Waco Waco, Texas spans the Brazos River and is near the population center of Texas. In 1900 Waco was the sixth largest city in Texas, a railroad hub, the home of several universities and a center of the insurance industry in Texas. Its bustling downtown reflected its prominence. After a devastating tornado in 1953 and the coming of suburban sprawl, Waco’s downtown suffered the decline common to many American cities. Today there is a revival of interest in downtown as a location for shopping, business, and a place to live. Its assets include the investments and growth of Baylor University, a mile to the southeast, the large and beautiful Cameron Park, the River Brazos waterfront, a number of historic buildings, McClennan Community College and Texas State Technical College and a supportive Chamber of Commerce.
© Alex Briseno
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Project Scope The Greater Waco Downtown Masterplan states that the city’s citizens embrace the idea of becoming a leader in “green” and sustainable strategies that create an urban environment built for people that reconnects residents to the natural environment and reduces our collective ecological footprint. The Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce has formed a team to implement key parts of the Greater Waco Downtown Plan, with representatives from Baylor University, the Downtown Development Corporation, the Downtown Public Improvement District, Waco Industrial Foundation and the Brazos River Partnership. The focus will be on promoting the redevelopment of catalyst sites, building pedestrian, bike and transit connectivity to support downtown redevelopment, aspects of green design and infrastructure, and strengthening UniversityCity-Chamber of Commerce partnerships.
Challenges to Overcome TBD by Downtown Team.
Project Goals TBD by Downtown Team.
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Project Elements: Greater Downtown Waco Redevelopment
© David Kozlowski
In early July the city of Waco will make a decision whether to accept the Brazos River Partners’ proposal for a $180 million mixed-use redevelopment of 16 acres along the Brazos River between the downtown commercial core and Baylor University. If the project is approved, the implementation team will address how this project can be enhanced and coordinated with other public and private investments to accelerate the redevelopment of downtown Waco. These may include the” better connections to the river and more activity on the riverfront” identified in the Greater Downtown Waco Master Plan. The project may consider whether the programming of activities on the Brazos River, possibly in conjunction with activities at the new Baylor football stadium, might attract additional interest in greater downtown and help attract young professionals. These activities can also be used to promote stewardship of the river and increase public engagement in downtown redevelopment issues. The promotion of downtown as a dining destination through the use of special events and food trucks could be considered, perhaps drawing in some of the young entrepreneurs at Thinc Space. This effort should address the concerns of existing restaurants.
Green Design & Infrastructure The project will consider whether or how to make investments in green stormwater facilities to enhance community identity and also improve water quality in the Brazos River. The feasibility of opportunities for shared energy or water conservation facilities in the context of new public and private investment downtowns will be considered.
Transportation Choices © David Kozlowski
The Greater Downtown Waco plan described the future when downtown Waco has become an attractive and convenient place for people to be because the focus is on accommodating people. Residents and visitors have many transport options – foot, bicycle, the river or transit, as well as the automobile. Austin Avenue, which runs through the heart of Waco’s downtown, is a two-way and narrow street, with on street parking, a design that encourages walking. An important step toward downtown renewal would be the conversion of the oneway arterials parallel to Austin, Franklin and Washington Streets, into complete, tree-lined, streets that create safe and comfortable routes for pedestrians and cyclists. Baylor University may consider ways to enhance the impacts of the downtown bus service it provides for its students.
Equity Imagine Waco: A Plan for Greater Downtown: All areas of Greater Downtown prosper as we reach across the river and are unified behind a common goal. East Waco is vibrant and is centered on a revitalized Elm Avenue and Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard and a waterfront that has come alive. The team will engage residents in East Wasco in considering how the major new investment in the downtown redevelopment site can be coordinated with improvements to Elm Street, such as attractive green stormwater infrastructure and sidewalk improvements connecting to the suspension bridge can enhance the quality of life and bring new opportunities for redevelopment to East Waco. © David Kozlowski © Tom Cannon
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Greater Downtown Waco Team Chris McGowan, Director of Urban Development, Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce. Contact: cmcgowan@wacochamber.com His primary charge is to attract, promote and facilitate development activity in targeted neighborhoods in Greater Waco.
Rosemary Townsend, Director of Community Partnerships, Baylor University. Contact: rosemary_townsend@baylor.edu Rosemary is the Director of Business Affairs and Community Partnerships at Baylor University. With expertise in program development, mentoring initiatives, group facilitation, and grant and non-profit management, she was selected a Baylor Outstanding Executive Staff member in 2008.
Lisa Sheldon, Brazos River Partners. Contact: lisaleeshel@aol.com Partner in Rick Sheldon Real Estate for the past 34 years and has been involved in the effort transform the Downtown, particularly the Brazos River Waterfront.
Megan Henderson, Waco Downtown Development Corporation. Contact: megan@wacoddc.com
Brian Ginsburg, Waco Downtown Improvement District. Contact: brian@wpromotions.net Brian was appointed to the PID Board in 2007, and was chairman of the Design and Service Delivery committee, which oversees security, streetscape and landscaping issues in the District.
Smith Getterman, Sustainability Coordinator, Baylor University. Contact: smith_getterman@baylor.edu Getterman has been at Baylor serving as Sustainability Coordinator for four years.
Larissa Sheldon, Assistant, Rick Sheldon Real Estate Contact: larrissalsheldon@gmail.com
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About Wichita
Project Profile: Old Town South | Rail Depot Property Wichita, Kansas
Wichita is the largest city in Kansas with a population of 385,000 in the city limits and a metro population of 630,000. The city was incorporated in 1870, based on the success of businessmen who came to hunt and trade with native populations. The city lies on the Arkansas River near the western edge of the Flint Hills. Wichita’s position on the Chisholm Trail made it a destination for cattle drives heading north to access railroads to eastern markets. From the early to late 20th century, aircraft pioneers began aircraft-manufacturing enterprises that would lead to Wichita becoming the nation’s leading city in numbers of aircraft produced, and its nicknaming as the Air Capital of the World. Koch Industries, a global natural-resources empire, and one of America’s two largest privately held companies. is headquartered in Wichita.
© Robert Liberty
The racial makeup of the city was 71.9% White, 11.5% African American, 4.8% Asian. 15.3% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race. Non-Hispanic Whites were 64.5% of the population in 2010.
About Old Town South | Rail Depot The project area is a 9.5 acre property south of Douglas Avenue. Old Town lies immediately to the north, and the Arena Neighborhood and Commerce Arts District are immediately to the west across the railroad line. It contains the historic Union and Rock Island Railroad station as well as a historic hotel and other structures. This property occupies the northwest section of a large block identified as by the Project Downtown master plan as Old Town South that is bounded by Douglas Avenue on the north, Kellog Avenue on the South, the railroad berm to the west and Washington Avenue to the east. Mead Street, a narrow private access drive open to public access, bisects this property south-north.
© Robert Liberty
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Project Scope The City of Wichita, Kansas has asked the Urban Sustainability Accelerator to provide expert assistance with the redevelopment of a 9.5 acre site containing two historic train stations, a hotel and other buildings, parking and various rail-yard improvements. The city and the developers of the site are interested in integrating the redevelopment of this important downtown catalyst project with the implementation of various sustainability elements of the Project Downtown Master Plan, including green streets, improvements to bike and pedestrian access, shared parking arrangements and historic building redevelopment using sustainable practices.
Challenges to Overcome • Barriers to connecting with surround districts such as wide streets and elevated rail corridor. • Expanding transportation choices beyond the personal automobile. • Cost of structured parking. • Determining the appropriate market-supported development mix to develop a land use plan. • Incorporating new construction with historic structures in the historic districts. • Expanding the development project beyond the rail depot site. • Parking/land use ratio. • Development phasing. • Finding the RIGHT tenant mix to avoid an “after 5 pm dead zone.” • Identifying and utilizing incentive programs. • Economic Incentive process needs streamlining for faster submission, clarification and approval. • Identifying and utilizing all available incentive programs to be able to attain an effective rent rate in the market that is attractive to potential users.
Project Goals • Develop strategies for pedestrian connections across Douglas, Waterman, and the elevated rail corridor. • Determine an approach to expanding transit service and bicycle facilities. • Develop a shared parking strategy so that new parking is fully utilized by multiple uses. • Develop a land use plan for the rail depot and surrounding sites (mega-block). • Explore financing instruments.
strategies
beyond
current
• Creating inter-site pedestrian corridors. • Provide personal, site, and building security. • Provide public gathering spaces. • Create market demand by design. • Develop a database for replacement materials used across other cities for Federal and State Tax Credits to assist developers and contractors in selecting ‘approved’ materials to refurbish existing structures. 35
Project Elements: Old Town South | Rail Depot Redevelopment Hotels, office space and retail development have been identified as a likely market-support development program for this area in the Project Downtown master plan. A public plaza in front of the Union Depot has been suggested as an amenity that would help activate nearby uses and draw pedestrians in. This area is a short walk away from the Commerce Arts District and “thus could offer an important opportunity for additional low-cost arts and commercial space supporting growth of that district.” © Wes Unruh
Green Design & Infrastructure The downtown masterplan calls for Douglas Avenue to become a “green street” with more trees and landscaping, which can help offset the urban heat island effect, which is expected to become more significant with climate change. The Wichita project team may explore opportunities for creating a special district where heat, water, and energy use can used more efficiently.
Transportation Choices The Project Downtown plan calls for Douglas Avenue to become a transit focused street, carrying increased transit service. An on street bicycle lane has been proposed for Waterman Street, an improvement which is part of Wichita’s Bicycle Master Plan. Mead Street can be enhanced as a narrow, pedestrian oriented street connecting Old Town north of Douglas and the arts district to the south.
Equity © Robert Liberty
© Robert Liberty
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What kind of opportunities might exist for smaller and minority owned businesses, to allow them to participate and profit from the revival of downtown?
Old Town South | Rail Depot Scott Knebel, Project Manager and Downtown Revitalization Manager with Wichita-Sedgewick County. Contact: sknebel@wichita.gov Scott is a certified planner and serves as Downtown Revitalization Manager responsible for coordinating the City of Wichita’s and Sedgwick County’s plan development and implementation efforts for Project Downtown, the master plan for the revitalization of downtown Wichita. Jeff Fluhr, President, Wichita Downtown Development Corporation. Contact: jeff@downtownwichita.org As President of the Wichita Downtown Development Corporation (WDDC), Jeff is responsible for carrying out the mission of the WDDC to strengthen Downtown Wichita as “the heart of the region.” Jason Gregory, Executive VP of Wichita Downtown Development Association. Contact: jason@downtownwichita.org Jason is responsible for launching and guiding various initiatives leading the implementation of Project Downtown, Wichita’s Downtown Master Plan and the WDDC’s strategic business plan.
Gary Oborny, Board President and CEO of Occidental Management. Contact: gary@occmgmt.com Gary has over twenty-eight years of active entrepreneurial experience in a variety of business ventures. Occidental Management recently purchased the rail depot property and is currently planning for its redevelopment. Paul Gunzelman, City of Wichita Traffic Engineer. Contact: pgunzelman@wichita.gov Traffic Engineering staff reviews traffic control, traffic signal and pavement marking plans for the CIP projects.
Mike Seiwart, AIA, LEED AP, Director of Construction and Project Management, Occidental Management. Contact: mike@occmgmt.com Manager of the company’s construction initiatives with 35 years’ experience in the building/construction industry.
Janet Miller, Wichita City Council. Contact: jlmiller@wichita.gov A lifelong Kansan and 26-year resident of District 6, Janet Miller was elected to the City Council in April 2009. Since her election, she has had significant involvement in Visioneering Wichita, the Project Downtown Master Plan, Botanica’s Children’s Garden, NOMAR International Market, and the Bicycle Master Plan. Lavonta Williams, Wichita City Council. Contact: lkwilliams@wichita.gov Before coming to the Wichita City Council, Lavonta had just retired from Wichita Public Schools as a classroom educator for 28 years and the director of after-school programs for 7 years – serving a total of 35 years of service with youth.
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Convening Schedule at Glance Program
Wednesday 7/24 Day 1
8:00am
Thursday 7/25 Day 2
Friday 7/26 Day 3
Welcome Breafast PSU Urban Center – Parsons Gallery 7:30am-8:15am
Group Breakfast: 7:30am Optional: Hawthorne Bridge: 7:45am Review Schedule for Day: 8:30am
Opening Group Session URBN 250 8:15am-10:15am
9:00am 10:00am
Morning Consultation Sessions with Expert Advisers 10:30am-12:00pm
11:00am 12:00pm 1:00pm 2:00pm
Lunch Break 12:00pm-1:00pm Arrivals and preconvening team activities 11:00am-4:00pm
4:00pm
Teams Gather to Debrief 3:45pm-5:00pm
5:00pm 6:00pm
Welcome Reception and Dinner Hoffman Hall, PSU
7:00pm
5:00pm-8:00pm
8:00pm 9:00pm 38
Lunch Break, Teams Regroup 12:00pm-1:00pm
Group Breakfast: 8:00am-8:30am Smith Memorial 238 Teams draft/refine project implementation workplans for 2013-14 8:30am-12:00pm
Lunch Break: 12:00pm-12:30pm Sharing and discussing implementation workplans: 12:30pm-2:00pm
Afternoon Consultation Sessions 1 with Expert Advisers 1:00pm-2:15pm Afternoon Consultation Sessions 2 with Expert Advisers 2:30pm-3:45pm
3:00pm
Leave for Tours and Breakout Sessions 9:00am
Saturday 7/27 Day 4
Afternoon Tours 1:00pm-4:00pm
Teams Gather to Debrief 4:00pm-5:45pm
Free time (and organized fun activities) 2:00pm-6:30pm
Meet to walk to Picnic House Reception Dinner 5:30pm-8:00pm Last Thursday on Alberta (Optional Excursion) 8:00pm
Meet to walk to Brasserie Montmartre Dinner 6:30pm-9:00pm
Farewell Dinner at Simpatica & letters to the future 6:30pm-9:00pm
Convening Schedule: Thursday, July 25th Activity
Description
Group Breakfast: 7:30am URBN 2nd Floor – Parsons Gallery
Advisers John Thomas is the Director of Community Assistance and Research Division in the EPA Office of Sustainable Communities. He works on sustainable transportation and land use planning issues at the Federal level and provides technical assistance to state and local governments. John spends significant time on the HUD DOT EPA Sustainable Communities Partnership and plays a leading role in providing technical assistance and supporting performance measures development. John is also an Adjunct Professor at George Washington University and serves on advisory committees for the Transportation Research Board and Montgomery County, Maryland.
Opening Group Session: 8:15am URBN 250 Welcome greetings 8:30am
Wim Wiewel assumed the presidency of Portland State University in August 2008. Under his leadership, the University has developed five guiding themes: Provide civic leadership through partnerships, improve student success, achieve global excellence, enhance educational opportunity, and expand resources and improve effectiveness. This has brought a renewed focus on expanding the university’s civic partnerships in the region and achieving a new degree of excellence through strategic investments. He holds degrees in sociology and urban planning from the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, and a Ph.D. in Sociology from Northwestern University. BREAK MORNING SESSIONS: 10:30am-12pm The Creative Class & Urban Place Making URBN 411 (A1)
This session is devoted to considering how the creation of lively urban places can be a part of an effort to recruit intellectual capital and therefore part of an economic development strategy. You will have an opportunity to hear from and consult with PSU Professor Greg Schrock and Joe Cortright. Cortright is the principal of Impresa Consulting, a Brookings Institution Fellow and author of “The Young and the Restless in a Knowledge Economy.” He will discuss the relationships between the values associated with central city locations and cities with strong urban neighborhoods and who moves there and the economic benefits of attracting this intellectual talent. Professor Schrock, author of “The Distinctive City: Divergent Patterns in Growth, Hierarchy and Specialisation” and many other papers, specializing in the creative class strategies will discuss strategies to focus goals for attracting the creative class and compare with successful strategies used across sectors and disciplines.
Greg Schrock is an Assistant Professor of Urban Studies and Planning at Portland State University. His work examines the connections between regional economies and local labor markets, and between economic and workforce development planning at the local level. His current areas of research include local and first source hiring policies, connections between local sustainability planning and economic development, manufacturing and industrial revitalization efforts, and regional migration dynamics of young collegeeducated workers. He holds a master’s degree in urban and regional planning from the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs and a doctorate in urban planning and policy from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Joe Cortright is President and principal economist with Impresa, a Portland consulting firm specializing in regional economic analysis, innovation and industry clusters. Joe is senior policy advisor for CEOs for Cities, a national organization of urban leaders, and has served as a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. He has advised to state and local governments, private businesses, foundations and advocacy groups in more than a dozen states, Canada and Europe. Prior to starting Impresa, Joe served for 12 years as the Executive Officer of the Oregon Legislature’s Trade and Economic Development Committee. Joe is a graduate of Lewis and Clark College and holds a Master’s degree in public policy from the University of California at Berkeley. 39
Convening Schedule: Thursday, July 25th Activity
Description
Advisers
MORNING SESSIONS: 10:30am-12pm Downtown and Adjacent Markets, Market Feasibility and Market Evolution URBN 204 (A2)
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We have all seen the beautiful renderings of revitalized downtowns and neighborhoods flourishing with a mixture of uses and crowded with pedestrians and cyclists. But in very few places can these kinds development occur overnight, out of the empty parking lots of a downtown that has been neglected for decades. These dreams can be realized only through an evolutionary, market-based (and public sector assisted) evolution. Michele Reeves is an urban strategist with Civilis (http:// civilisconsultants.com/), a boutique consulting firm. Her real estate background includes working with public/private partnerships, marketing unknown or undesirable districts, pre-development consulting, and strategizing acquisitions and development programs with private sector investors. She has extensive experience in revitalizing mixed-use districts, placemaking, retail leasing, development consulting, and project management. Together with city stakeholders, she develops detailed and achievable plans for revival, with a focus on improving what already exists. Thomas J. Kemper, managing member of KemperCo, LLC, has twenty five years of extensive experience in real estate investment, finance and development, including thousands of apartment units and various commercial properties- from residential subdivisions to office development, mixed use commercial/ residential communities to the masterplanning of a downtown waterfront community. During this session they will be available to consult with you about the redevelopment of downtowns and downtown adjacent neighborhoods.
Thomas J. Kemper, managing member of KemperCo, LLC, has twenty five years of extensive experience in real estate investment, finance and development, including thousands of apartment units and various commercial propertiesfrom residential subdivisions to office development, mixed use commercial/ residential communities to the masterplanning of a downtown waterfront community. Kemper was a catalyst in the startup of three local real estate companies, including Lennar Affordable Communities, ScanlanKemperBard Company, and KemperCo, LLC. Kemper was the guiding force behind the development of Center Commons, an award winning mixed use, transit oriented community of senior and family apartments with for sale townhomes along the MAX light rail corridor in Portland, Esther Short Commons, another award winning mixed use development in downtown Vancouver, the Hawthorne, a mixed use development at 34th and Hawthorne in Portland, North Main Village, a mixed use community in Milwaukie, Putnam Pointe in downtown Bend and The Pointe at Bridgeport, a retail/office complex across from Bridgeport Village in Tualatin. With a legal, tax and accounting background, Kemper has developed a strong track record in the financing and development of over $2 billion in real estate transactions. Michele E. Reeves is an urban strategist with extensive experience in revitalizing mixed-use districts, placemaking, retail leasing, development consulting, and project management. In her consulting practice at Civilis, she helps cities renew their urban places by teaching the building blocks for successful revitalization through effective and non-traditional community outreach that includes interactive workshops, hands-on district tours, and presentations. Together with city stakeholders, she develops detailed and achievable plans for revival, with a focus on improving what already exists. She is currently a member of the Portland Development Commission Neighborhood Economic Development Leadership Group. Previously, she chaired the Metro Brownfields Task Force, which assisted Metro in placing funds for regional environmental assessment and education efforts. She holds a bachelor of science degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.
Convening Schedule: Thursday, July 25th Activity
Description
Advisers
MORNING SESSIONS: 10:30am-12pm Using a Triple Bottom Line Framework for Economic Development and Real Estate Investment URBN 720 (A3)
The Market for Urban Places and Living URBN 303 (A5) (**New Time & Updated Info)
Professor Janet Hammer was commissioned by the US Department of Commerce to create a simple on-line tool that helps ensure that economic and real estate development achieves economic, environmental, and social performance – what’s referred to as the triple bottom line or TBL. The TBL Tool can be used by decision-makers and practitioners in diverse communities to design projects for better results, make choices between proposed investments, or communicate project benefit. During this consultation she will introduce the TBL tool and discuss its potential relevance to your work.
Dr. Janet Hammer has worked on sustainable development issues for more than two decades, serving in public, private, and non-profit settings. Janet is a systems thinker who collaborates across disciplines and sectors to address complex community problems. Currently, she leads a project for the US Economic Development Administration to create an on-line tool that helps practitioners and decision-makers in the public, private, and non-profit sector to ensure that development investment achieves strong economic, social, and environmental results – also known as triple bottom line performance. She has earned degrees in city and regional planning (University of Pennsylvania), energy management and policy (University of Pennsylvania), environmental policy analysis and planning (UC Davis), education (Portland State University), and urban studies (Portland State University).
Terry Moore is a planner and economist from EcoNorthwest, a regional economics and planning consulting firm. His work focuses on market analysis, economic development and transportation and land-use planning and policy. He was among the recipients of the American Planning Association’s Current Topic Award and in 2001 he was selected as a Fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners. Professor Arthur C. Nelson, is Director of the Metropolitan Research Center at the University of Utah. He is the author of scores of books and articles about urban development patterns and planning, including his 2012 book, Reshaping Metropolitan America: Trends and Opportunities to 2030. He is a frequent presenter on the subject of the demographic changes that will shape the demand for new housing and commercial space and the scale of change in urban development that will be required as the nation shifts from greenfield suburban style development to urban infill and suburban corridor redevelopment. Unfortunately, his schedule precludes him from participating in our program, but we have excerpted key parts from video recordings of two speeches given in the last year which Terry will comment on and discuss.
One of the founders of ECONorthwest, Terry Moore specializes in land use and transportation planning and leads its Planning and Development practice area. Terry’s project work focuses on transportation and land-use planning, economic development, growth management, policy analysis, and market analysis. In 1994, the American Planning Association published his book, The Transportation/Land Use Connection. He was among the recipients of the American Planning Association’s 1996 Current Topic Award for Transportation Planning and in 2001 he was selected as a Fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners. Terry has written articles for the Journal of the American Planning Association, Land Use Policy, Urban Land, the Journal of Urban Planning and Development, and the Journal of the American Institute of Planners. He is an adjunct professor in the Department of Planning, Public Policy, and Management at the University of Oregon. Arthur C. Nelson Director, Metropolitan Research Center, City & Metropolitan Planning, University of Utah Co-Director, Master of Real Estate Development Program, David Eccles School of Business & College of Architecture + Planning, University of Utah Adjunct Professor, Finance Department, University of Utah Presidential Professor, City & Metropolitan Planning, University of Utah Chair, Curriculum Committee, City & Metropolitan Planning, University of Utah
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Convening Schedule: Thursday, July 25th Activity
Description
Advisers
MORNING SESSIONS: 10:30am-12pm Sustainability across sectors, as part of a civic culture URBN 311 (A4)
In the Portland region, the conception, adoption and implementation of sustainability programs has entailed the dynamic (often contentious, sometimes collaborative, frequently synergistic) interaction between government, the private and nonprofit sectors, stimulated by citizen leaders acting on their own. This interaction can progress into a virtuous cycle between the different sectors and different actors within each sector. If there is a “secret sauce” for the conception and implementation of sustainability projects in the Portland region, this may be it. We have four experts who will discuss whether and how efforts from different sectors come together to implement plans and policies. Connie Ozawa and Ethan Seltzer are Professors at the Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning. They have not only studied this sustainability dynamic for many years but have been active participants in Portland’s efforts. Mike Houck is the founder of the Urban Greenspaces Institute and one of the originators of the regional parks and open space system. Nolan Lienhart is an urban designer with Zimmer, Gunsul, Frasca Architects (ZGF) in Portland, who specializes in mixed-use and transit-oriented development. Who served for many years on the staff of Oregon Congressman Earl Blumenauer, founder of the Livable Communities Caucus in Congress.
Mr. Houck has been a leader at the local- regional- national and international levels in urban park and greenspace issues since his founding the Urban Naturalist Program at the Audubon Society of Portland in 1980. Since that time he has worked on urban parks- trails- greenspaces and natural resources in the Portland-Vancouver metropolitan region. He speaks locally- nationally and internationally on issues related to urban natural resources and sustainable development. He helped found the Coalition for a Livable Future in 1994 to better integrate social and environmental issues into the region’s growth management planning process. Mike Houck obtained a B. S. in Zoology from Iowa State University in 1969 and a Masters of Science in Teaching in Biology at Portland State University in 1972. Nolan Lienhart is the Director of Planning & Urban Design at ZGF Architects LLP in Portland, Oregon. Nolan has worked on a variety of master planning and strategic development projects which have demanded solutions to complex urban financial, political and environmental conditions. His projects include waterfront development plans, mixed-use neighborhood plans, and campus master plans, including the Eliot Bay Seawall Project, the Zidell Yards Master Plan, and the OHSU Schnitzer Campus Framework Plan. He is currently working on the OMSI District Plan. Civic leadership is an important part of Nolan’s work; he currently serves on several non-profit boards and on committees for Portland’s Central City Plan and the Community Investment Initiative. Nolan holds a Master of City Planning degree and a Certificate of Real Estate Design and Development from the University of Pennsylvania School of Design. Connie Ozawa is the Director of the Nohad Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning. Dr. Ozawa’s interests include how to integrate different sources of information into planning decisions in ways that build strong working relationships. Integrating theory and practice, Dr. Ozawa has led negotiation training workshops with practitioners, the Portland Development Commission and the Housing Authority of Portland. Dr. Ozawa has B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, an MA from the University of Hawai’i and her Ph.D. in Urban Planning from the Massachusetts of Institute of Technology. Ethan Seltzer is a Professor of Urban Studies and Planning at Portland State University. His career in planning spans government and academia. Dr. Seltzer is recognized as an authority on regional planning and development and the Cascadia eco-region. Dr. Seltzer served as President of the City of Portland Planning Commission and as a Land Use Supervisor for the Metro regional government during the adoption of the Regional Urban Growth Goals and Objectives. He serves on the Portland 2035 Central City Plan advisory committee. He received a B.A. from Swarthmore College, and an M.A. and a Ph.D from the University of Pennsylvania.
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Convening Schedule: Thursday, July 25th Activity
Description
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MORNING SESSIONS: 10:30am-12pm Speed Dating: Portland State University Faculty, Staff and Student Assistance Opportunities URBN 212 (A6) (Updated Info)
Portland State University has many faculty and staff members with expertise in different aspects of sustainability, in engineering, urban planning, public administration and business administration. Many courses require students to prepare a capstone paper or project projects by student majoring in these fields. Faculty members are also interested in finding subjects and partners for research efforts. In addition PSU is host for specialized assistance programs that operate on a fee for service basis. Faculty and staff members who may be interested in working with one or more of the 201314 through any of these partnerships, will be present to determine whether there are some projects of mutual interest. The Urban Sustainability Accelerator has reserved some funding to support a (limited) number of these partnership activities. We expect additional opportunities for faculty, staff or student assistance and research will be discovered later in the year. A separate speed-dating session limited to architecture professors will be in the afternoon. Some of the PSU faculty and staff at this session will include Margaret Neal, Director of the Institute of Aging. Currently, Dr. Neal is the co-principal investigator (with Dr. Jennifer Dill) of a study on the effects of green streets on active aging, which is funded by the Environmental Protection Agency. Eric Crum, Director of Community Environmental Services. He has worked in resource conservation practices & research for over five years, managing programs in recycling, composting, waste reduction, greenhouse gas inventories, material management and organizational sustainability. Chet Orloff, Director of the Museum of the City, which serves as a platform to publish faculty and student work.
Much of Dr. Neal’s research has focused on managing paid work while caring informally for older adults. She and colleague Dr. Leslie Hammer recently completed a book on working, sandwiched-generation couples, that is, couples caring both for children and aging parents. Another thread of research she has conducted concerns planning for aging populations in the U.S. and in developing countries. Her interests include Global aging issues, particularly planning for aging in developing countries; the challenges and opportunities faced by individuals who are engaged in paid employment while providing informal care to aging family members; designing age-friendly communities and neighborhoods for healthy aging; transportation needs and alternatives for older adults; and older workers. Eric Crum is a Portland State University Faculty Research Associate and Director of Community Environmental Services. He has worked in resource conservation practices & research for over five years, managing programs in recycling, composting, waste reduction, greenhouse gas inventories, material management and organizational sustainability. Eric began in his current role as Director in April, 2012, having served as a program manager and field staff with CES since January, 2008. He completed his Master of Public Administration (MPA) program with a focus on environmental and natural resources policy in December of 2011. Eric now oversees all organizational operations at CES and is concurrently serving as Principal Investigator on seventeen externally-sponsored research and service projects throughout the Portland-metro region.
Chet Orloff is one of Oregon’s preeminent historians. A proponent of vibrant cities. He is an adjunct professor in the urban planning school at Portland State Univeristy, Director Emeritus at the Oregon Historical Society and Director of the Museum of the City, a virtual museum for cities around the globe.
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Convening Schedule: Thursday, July 25th Activity
Description
NOON LUNCH 12PM – 1PM
Advisers
Boxed lunches provided. There will be no official program to allow for time for implementation team members from different cities to get acquainted. Some of the experts from the morning and early afternoon consultation sessions will be joining you. Feel free to head outside to the roof decks!
AFTERNOON SESSIONS: 1:00pm-2:15pm Making Bicycling a Viable Transportation Choice URBN 411 (B1)
This session is a consultation with Dr. Jennifer Dill, Director of the National Institute for Transportation and Communities, Gerik Kransky, Advocacy Director for the Bicycle Transportation Alliance and Greg Raisman, City of Portland Bike and Pedestrian Coordinator on making bicycling a viable transportation choice for your city’s residents. They are available to discuss their experience and national research on a variety of topics, including principal barriers to bicycle travel, impact on retail sales, best practices in facilities design (including safety and cost), politics, promotion and public education (including neighborhood bicycle days), use, bike share programs, and integration with transit systems.
Professor Jennifer Dill researches and teaches about transportation decisionmaking processes and how those can inform policy and planning. Her recent projects focus on travel behavior, bicycling, transit-oriented developments, and active living policies. Dr. Dill values the community partnerships that she has forged through her research projects and believes that the Toulan School adds value to projects by providing objective third-party analysis while evaluating innovative local planning initiatives.
My name is Gerik Kransky and I am the Advocacy Director of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance in Portland Oregon. The Bicycle Transportation Alliance is a 22 year old nonprofit organization that exists to make bicycling safe, convenient, and accessible. In partnership with a supportive city government and favorable state policy environment, we are fairly successful, reaching ~7% of daily trips in the City of Portland by bike. I have spent the last 15 years advancing public policy through grassroots organizing, advocacy, and electoral campaigns. My nonprofit background includes environmental, youth, public health, land use, and transportation issues.
Greg Raisman lives in Portland, Oregon with his wife Beth and dog, Dot. He’s been bicycling for transportation for more than a decade. He had an advocacy background in poverty, homelessness, and environmental issues when tragedy led him to become a bike advocate. Greg currently works for the Community and School Traffic Safety Partnership at the Portland Office of Transportation where he specializes in bicycle safety, school traffic safety, drunk driving, red light cameras, and crash data mapping and analysis. Greg also assists with “green streets”, pedestrian safety, and traffic calming.
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Convening Schedule: Thursday, July 25th Activity
Description
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AFTERNOON SESSIONS: 1:00pm2:15pm Making the Case for Adaptive Reuse of Older and Historic Buildings URBN 303 (B2)
Understanding Tradeoffs for Transit Systems Objectives, Design and TODs URBN 204 (B4) (2 sessions, meets until 3:45pm)
Liz Dunn is the founder of Dunn and Hobbes, a Seattle-based developer of mixed-use projects in urban village neighborhoods. The company specializes in the adaptive reuse of existing buildings as well as the construction of new urban infill projects. She is also the founding director of the Preservation Green Lab, for the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Preservation Green Lab advances research that explores the value that older buildings bring to their communities, and works with selected partner cities and environmental organizations around the nation on policy initiatives that incorporate reuse of existing buildings and neighborhood fabric into those cities’ larger sustainability objectives - ranging from environmental performance to economic resiliency and cultural diversity.
In addition to leading the company’s development projects, Liz is the founding director of the Preservation Green Lab for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a think tank that works with selected partner cities and environmental organizations around the nation on policy initiatives that incorporate reuse of existing buildings and neighborhood fabric into those cities’ larger sustainability objectives - ranging from environmental performance to economic resiliency and cultural diversity. In 2011-2012, Liz is a visiting fellow to the University of Washington’s Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies.
This special 2 hour and 45 minute session (spanning both afternoon segments) is a workshop on transit system design by Jarrett Walker, author of Human Transit. Jarrett has 20 years of experience in transit network design and policy for agencies in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. He has often speaks on these issues across the US, most recently in Oklahoma City, Cincinnati and Omaha. The workshop entails having teams design a transit system for an imaginary city, subject to a limited budget. The exercise culminates with a review and critique of the teams’ different solutions that clarifies the trade-offs between different transit goals. As part of this session, Walker will address the tensions between transit oriented development goals and TOD staff and transit service provision and transit agency staff.
Jarrett Walker has been a transit planning consultant for 20 years, and is the author of Human Transit, a book designed to explain the core issues of transit design to the general reader. He brings expertise in transit network design and redesign, and in relating transit planning issues to community goals and aspirations. He also brings years of experience leading innovative public outreach processes that engage and empower the public. He holds a PhD in a literature field from Stanford University, and has worked with a broad range of city governments, transit agencies and private organizations across the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
Liz holds a BMath in Computer Science from the University of Waterloo (Canada), an MBA from INSEAD (France), and an MSc in City Design from the London School of Economics.
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Convening Schedule: Thursday, July 25th Activity
Description
Advisers
AFTERNOON SESSIONS: 1:00pm-2:15pm Urban Heat Island Effect, Urban Forestry and Tree Canopies URBN 311 (B3)
This is an opportunity to discuss the benefits of an urban tree canopy in addressing the urban heat island effect (and other benefits from urban trees) with three experts; PSU Professor David Sailor, a Professor of Engineering with expertise in climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies at all scales, Nancy Buley, a member of the board of the local tree advocacy and volunteer planting organization, Friends of Trees and a member of the board of the national organization, Alliance for Community Trees, Matt Krueger from the Portland Bureau of Environmental Services and Kris Day, the Planting Programs Senior Specialist with Friends of Trees.
Nancy Buley is Director of Communications for J. Frank Schmidt & Son Co., wholesale tree growers of Boring, Oregon. Elected a Lifetime Honorary Member of the American Society of Landscape Architects, she is a member of numerous horticultural organizations including the American Nursery & Landscape Association, Oregon Association of Nurseries, Garden Writers Association and the Society of Municipal Arborists. Nancy serves on the board of directors of Friends of Trees and on the Policy Committee of the Alliance for Community Trees. Trees have a way of following her home. There, she enjoys gardening beneath an ever-widening canopy of shade, and co-owns Treephoria LLC, a boutique nursery that specializes in growing rare and unusual trees. Kris Day, Neighborhood Trees & Green Space Initiative Senior Specialist ISA Certified Arborist with Friends of Trees. Friends of Trees’ mission is to bring people in the Portland-Vancouver and Eugene-Springfield metro areas together to plant and care for city trees and green spaces. Since Friends of Trees was founded by Richard Seidman in 1989, they have planted nearly half a million trees and native plants.
About ten years ago, Matt and his wife Phoebe, both University of Wisconsin graduates, loaded up a van and headed from Madison, Wisconsin, to Portland, Oregon. They had no jobs or home in mind. They just liked the city, which Matt had learned about at the University of Wisconsin, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture. It didn’t take long for them to find work. Matt quickly joined a local landscape design company, where he worked for five years before joining Grey to Green. In addition, Matt is a Friends of Trees crew leader and was a neighborhood coordinator. He keeps his eyes on the neighborhood trees and does “guerrilla watering” when needed. Professor David Sailor received his Ph.D. in 1993 from the University of California at Berkeley where he conducted research with the Energy and Environment Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. His early research focused on mesoscale atmospheric modeling of urban areas with an emphasis on heat island mitigation strategies. After 10 years on the Engineering faculty at Tulane University he moved to Portland State University where he became founding director of the Green Building Research Laboratory (GBRL). The GBRL works closely with industry to test and develop new technologies and strategies for high performance buildings, with a focus on energy efficiency and urban climate interactions.
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Convening Schedule: Thursday, July 25th Activity
Description
Advisers
AFTERNOON SESSIONS: 1:00pm-2:15pm Green Stormwater Infrastructure URBN 250 (B5)
Portland, Oregon has spent two decades trying to reduce and clean up urban stormwater that was polluting the Willamette River, in order to address multiple challenges; combined sanitary system overflows, reducing threats to endangered salmon species in the Willamette and tributaries, reducing storm flooding episodes, the replacement of its aging stormwater infrastructure and creating neighborhood amenities. The response has included an array of green infrastructure - bioswales, green streets, trees and rain gardens. Partly in response to regulatory requirements and partly to demonstrate leadership in sustainability, public and private development projects have increasingly incorporated green stormwater infrastructure. This session will allow you to consult with Dean Marriott, the Director of the Portland Bureau of Environmental Services (BES) which implements many sustainable stormwater projects, including the 20-year, $1.35 billion, stormwater remediation project; Linda Dobson who has directed a variety of green infrastructure efforts for the Portland BES; and Mike Faha, a principal with GreenWorks, a landscape architecture firm with extensive experience in the design of both new green stormwater facilities and retrofitting existing streets and facilities.
Linda Dobson manages the Sustainable Stormwater Division with the City of Portland’s Bureau of Environmental Services. This multi-disciplinary team, made up of project engineers, landscape architects, environmental and communication specialists and project managers, is devoted to the design, implementation, and monitoring of green infrastructure approaches in the urban environment. These green infrastructure strategies utilize vegetation in facilities such as green streets, tree planting, ecoroofs and swales/raingardens to accomplish the Bureau’s work in managing stormwater for watershed health. The work of the Division is coordinated closely with other work of the City to assure that multiple objectives can be realized such as enhanced pedestrian and bicycle networks, cooling and cleaning the air, community enhancement and climate resiliency. Linda received her Masters and Undergraduate degrees from Portland State University in Urban Planning. She has worked for the City of Portland for 31 years in a variety of roles including City Planner, Senior Policy Advisor to City Commissioner Mike Lindberg and now Manager of the Sustainable Stormwater Division. Mike Faha is a founding principal of GreenWorks. His primary professional interest is in creating livable, sustainable communities that balance economic, ecological, and social needs. Mike leads planning and design project teams which integrate urban ecology, green infrastructure, and urban design on a variety of project types. Mike is adept at working with clients, regulators, and stakeholders in creating projects with broad support. His prior employment with engineering, ecological and landscape architectural firms helped propel him into a leadership role that integrates various professional disciplines, helping them in meeting broad-based community design objectives. Since establishing the firm in 1987, Mike’s responsibilities have grown to include all aspects of a private practice. Mr. Dean Marriott manages the City of Portland agency that provides sewage and stormwater collection and treatment services to accommodate Portland’s current and future needs. The Bureau protects the quality of surface and ground waters and conducts activities to plan for and promote healthy Portland watersheds. The sewer and stormwater activities protect public health, water quality and the environment. Mr. Marriott has been the Director since 1994. Prior to his appointment, he was Commissioner of Environmental Protection for the State of Maine for a period of seven years. Mr. Marriott holds a degree from the University of Delaware and a Law degree from Florida State University. 47
Convening Schedule: Thursday, July 25th Activity
Description
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AFTERNOON SESSIONS: 1:00pm-2:15pm Ecodistricts: An opportunity to consider for your project URBN 720 (B6) (New time)
BREAK
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Ecodistricts are places within a city where special efforts are made to conserve and produce energy, to conserve and re-use water, where waste is minimized, where transportation choices are increased. District level efforts allow for a greater range of, and integration of, these efforts across many buildings and properties to achieve sustainability results that might not be possible on a building by building approach. Rob Bennett, the Director of the nonprofit organization, Ecodistricts, and Adam Beck, Program Director with Ecodistricts will be available to present the concept and discuss whether and how your projects could be implemented as part of an ecodistrict.
Adam Beck has over 17 years of experience in environmental and social planning, with a passion for developing and implementing sustainability tools for built environment projects. Prior to joining EcoDistricts in 2013, Adam spent over three years with the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) developing the Green Star – Communities rating tool in collaboration with government and industry. This work is highly respected globally, being one of few rating tools that covers the full spectrum of sustainability issues across the built environment. Adam has also been involved with the efforts by the World Green Building Council and the C40 Cities Initiative to strengthen global partnerships in sustainable urban development. Rob Bennett is the founding executive director of EcoDistricts. He is a recognized leader in the sustainable cities movement with 14 years of direct experience shaping municipal sustainable development projects and policy at the intersection of city planning, real estate development, economic development and environmental policy. Before EcoDistricts, Rob worked for two of North America’s most innovative cities, Vancouver, BC and Portland, Ore., and the William Jefferson Clinton Foundation, where he provided technical assistance to cities throughout North America in the areas of climate change reductions and building performance policy.
Convening Schedule: Thursday, July 25th Activity
Description
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AFTERNOON SESSIONS: 2:30pm-3:45pm Complete Streets URBN 250 (C1)
Complete streets are streets designed to include safe and attractive facilities for walking, biking and/or transit in an urban setting, in contrast to being designed for maximum speed and volume for private automobiles and trucks. Converting high volume arterials into more complete streets requires the consideration of design, operations, financial and political issues. This session will allow team members to consult with Portland experts and consultants on policy and implementation best practices for complete streets. Tony Buczek is a Transportation Engineer with the Metro Regional Government (which is developing a regional active transportation plan and incorporates goals for the percentage of trips made by walking and biking into the regional land use plan) and and Denver Igarta from the City of Portland’s Bureau of Transportation Active Transportation Section. (Igarta recently toured bike facilities in northern Europe).
Design Assistance Speed Dating URBN 212/Parsons Gallery (C3)
Members of the PSU School of Architecture faculty have indicated their interest in discussing the opportunities for creating a design studio project around the implementation projects from the 2013-14 USA cohort. This session is a chance for the faculty members to meet you and assess whether or not there may be a design studio or design project of interest to them and their students. Participants will include Professor Jeff Schnabel and B.D. Wortham-Galvin.
Anthony Buczek has 14 years of experience in transportation engineering, including municipal, state, and private-sector work, and currently works on multimodal transportation planning and design issues for Metro in Portland, Oregon. He previously was the City Traffic Engineer for Asheville, North Carolina, working to implement a variety of complete streets projects, including road diets, roundabouts, one-way to two-way street conversion, safe pedestrian crossings, and traffic calming. He holds bachelors and Masters degrees in transportation engineering from the University of Illinois, and is a registered professional engineer and professional traffic operations engineer. Denver Igarta is an transportation planner with the City of Portland Bureau of Transportation. He works on a broad range of transportation policy, street design initiatives and pedestrian, bicycle, transit and freight planning efforts. He recently served as one of the principal authors of the Portland Bicycle Plan for 2030. His recent assignments include staffing a high-capacity transit study, a rails-with-trails project, and a neighborhood street system plan. He performed his graduate studies at the University of Dortmund, Germany and the University of the Philippines and holds a Master of Science in Regional Development Planning. In 2011, Denver was awarded a Urban and Regional Policy Fellowship by the German Marshall Fund to research lessons on creating “livable streets” from cities in Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden.
Assistant professor B.D. Wortham-Galvin teaches design and humanities for the PSU School of Architecture. She has a Ph.D. in the History and Theory of Architecture from MIT. Wortham-Galvin also has Master’s degrees in Historic Preservation from the University of Pennsylvania and in Architecture from the University of Maryland. Her research focuses on how theories of cultural sustainability and the everyday can be applied to the design and stewardship of an adaptable built environment. She brings to PSU her non-profit organization, Urban Dialogues, Inc., which won the 2009 Outstanding Project of the Year Award from the Heart of Chesapeake Country Heritage Area Program for its community design work on the Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Jeff Schnabel is currently exploring the potential of projected media to transform the built environment. In addition to collaborating on light installations in the Recess Gallery (Project) and the Autzen Gallery (Alteracion), he engaged his students in projected light experiments in the city. Jeff is working in Oregon City with the Clackamas County Arts Commission to use projected light to illuminate the historic pedestrian elevator as part of a National Endowment for the Arts grant. he is also currently serving as part of the Willamette Light Brigade, charged with illuminating Portland’s bridges. 49
Convening Schedule: Thursday, July 25th Activity
Description
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AFTERNOON SESSIONS: 2:30pm-3:45pm Getting the Jump on Displacement URBN 411 (C2)
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In many cities the urban redevelopment has been so successful in attracting middle class and affluent people back into downtowns and central cities that people and families of modest means are forced to leave by rising rents. The result is that they must find new places to live that have fewer transportation options and are often more distant from jobs and services. This displacement is bad for people and the environment. Displacement can occur very rapidly. Anticipating and planning to avoid these consequences is an important element of urban sustainability. Professor Lisa Bates serves on the city of Portland plan update advisory committee and has a research specialty in gentrification and the displacement of renters, homeowners and business owners. She is available to consult with team members about how to identify areas that are likely to, or have begun to gentrify, and to have strategies in place to avoid or mitigate these problems. Ed McNamara, a developer of innovative mixed use and mixed income projects, now serves as Portland, Oregon Mayor Charlie Hale’s Policy Director on development.
When urban studies and planning professor Lisa Bates looks at a neighborhood, she sees more than buildings. She sees how economic policy, institutional racism, and human perception contribute to housing inequities after catastrophes like Hurricane Katrina and in Portland’s urban revitalization. With data as her ally, Bates uses her work to pose a powerful question: Can we do better?
Ed McNamara, City of Portland, Policy Director Portland Development Commission Planning and Sustainability Development Services
Convening Schedule: Thursday, July 25th Activity
Description
Advisers
AFTERNOON SESSIONS: 2:30pm-3:45pm Transit System Design Workshop
Continued from first afternoon session
URBN 204 (C4) Urban and Suburban Corridor Redevelopment URBN 303 (C5)
Michele Reeves is an urban strategist with Civilis, a boutique consulting firm. Her real estate background includes working with public/private partnerships, marketing unknown or undesirable districts, predevelopment consulting, and strategizing acquisitions and development programs with private sector investors. She has extensive experience in revitalizing mixed-use districts, placemaking, retail leasing, consulting, and project management. Together with city stakeholders, she develops detailed and achievable plans for revival, with a focus on improving what already exists. John Jackley is the Director of Business and Social Equity for the Portland Development Commission. He has extensive experience working to build public-private partnerships and secure funding for economic development and transportation projects. During this session they will be available to consult with you about how to stage the redevelopment of commercial corridors.
John Jackley is the Director of Business and Social Equity at the Portland Development Commission in Portland, Oregon, where he oversees outreach and communication to a wide variety of diverse audiences including citizens, contractors, businesses minority chambers of commerce, community leaders and organizations, and stakeholders. John graduated cum laude from Washington and Lee University in Virginia and received the Certificate of Public Management from the Atkinson School of Business at Willamette University in Oregon.
Michele Reeves bio can be found on page 40.
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Convening Schedule: Thursday, July 25th Activity
Description
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AFTERNOON SESSIONS: 2:30pm-3:45pm
Partnerships between Cities, Universities and Transit Agencies as a Strategy for Sustainable Urban Redevelopment URBN 311 (Updated Info)
Teams Debrief from the Day’s Sessions 3:45pm-4:45pm
BREAK – 4:45pm-5:30pm
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The growth of Portland State University at the south end of downtown Portland – an urban university without a traditional campus separated from the surrounding a community – became both an key strategy for the city’s revitalization of downtown and the stage to implement a spectrum of sustainability efforts, including green infrastructure and direct investments in rail transit. The partners in this effort came from the city, the University, TriMet (the regional transit agency) and the private sector. This session will allow you to talk to some of the people who led this effort and who can describe the continuing investments in sustainability by PSU. You will have the opportunity to consult with Jay Kenton, Vice Chancellor of the Oregon University System and former Vice President at Portland State University, Don Mazziotti, former CEO of the Portland Development Commission (Portland’s urban renewal agency) and now Director of Community Economic Development for Beaverton, and Dave Unsworth, Director of Project Development and Permitting Capital Projects, for TriMet, the Portland regional transit agency. Teams gather to debrief and discuss how this information contributes to their project implementation work plans. Below are your room assignments – your facilitators will be waiting for you here.
Dr. Jay Kenton has served as Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration for the Oregon University System since April, 2005. In this capacity, Dr. Kenton oversees the development and administration of the state university system’s budget, including funding needs for operations and capital, and develops policy recommendations to the State Board of Higher Education. He advocates for and helps to achieve the System’s short and long term objectives, and works closely with the Chancellor and leaders of the seven campuses to help achieve the vision and initiatives of the State Board. In addition to serving as a full-time administrator at OUS, Dr. Kenton holds the rank of Professor of Public Administration in the Mark O. Hatfield School of Government in the College of Urban and Public Affairs at Portland State University, where he teaches public finance and budgeting topics. Dr. Kenton also teaches Higher Education Finance and Strategic Planning in PSU’s Graduate School of Education. Don Mazziotti, former executive director of the Portland Development Commission, leads the the City of Beaverton’s community development department, which oversees planning, economic development and downtown redevelopment. Mazziotti headed Portland’s development agency from 2001 to 2005.
URBN 212 – Sacramento County, Rancho Cordova and Elk Grove URBN 310 - Portland URBN 311 - Louisville URBN 312 – Waco URBN 410 – El Paso URBN 411 – Wichita
Convening Schedule: Thursday, July 25th Activity Groups gather at 5:30PM Reception at Picnic House 6:00pm Group Dinner 7:00pm Optional trip to Last Thursday on Alberta Street (lively neighborhood art, music and food fair)
Description Meet Robert Liberty at Urban Plaza Clocktower to walk to Picnic House for reception and dinner Greetings and welcomes from Jon Fink, VP of Research and Strategic Partnerships at PSU, Portland City Councilor Steve Novick and Metro Councilor Bob Stacey (Picnic House, 723 SW Salmon, phone number is 503-227-0705) Picnic House
Vans leave from Picnic House at 8pm. We will explore the street festival, then the vans will be returning you to PSU at 9:45PM. Alternately, you can take transit back to campus.
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Convening Schedule: Friday, July 26th Activity Group Breakfast: 7:30am URBN 2nd Floor – Parsons Gallery Optional walk to Breakfast on the Bridges: 7:45am
8:45am 8:45am-12:00pm Brewery Blocks Redevelopment (Pearl District) (Transit and walking tour) Meet Lauren Russell in Parsons Gallery
Description
Experts
Breakfast, announcements and check-in Breakfast on the Bridges is a monthly event in Portland, organized by Shift, that offers bicycle and foot commuters free food on the Hawthorne Bridge and the lower deck of the Steel Bridge on the last Friday of each month.
Review schedule for day and meet for tours. Site visits & tours with local experts (4 choices) This tour will visit the Brewery Blocks redevelopment in Portland Pearl District with Renee Loveland of Gerding Edlen, the project developer. The Brewery Blocks is a five-block mixed use redevelopment, with housing, retail, office and an arts facility. The Brewery Blocks featured important historic preservation and sustainable design elements (including LEED Silver, Gold and Platinum buildings). This tour will also hear about the development of the Pearl District, including the district level approach to affordable housing. Metro Councilor Bob Stacey, who was the Planning Director of Portland at the time of the initial development of the Pearl District, will join on the tour.
Renee Loveland has over 15 years of experience in real estate development focused on all aspects of green building. She manages the LEED certification efforts across Gerding Edlen’s portfolio. Much of her time is spent working early on with our various design and construction teams in different markets to integrate meaningful energy and water efficiency strategies into our buildings. Renee manages the energy analysis effort, identify and secure financial incentives related to energy efficiency and green building, work closely with Gerding Edlen’s property management division to ensure sustainable practices and policies are carried through from construction to operations, and manage our overall sustainability reporting. In addition to Renee’s work on the development side, she is a project manager within Gerding Edlen Sustainable Solutions, where she works with public and private real estate portfolio owners to provide tailored retrofit development services as well as master planning consulting services around district-scale infrastructure. Rene served a three-year term on the City of Portland’s Development Review Advisory Committee (DRAC) and is on the Board of the Center for Innovative School Facilities, an Innovation Partnership project. Renee graduated from the American University in Paris in 1991 with a BA in International Relations and minors in both International Economics and French, and she is a LEED AP BD+C accredited professional. Bob Stacey has been active in the field of state and regional land use and transportation planning since 1979. He began his career as a Staff Attorney for 1000 Friends of Oregon where he played an important role in the legislative and legal development of the Oregon planning program. He later returned to 1000 Friends as Executive Director. Stacey served as Planning Director for the City of Portland, Chief of Staff for Congressman Earl Blumenauer, and as senior policy adviser to the General Manager of TriMet, the Portland regional transit agency. He has also worked as a land use attorney in private practice. In 2012 he was elected to the Portland Metro Council. Stacey has a BA from Reed College and a JD from the University of Oregon Law School and was a Loeb Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.
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Convening Schedule: Friday, July 26th Activity
Description
Suburban Redevelopment Tour (Tour mode to be determined)
This tour will visit a redeveloping historic downtown, now part of a suburb, and view suburban transit oriented developments. This tour will consist of several stops along the Westside MAX Light Rail line in Beaverton and Hillsboro. The tour guide will be John Southgate, formerly in Economic Development Director in Hillsboro and before that a member of the staff at the Portland Development Commission. Southgate currently works for the Hillsboro Chamber of Commerce.
John Southgate is the director of business development for Hillsboro’s Chamber of Commerce. He was the City of Hillsboro’s economic development director for six years prior to his position with the Chamber of Commerce. Southgate’s previous work included working at the Portland Development Commission, where he was an architect of the thriving Interstate Urban Renewal Area, which was formed in the late 1990s.
The Central Eastside is across the Willamette River from downtown. It is an important employment center with a mix of warehouse, distribution and manufacturing businesses (including start-ups) combined with a growing proportion of office and retail activities, many of which are housed in renovated buildings. One of the challenges for the city is retaining the location as a location for light manufacturing and warehousing, despite growing pressures for conversion of the area to retail and housing. You will have a chance to talk to one or more business owners or operators in the district, staff from the Portland Development Commission (which administers the Central Eastside Urban Renewal Area) and possibly a redeveloper.
Tour guides will include: Rick Michealson, President of Inner City Properties Randy Miller, President of Produce Row Property Management Co. Katherine Krajnak, Portland Development Commission Senior Project Manager Brad Malsin, owner, Beam Development
Meet Kate Drennan and Robert Liberty on Electric Avenue (across 6th Avenue from the Clock Tower) to catch the van. 8:45am
Central Eastside Redevelopment Tour (By van and foot). Meet Tara Sulzen and Emily Becker at the corner of SW 5th and Mill
Experts
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Convening Schedule: Friday, July 26th Activity
Description
Complete Streets and Bike Facilities Biking Tour
This tour will allow you to see complete streets designs of different types and a variety of bicycle facilities, including designs in complex traffic settings. Your guides and local experts will be Matt Berkow of Alta Planning, Denver Igarta from the City of Portland’s Bureau of Transportation Active Transportation Section (who recently toured bike facilities in northern Europe) and Sean Benesh, Graduate Research Assistant for the Urban Sustainability Accelerator (who has experience as a bike tour guide.)
Meet Sean Benesh at BikeHub at 8:45am
NOON LUNCH 12:00pm – 1:00pm 1:00pm-4:00pm North Portland Neighborhood Redevelopment Tour (Tour by van and on foot.) Meet Tara and Emily at corner of SW 5th and Mill to load into vans
Food carts (i.e. food trucks, vans and trailers) as a development strategy and community-building tool Tour on foot Meet Sean Benes at Parsons Gallery at 1:15pm
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Experts Matt Berkow (bicycle transportation planning) is a Senior Planner and project manager with Alta Planning + Design, a transportation consulting firm that provides bicycle and pedestrian planning and design services to agencies throughout North America and beyond. He is one of Alta’s leaders in bicycle and pedestrian data colection and analysis and he serves as project manager for the National Bicycle and Pedestrian Documentation Project. Mr. Berkow has worked to develop bike share feasibility studies for numerous cities and is currently working on a bike share technical assistance module for the US Environmental Protection Agency. He also works on developing local transportation plans, pedestrian safety plans and the emerging field of bicycle sharing programs.
Boxed lunches provided – some advisers and tour leaders will join you for lunch.
Afternoon tours with expert advisers (four choices; some variation in starting times) Some of Portland’s more racially diverse, and low-income neighborhoods have experienced some of the most rapid mixed use, commercial and residential infill and redevelopment. This tour will visit the rapidly redeveloping neighborhood main streets along North Williams and Mississippi districts (which are on bus lines, rather than light rail.) The tour will be led by consultant Michele Reeves and neighborhood leaders.
Michele Reeves bio can be found on page 40.
This tour and discussion will be led by representatives from the blog Food Carts Portland. Participants will have the chance to discuss the policies and circumstances that have led to the proliferation of food carts in Portland, the impact of food carts on bricks and mortar restaurants, the local economy and community development. The tour will include a few tasting opportunities but it is not a substitute for lunch.
Brett Burmeister, a Portland, Oregon native, is the managing editor and coowner of Food Carts Portland, a resource for street food enthusiasts. He ate at his first food cart in 1991 and has never looked back, having logged roughly 1000 visits to street vendors in Portland and beyond. Brett has been featured by CNN, The New York Times, Saveur and The Guardian, among others. Not only can he tell you where to find the best chinese dumplings, he also advises street food vendors and helps them operate successfully within the often bewildering mobile vending laws. Brett and his business partners launched NOLAFoodTrucks.com for the New Orleans street food scene, and they have consulted for other communities that want to emulate the Portland model. In 2013, Brett was a featured speaker at the World Street Food Congress in Singapore. He is a friend and advocate of mobile food vendors, and a very good eater. Find him at FoodCartsPortland.com.
Convening Schedule: Friday, July 26th Activity
Description
Green Infrastructure and Green Buildings: (Tour by transit and walking to various sites in Portland.)
This trip will visit notable examples of green buildings, green infrastructure and other examples of green design in Portland. The guides are Nick Hartrich, from the Cascadia Green Building Council, and Tom Liptan, one of the first and leading national experts on green roofs (aka “ecoroofs”.) Their expertise may be supplemented with comments from developers and building owners or managers.
Meet Lisa Harrison at Parsons Gallery at 1pm
Experts Nick Hartrich is the Advocacy and Outreach Manager for the International Living Future Institute and the Cacasdia Green Building Council, in Portland, Oregon. He helps develop and implement green building programming and outreach for architects, engineers, planners, builders, lenders, property managers, real estate brokers and developers in Washington, Oregon, British Columbia, and Alaska. Previously Hartrich designed and managed one of the Pacific Northwest’s most successful green bulding programs. He was intimately invovled with the creation and implementation of the Toward Zero Waste Initiative and helped to transfrom construction waste recycling across Washington State. Hartrich has reshaped public policy in local governments to strengthen public/private partnerships to support new models of urbanism and sustainable building solutions. Tom Liptan is a landscape architect who is recognized as one of the earliest champions of green roofs (“ecoroofs”) in the United States. During his service as an environmental specialist with Portland Oregon’s Bureau of Environmental Services, Portland’s green roofs grew from Liptan’s original experiment atop his garage in 1996 to 351 green roofs and rooftop gardens covering more than 26 acres by 2010, with city leaders committed to creating an additional 43 acres by 2016. he has presented papers on his work in the US. Canada, England, New Zealand, Denmark and Sweden. He is co-author of “Stormwater Gardens” in the Handbook of Water Sensitive Planning and Design, 2002, and a wrote a section of Green Roofs, Ecological Design and Construction, 2005.
Downtown Redevelopment What worked? (Discussion stops and tour on foot.) Meet Robert Liberty and Chet Orloff at the Clock Tower in the Urban Plaza at 1pm
Today it is hard to imagine what downtown Portland was like, and where it was headed in 1972. Forty years ago it seemed certain that downtown Portland was destined to emptying out, to a continuation of the pattern of buildings being replaced by surface parking lots, with few residents and being largely deserted during the evenings and on weekends. This will be a background discussion and walking tour with three people involved with the implementation of the 1972 Central City Plan, which laid the foundations for downtown’s revival.
Your tour guides will include a developer, John Russell of Russell Development, Dean Gisvold a real estate attorney and advocate for affordable housing, and an architect, Bing Sheldon, founding partner of SERA Architects. Your guide will be PSU Prof. Chet Orloff, a historian who co-chairs the citizen committee advising the city on Central City 2035, an update of the 1972 plan.
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Convening Schedule: Friday, July 26th Activity Teams Regroup URBN 212/Parsons Gallery 4:15pm
Description
Teams rendezvous at Parsons Gallery and then separate to debrief and share insights from the day. Prepare for their work the next morning.
BREAK – 5:45pm Groups gather at 6:45PM Group Dinner 7:00pm
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Meet Robert Liberty at Urban Plaza Clocktower to walk to Brasserie Montmartre for reception and dinner
Dinner at Brasserie Montmartre (626 SW Park)
Convening Schedule: Saturday, July 27th Activity Smith Memorial Center 238 Working Breakfast 8:00am
Description Focus on refining individual implementation plans and identifying needed additional assistance Working breakfast for the teams; prepare their implementation plans; they are free to consult with other teams. Facilitators to help refine projects with teams. • Revisit and refine goals for projects. • Identify measurable metrics for success • Draft workplans – what are the activities, identify who else needs to be involved • City teams identify target activities that USA will help them with through year of assistance.
11:00am
Topical breakouts to revise list of activities to support the full USA cohort: • Green infrastructure • Active transportation • Urban redevelopment • Real estate developer’s convening in October • Building multi-sector partnerships • Activities to support building connections for the cohort
BREAK 12:00pm Reconvene 12:30pm
Lunch served. Report backs to group; wrap up and evaluation
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Convening Schedule: Saturday, July 27th Activity
Description
Free Time 2:00pm
Optional group activities are: • Visit the bicycle art exhibit at Portland Art Museum; about seven blocks from PSU urban plaza (on your own) • Waterfront Brewery festival (on your own; McCall Waterfront Park about ten blocks away from PSU) • W ashington Park & Rose Garden Urban Hike (Robert Liberty is your guide; he walks slowly.) Assemble at the Clock Tower at 2:45 PM. We will begin by taking MAX light rail to the deepest transit station in the US. After taking the elevator to the surface, about 500 feet higher than the city center, we will hike on well maintained trails, much of it downhill, through the Washington Park Arboretum to the International Rose Test Garden, with occasional views of Mt Hood and the city below. The hike ends by walking downhill through the Nob Hill District to the Goose Hollow MAX stop and from there back to PSU. Walking distance, about 2.5 miles. • Sean Benesh will guide a bike tour for those who are interested • Rent kayaks or rowing shells on the Willamette River (across Hawthorne Bridge from downtown) or go for a swim • Take the aerial tram from the South Waterfront up to OHSU for great views • T ry your luck fishing for summer steelhead or sturgeon in the Willamette River. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dhUXO04Mls [Check with guides to see if fish are running.) Unfortunately, it is bit a late in the season for catching salmon on the Willamette River downtown. Here are some videos of fisherman catching spring salmon just downstream and upstream from downtown – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdIrizsZSZY – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9K60YqekdY – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ik7aEJxTnaU
Groups gather at 6:30PM Group Dinner 7:00pm
9:30pm
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Meet at the Clock Tower to take transit to Simpatica for final dinner
Farewell dinner on Portland’s eastside: Simpatica (828 SE Ash)
End