Sustainable City Year Reports 2014-15 (Metro, Gresham, TriMet, Tigard)https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/handle/1794/225342024-03-28T18:00:31Z2024-03-28T18:00:31ZThe Eastside Blue Line ManifestoAhrens, Nickhttps://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/handle/1794/225432017-07-28T07:30:40Z2015-04-01T00:00:00ZThe Eastside Blue Line Manifesto
Ahrens, Nick
How can TriMet better communicate with the people of Gresham and the Eastside with the goal of creating a better user experience?
With this question as our starting point, our team agreed on two things to move forward. First, this project would be about the people of Gresham and making life better through connections. Second, we realized this project is bigger than a few students working on a communications system. This project could have real impact on lives and communities.
Before we could consider solutions, we had to begin to understand the relationship between TriMet and the people of the Eastside, all the way to Gresham. After preliminary research, our team took trips to Gresham to immerse ourselves. We rode buses, walked streets, ate food, and asked questions. But more importantly, we listened, and we connected the dots.
Out of our research and experiences, we recognized that the people of the Eastside are as divided as they are diverse. This divide is to be recognized as an opportunity for TriMet to connect, lead, and unite the people of Gresham Oregon.
In this report we share our research, insights, and ideas in the hope of helping TriMet adopt an even stronger, more indispensable stance in the community. This will be the era that tells the enduring story of TriMet, how it worked beyond obligation to make a community stronger and give the city of Portland the gift of a better future.
And the Eastside Blue Line is the place to do this. Here is our manifesto.
26 pages ; illustrations
2015-04-01T00:00:00ZSandy River to Springwater Multimodal Corridor Feasibility StudyXian Chen, LeonaRibe, RobEischeid, Markhttps://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/handle/1794/225422017-07-28T07:30:43Z2014-01-01T00:00:00ZSandy River to Springwater Multimodal Corridor Feasibility Study
Xian Chen, Leona; Ribe, Rob; Eischeid, Mark
The City of Gresham, Metro, Multnomah County and the City of Troutdale
collaborated with the U.O. Sustainable Cities Initiative in executing a trail
planning and feasibility study reported here. Students of landscape architecture
conducted the study. It investigated the problem of “closing Portland’s 40-
mile Loop” in its biggest gap along its eastern edge through Gresham and
Troutdale. The “40-mile loop” was originally proposed by John Charles Olmstead
in 1903. It intended to link Portland’s open spaces and greenways to create a
public accessible trail system. That loop has grown to a much more extensive
contemporary trail system and the eastern gap is arguably the most challenging
part of today’s 40-mile Loop system to complete. Unlike most of the rest of the
system, there is no existing right-of-way or river or other landscape corridor to
follow. A new trail here must traverse the suburban landscape though parks,
along roads, along unused rights-of-way, near creeks, or along the edge of
private properties. This report summarizes the planning and urban design
processes the students undertook, and the proposed solutions for creating a
path from the Sandy River waterfront in Troutdale to the Springwater Trail though
southeast Gresham.The class first did regional studies of many potential trail links and their good
and bad impacts as candidates to assemble into alternative trail alignments.
Proposed better alternative trail alignments were then mapped. The class then
developed more detailed designs for segments of alignments selected by city
and Metro planners.
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The project began with field studies of many existing trails in the Portland region
and a combination of field and GIS analysis of the study areas. During the field
trips that visited trails, students recorded trails’ layout and construction, site
furnishings, trail experience, access, and context.
113 pages ; illustrations
2014-01-01T00:00:00ZDowntown Gresham Walkability StudyHoran, ErinYang, YizhaoEidt, Taylorhttps://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/handle/1794/225372017-07-28T07:30:37Z2015-01-01T00:00:00ZDowntown Gresham Walkability Study
Horan, Erin; Yang, Yizhao; Eidt, Taylor
The City of Gresham seeks to improve the walkability of its downtown to create
a vibrant, pedestrian-oriented city center. Through the University of Oregon’s
Sustainable City Year Program, an Advanced GIS class of undergraduate and
graduate students from the Community and Regional Planning program and the
Planning, Public Policy, and Management department conducted a walkability
study analyzing the built and urban design environment for pedestrians and
bicyclists. This report synthesizes the research and analysis conducted by five
student teams. It contains a description of the class methods, analysis of each
study group, overall findings and recommendations.
Students used Census data and shapefiles provided by the Regional Land
Information System to analyze Downtown Gresham’s land use, transportation
infrastructure, and population density in ArcGIS. Students used a network
analyst tool to further analyze the level of street connectivity around 17
locations of interest. After this analysis, five student teams conducted on-site
walkability assessments of sub-regions in Downtown Gresham. The walkability
assessments measured factors for the built environment and urban design and
included gathering surveys of pedestrians and bicyclists along the route.
To analyze this entire region, five study areas were identified:
• Gresham Town Fair
• Downtown Gresham
• East Powell Boulevard
• Main City Park
• NE Burnside Road
Each team provided analysis and recommendations for each region based on
the spatial analysis and walkability assessments. Key recommendations that
emerged from the findings include:
• Enhance urban design elements with street trees, landscaping, public
street art, and outdoor dining to create an interesting and enjoyable
pedestrian experience
• Increase accessibility and safety with additional wayfinding signage,
pedestrian crosswalks, well-marked and continuous bike lanes, and
traffic calming techniques to high traffic streets
• Improve MAX transit station experiences with additional lighting,
landscaping, and wayfinding signage
• Encourage mixed land uses/density including additional park or public
space in vacant lots
This report addresses the findings of the walkability assessments by study
area and provides recommendations for specific street improvements to add to
pedestrian and bicyclist accessibility. Suggestions for possible next steps for the
City of Gresham are provided, however, further analysis would be needed to
identify feasibility and priority for the city.
61 pages ; illustrations
2015-01-01T00:00:00ZCity of Tigard: Funding Options for Park MaintenanceRuggeri, LauraReeder, Michaelhttps://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/handle/1794/225362017-07-28T07:30:38Z2015-01-01T00:00:00ZCity of Tigard: Funding Options for Park Maintenance
Ruggeri, Laura; Reeder, Michael
In November 2010, voters in the City of Tigard passed a $17 million bond to
fund parks acquisition and development. The bond, Measure 34-181, did not fund
park maintenance, however, and the City of Tigard now needs to identify further
funding mechanisms to support ongoing park maintenance.
Many other cities in Oregon are also looking for ways to fund park
maintenance, as well as looking for other sources of revenue in general, whether to
balance the general budget or fund a specific area, such as public safety. In fact,
the 2014 League of Oregon Cities conference included a session titled “Creative
Revenue Streams for Municipalities.”
18 pages
2015-01-01T00:00:00Z