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Monday Mailing

Year 23 • Issue 03 26 September 2016 1. Strong Towns’ President Charles Marohn to Speak in Oregon on October 3-5.

2. New Columbia River Gorge Trail Adds to 73-mile Bike Path, Walking Route 3. City, Main Street Receive State Awards 4. Free Talk: Engaging the Arts in Heart & Soul™ - Thursday, September 29, 2016 from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM 5. Speak Your Piece: To Solve Local Problems, Local People Are Experts 6. 2016 Main Street Building Revitalization Workshop Materials 7. Great Willamette River Clean-Up - Saturday October 1st, 2016 8. ASLA Launches Guide to Resilient Design 9. Do We Need to Redefine 'Better Off'?

10. Join us For The First fall Transportation Seminar: Friday, September 30, 2016 11. Speak Your Peace Civility Project 1. Strong Towns’ President Charles Marohn to Speak in Oregon on October 3-5.

Charles Marohn, president of Strong Towns, a national nonprofit working to strengthen financial resilience in America’s towns and cities, will host a series of public presentations in the Portland/Salem region on October 3-5.

Quote of the Week: "The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others" ~Gandhi Oregon Fast Fact: Oregon grows 98 percent of the hazelnuts in the United States. There are more than 3,755,000 hazelnut trees in Oregon, worth $49.5 million, grown on 30,000 acres, mostly in western Oregon.

Mr. Marohn’s first “Curbside Chat” presentation will be held on Monday, October 3, at 5pm at Smith Memorial Union at Portland State University.

This classic Strong Towns talk, which has been given in dozens of cities across the country, is centered on the question, “Why, despite all the growth America has experienced, do our cities struggle financially just to accomplish basic tasks?” The answers lie in the way we have developed; the financial productivity of our places. In the second half of the presentation, Mr. Marohn will specifically speak about issues in Portland and open the floor for discussion with attendees. Public officials and local changeadvocates are especially invited to attend this free, public event, sponsored by the Portland Bureau of Transportation, in collaboration with several community organizations.

On October 4, Mr. Marohn will present in the Independence/Newburg region, in a series of events hosted by the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development. The first is a walking tour in Independence, beginning at 10:30am. At this interactive event, participants will learn Strong Town principles of financial solvency, incremental development, local economic growth and bottom-up activism as they apply in Independence, while identifying current challenges and discussing possible solutions for their built environment. The tour will begin at the Independence Civic Center (555 South Main Street) with a short presentation followed by a walk. At 7pm on October 4th, Mr. Marohn will also give a public presentation in Newberg at the Public Safety Building (401 E 3rd St). Mr. Marohn will speak about traditional downtowns and how they can create a more prosperous and economically productive city.

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He will share examples from other cities and discuss how Newberg can build a more productive downtown. Extended Q&A to follow.

Mr. Marohn’s final presentation will take place on Wednesday, October 5 at 7pm at the Loucks Auditorium at City Hall (645 Liberty St SE) in Salem. This event is sponsored by John Gear Law, Oregon PEN, Cherriots Rideshare (Salem-Keizer Transit), Salem CityWatch and Salem Community Vision. The Salem presentation is a “Curbside Chat” and will cover similar topics to the October 3 presentation, but tailored to the Salem audience, addressing specific issues in Salem. It is also free and open to the public.

About Strong Towns: Strong Towns is a national media nonprofit whose mission is to advocate for a model of development that allows America's cities, towns and neighborhoods to grow financially strong and resilient. Strong Towns reaches an audience of more than 80,000 readers and listeners per month, and has over 1,000 members. Learn more at http://www.strongtowns.org 2. New Columbia River Gorge Trail Adds to 73-mile Bike Path, Walking Route The 73-mile bike and walking trail along the Columbia River Gorge is a little closer to completion.

This weekend marks the dedication of the latest segment of the paved Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail off the side of Interstate 84 – a 1.2-mile stretch from Starvation Creek to Lindsey Creek on the eastern side of the gorge.

The trail isn't expected to officially open until October 7, but on Saturday morning the U.S. Forest Service, Oregon Department of Transportation, Oregon State Parks and Western Federal Lands will co-host a dedication ceremony at nearby Viento State Park, which will be accessible by the new segment.

The 1.2 miles runs along the existing Starvation Ridge and Mount Defiance Trails, but also blazes a previously-inaccessible path to Lindsey Creek. Three waterfalls will be featured along the new route: Cabin Creek Falls, Lancaster Falls and Hole-in-the-Wall Falls, which will get a prominent new viewpoint.

To access the full story, click here.

3. City, Main Street Receive State Awards The city of Dalles and The Dalles Main Street have been recognized for their ongoing partnership to revitalize the downtown blocks.

Main Street has also received an award for its new promotional publication that provides an overview of its diverse programs.

The "Outstanding Partnership" award was accepted by The Dalles Mayor Steve Lawrence and Matthew Klebes, director of local Main Street program during the Oregon Main Street Evening of Excellence celebration in Astoria on Sept. 15.

Klebes was also given the “Best Community Education” prize for a booklet the nonprofit organization designed to address “What is Main Street?” questions.

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The partnership award is given to a community which demonstrates how two or more organizations have effectively collaborated on a specific downtown preservation project or on-going revitalization effort.

To access the full story, click here.

4. Free Talk: Engaging the Arts in Heart & Soul™ - Thursday, September 29, 2016 from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM The arts can be a creative, meaningful, and effective way to engage residents, particularly those who might not otherwise get involved.

In this free, 60-minute talk, you will hear how communities come together using the arts as part of Community Heart & Soul™.

Presenters include: Lindsay Varner, project director, Greater Carlisle Heart & Soul in Pennsylvania; Debbie Moreno, project coordinator, Galesburg on Track in Illinois; Vasanthi Meyette, school teacher and volunteer in Heart & Soul of Essex, Vermont.

To register for this webinar, click here.

5. Speak Your Piece: To Solve Local Problems, Local People Are Experts As I drive these familiar winding roads throughout the state of Oregon and beyond to the rural communities I have been working in for almost two decades, I think about the work we are doing to advocate for and help elevate the voice of rural communities, about the issues facing rural places, and about the people I have come to know and love. As part of my work as acting executive director for Rural Development Initiatives (RDI), and as part of my work in the many roles I have played at RDI for the past 18 years, I often find myself far from home. Yet it seems like every town I visit in this great Northwest holds a special place in my heart, with a familiar face, a favorite coffee spot, or a great memory. These communities are several miles away, or hundreds of miles away, from my home, and yet they are my home away from home.

These people, these places, and these moments, when our interconnectedness is so apparent, are part of why I have dedicated my life to working in the field of rural vitality. Rural communities are underrepresented and underserved, but RDI knows that rural communities and people matter. We are proud and privileged to be serving these communities—I am proud and privileged to be serving them.

To access the full story, click here.

6. 2016 Main Street Building Revitalization Workshop Materials For those that were not able to attend, you can still access all of the great information and tools that were presented. In addition to the PowerPoint slides of the presentations, there is a ton of great information in the “Supplemental Workshop Materials” link so be sure to check that out as well.

To access workshop materials, click here.

7. Great Willamette River Clean-Up - Saturday October 1st, 2016 Earn enough river karma to last a year. Make new friends. Commune with Nature. Give Mother Nature a day at the Spa. Earn the title “Oregonian”. Get a tan. Maybe. Explore little-known parts

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of your big river. Meet later for the big party and know that you did a very, very good think for you homewaters.

Join your river community for the 8th Annual Great Willamette Clean Up. Register at a riverside near you!

To register for this event, click here.

8. ASLA Launches Guide to Resilient Design A new online guide launched today by the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) explains how communities can better protect themselves from natural disasters through resilient landscape planning and design.

According to the guide, the goal of resilient landscape planning and design is to retrofit communities to recover more quickly from extreme events, now and in the future. In an era when disasters can cause traditional, built systems to fail, adaptive, multilayered systems can maintain their vital functions and are often the more cost-effective and practical solutions.

The guide is organized around disruptive events that communities now experience: drought, extreme heat, fire, flooding, and landslides. Biodiversity loss is an underlying threat also explored.

The guide includes hundreds of case studies and resources demonstrating multi-benefit systems as well as small-scale solutions. It also explains landscape architects’ role in the planning and design teams helping to make communities more resilient.

To access the full story, click here.

9. Do We Need to Redefine 'Better Off'?

Courtney Martin introduces her new book, The New Better Off, with this staggering statistic: nearly two-thirds of Americans do not believe that the next generation will be “better off” than their parents.

That reality provoked Martin to probe more deeply into what the expression “better off” really means to our society. Ultimately,The New Better Off proposes a more holistic view of human happiness, rather than the hamster-wheel of work and money that drives our modern idea of success.

I liked the book so much I blurbed it, and Martin recently took some time to answer a few questions from CityLab. To access the full story, click here.

10. Join us For The First fall Transportation Seminar: Friday, September 30, 2016 Seminar Speaker: Galit Cohen-Blankshtain, Ph.D., School of Public Policy and Dept. of Geography, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem Event Date: Friday, September 30, 2016 - 12:00pm to 1:00pm Follow this link on the day of the seminar to stream it live.

Jerusalem is perhaps an extreme case of residential and travel market segmentation. It is comprised of four different 'cities', which partially overlap in space: The Jewish-Zionist city; the Palestinian city; the Jewish ultra-orthodox city and the global-tourist city. While the specific delineation of these cities is unique, Jerusalem can be seen as representative of other cities where ethnic and religious tensions create highly segmented urban spaces and travel markets.

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In recent years particular emphasis has been placed on integrating transport systems, both across modes and with land use, in order to facilitate and encourage the use of public transport. Spatial integration suggests overcoming cultural and social differences that may be reflected with the units that are to be coordinated.

Spatial integration calls for minimizing differences among geographical unites in order to create a comprehensive, full network transport system with economy of scale. Therefore, there might be tradeoffs between integration and another highly recognized transport goal: responsiveness.

Dr. Galit Cohen-Blankshtain is a senior lecturer at the Department of Geography and the School of Public Policy at the Hebrew University. Her main research interests regarding public policies in various filed as transport, urban policy and environmental policy. She is interested at policy processes and examining different societal, institutional and political aspects of transport policy. Currently, Dr. Cohen-Blankshtain is a visiting scholar at the department of Geography, Environmental Sciences, and Marine Resource Management, Oregon State University.

If you are live streaming and want to ask a question, send an email to psuseminar@yahoo.com during the broadcast.

11. Speak Your Peace Civility Project The best way to determine what a community wants is to listen to what its people have to say. This is a fundamental principle of democracy. Disagreements can lead to healthy debate, which brings new information and ideas to light.

When a particular issue strikes at the fundamental beliefs of a group or individual, the debate can be especially fierce. In these situations, it becomes more important than ever to practice civility.

The purpose of the Speak Your Peace Civility Project is to urge the citizens of the Duluth/Superior area to communicate in a more respectful and effective way. This is not a campaign to end disagreements. It is a campaign to improve public discourse by simply reminding ourselves of the very basic principles of respect.

By elevating our level of communication and avoiding personal attacks and general stubbornness, we can avoid unhealthy debate. This will lead to a more effective democracy, and help maintain our sense of community by increasing civic participation. We hope to reach not only elected officials and political groups but also regular people, like neighborhood organizations, church groups and even the parents on the sidelines of youth athletic contests. We are not just targeting those who are uncivil, but those who allow uncivilized behavior to happen.

Our key message is to promote nine simple tools for practicing civility, taken from P. M. Forni's book Choosing Civility For more information about the Speak Your Peace Civility Project, click here.

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