Urban Studies and Planning Commons^™

The Value Of Place: Planning For Walkability In The Tigard Triangle, Wala Abuhejleh, Ray Atkinson, Linn Davis, Curtis Fisher

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

The “Tigard Triangle” is bounded by highways and characterized by auto-oriented land uses in an incomplete street grid. It currently presents a challenge to the City of Tigard, whose vision is to be the most walkable community in the Pacific Northwest. The purpose of the Value of Place project is to develop a plan for improving walkability, safety, comfort, and aesthetics in the Tigard Triangle. In addition, this project was developed to test the application of the State of Place analytical tools to the planning and design challenges faced by the city.

This project was conducted under the supervision of …

Night Access Plan, Lea Anderson, David Backes, Abe Moland, Taylor Phillips, Rae-Leigh Stark, Shane Valle

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

Oregon Health and Science University is a microcosm of the 24-hour city, and it’s essential that patients, employees, students and others have safe and convenient 24-hour access to its medical campuses. Access to and from the main campus is always complicated, but even more so at night. The Night Access Plan lays out a strategy to make getting to and from OHSU at night and early in the morning safer, more convenient, and affordable.

A video about this project may be viewed here.

This project was conducted under the supervision of Matthew Gebhardt, Susan Gibson-Hartnett, Ethan Seltzer and Marisa …

Getting Green To Work In The Northwest Industrial District, Stefan Heisler, Sara Ivey, Alexis Kelso, Ryu Sakuma, John Dornoff, Dianne Yee

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

Forest Park and its surrounding watershed experience measurable environmental problems such as urban heat island impacts, increased storm water runoff containing pollutants, fragmentations of habitat connectivity due to their proximities to high-impact land uses, poor air quality, absence of public space, and lack of pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure. Getting Green to Work in the Northwest Industrial District identifies strategies to address environmental issues that affect local human and environmental health in the Northwest Indusrial District, Forest Park and the Willamette River, while benefiting local businesses workers and firms. Getting Green to Work explores voluntary approaches to address local environmental problems …

North Portland Greenway Trail Strategic Plan, Lewis Kelley, James Dubois, Savannah Erzen, Gena Gastaldi, Lisa Harrison, Nick Stoll

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

Grow Willamette Greenway was initiated through a partnership between npGreenway and Willamette Planning Studio, a group of six Portland State University graduate students in the Masters of Urban and Regional Planning program. Through a four month collaborative process of community engagement and analysis, including health impacts, economic development, and traffic demand modeling, a series of findings and recommendations were developed. The process built upon previous work undertaken by npGreenway, Metro, Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT), Portland Parks and Recreation (PP&R), and other government agencies and community organizations to present a strategic action plan for npGreenway to pursue what moves the …

Fourth Plain Forward: Action Plan For Vancouver's Multicultural Business District, Mandia Gonzales, Jamin Kimmell, Eddie Montejo, Lauren Patton, Kate Rogers, Anthony Thompson

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

Fourth Plain Forward is an action plan for Fourth Plain's multicultural business district, created in collaboration with the City of Vancouver, Washington. Fourth Plain's business district reflects the rich diversity of its surrounding communities, but the area faces significant economic challenges. To address these issues, the action plan builds on the economic development goals outlined in the 2007 Fourth Plain Corridor Subarea Plan, and aims to improve conditions along the corridor for both businesses and residents. Broadly, Fourth Plain Forward outlines strategies and actions to grow economic security and opportunity, and maintain the area's diversity.

This project was conducted under …

Tachomea: Infill Tools For A Happy City, Anaïs Mathez, Michael Cynkar, Hannah Silver, Nicholas Kobel

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

The City of Tacoma has policies that both encourage the densification of neighborhoods through a broadened range of residential infill options and also protect the character of single-family housing patterns. However, recent residential development has illustrated the difficulty of achieving goals of compatibility and density simultaneously. How can development incorporate better design standards and placemaking practices that respond to a neighborhood’s unique character, while diversifying the housing stock to provide a greater variety of housing options?

Relating to the city’s anticipated population growth, as well as regional environmental and economic pressures, this report frames the discussion, analysis and recommendations around …

Green Loop Swpdx Concept Plan: Alignment And Design Treatment Recommendations For The Southwest Green Loop, Ashley Eaton, Brian Gunn, Jake Adams, Kate Washington, Mohd Meidiansyah

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

The Green Loop SWPDX project was conducted by five students in partnership with the Portland Bureau of Planning & Sustainability Urban Design Studio and Portland State University's Campus Planning Office. It explores potential alignments and design treatments for Portland's Green Loop, specifically with the southwest downtown quardrant of the Central City. The southwest quadrant of the Green Loop links the South Park Blocks to the non-automobile Tilikum Crossing bridge. The Green Loop SWPDX project explores both large and small-scale possibilities for creating a sense of safety and a place for cyclists and pedestrians in the Central City. This document reports …

Paalf People's Plan: East Portland Pilot, Todd Borkowitz, Lorrie Chang, Christine Corrales, Leslee Humphrey, D. H. Strongheart, Timothy Wood

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

Recognizing the traumatic experience of being forced to move and losing community, this plan reflects the hopes of community members who seek to rebuild their lives in a new place. The East Portland Pilot Plan applies the urban planning practice of placemaking as a transformative intervention for addressing challenges and stabilizing the Black community in East Portland. This plan also emerges at a critical time, as existing city plans for East Portland indicate significant future public investment and development.

This plan has been written with a wide audience in mind. The material is relevant to homeowners, community activists, urban planners, …

Cathedral Waterfront Plan, Mathangi Murthy, Tabitha Boschetti, Michelle Anderson, Saumya Kini, Rosa Lehman, Violet Brown

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

The Cathedral Park Neighborhood Association anticipated the imminent development of 15-acres of waterfront property (the Steel Hammer Site) in the heart of their community and worked with the PSU MURP team to bolster the voice of the community through public engagement and thoughtful urban planning. The student team reached out to the neighbors, talked with shareholders, conducted site analysis, and developed a shared community vision for the Steel Hammer Site, which resulted the Cathedral Waterfront Plan that includes:

• Twelve community goals for future development
• Three scenarios demonstrating how development on the Steel Hammer Site could contribute to community priorities without …

Tigard Walks (A Plan For Walkable Neighborhoods In Tigard), Chase Ballew, Mark Bernard, Jeremy Dalton, Laura Goodrich, Szilvia Hosser-Cox, Steven Mcatee

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

The Walkable Neighborhoods Plan for Tigard outlines a set of strategies to help Tigard’s residents, businesses, and leaders build their city into a more walkable place. These five strategies are based on three core values gleaned from StepUP Studio’s outreach efforts to the people living and working in and for the city of Tigard.

This project was conducted under the supervision of Sy Adler, Marisa A. Zapata and Gil Kelley

Downtown Portland Waterfront Activation Strategy, Rachel Cotton, Janai Kessi, Eve Nilenders, Lauren Russell, Andrew Yaden, Jeremy Young

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

Despite longstanding ambitions and multiple planning efforts, Portland’s goal of embracing and enhancing the Willamette River as the heart of the central city has only been partially fulfilled. The removal of an expressway and the creation of Governor Tom McCall Waterfront Park in the 1970s and the river’s recently improved environmental quality represent major successes. However, few opportunities exist for park visitors to use the river for recreation, and Portland’s downtown waterfront lacks vibrancy, largely as the result of difficult or unclear connections to the downtown business district, surrounding neighborhoods, and the eastside. Additionally, public use of the park, a …

Allen Boulevard Corridor Plan, Anna Wendt, Samantha Petty, Jp Mcneil, Taren Evans, August Benzow, Art Graves

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

The Allen Boulevard corridor, home to diverse populations and a vibrant commercial district, is a community in transition and a community with potential. While Allen Boulevard possesses unique assets in its present state, it has seen little in the way of localized planning or City programs tailored to the area’s needs. As such, the City of Beaverton partnered with the Portland State University Master of Urban and Regional Planning program to produce a detailed corridor study and planning guide for the area. From that partnership, six graduate students formed a consulting group, InSite Planning, to produce this plan.

This project …

Gresham Opportunity Framework Plan, Belinda Judelman, Carlos Gonzalez, Hayley Pickus, Lori Parks, Mike Simpson, Pamela N. Phan

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

The Map Gresham project was a five-month long planning process led by Camassia Community Planning (CCP) to create “opportunity maps” and an Opportunity Framework Plan for the City of Gresham, OR. Opportunity mapping is a relatively new planning method for analyzing the spatial distribution of indicators linked to opportunity and determining which populations have access to these factors.

The overarching objective of the Framework Plan is to improve equitable access to opportunities for Gresham’s neighborhoods and diverse populations. We created the plan by putting community at the center and collaborating with local organizations, technical advisors, and City staff. It includes …

Washougal Waterfront (A Community Connected), Shannon Jamison, Sravya Garladenne, Michael Armstrong, Irene Kim, Julia Metz, Victor Caesar

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

The purpose of the Waterfront Vision Plan is to develop a community vision for the Waterfront that connects and complements the Downtown, supporting the creation of a local and regional identity for the City of Washougal.

Building on past outreach and planning by the Port of Camas-Washougal (Port) and City of Washougal (City), a team of Portland State University graduate students worked with the Port, City, and the community to craft the Waterfront
Vision Plan.

This project was conducted under the supervision of Sy Adler, Marisa A. Zapata, Gil Kelley, Matthew Gebhardt and Gregory Schrock.

Salem-Keizer Transit Flexible Service Plan, Darwin Moosavi, Brenda Martin, Cj Doxsee, Mike Sellinger, Lauren Wirtis, Matt Berggren

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

Capturing the Ride is an exploration of flexible transportation options for low-density communities in Salem and Keizer. The current transit system does not serve Keizer, South Salem, and West Salem well; each of these communities has areas with limited or no access to current bus routes. The project intends to provide a service that will better meet the communities’ transit needs than the current system. Over a five-month planning process, Paradigm Planning conducted extensive research and reached out to the public in Keizer, South Salem, and West Salem (herein referred to as the study areas) to determine what kind of …

Fresh Look Milwaukie: Downtown Road Map, Carine Arendes, Jeffery Butts, Ryan Lemay, Erica Smith, Iren Taran

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

The Fresh Look Milwaukie: Downtown Road Map project was a collaboration between ALIGN planning, City of Milwaukie staff, and over 300 fantastic Milwaukie community members, to plan for an improved Downtown. Through the project, City staff and ALIGN planning identified shared Milwaukie community values and analyzed how those values interact with current Downtown plans, as well as current physical and economic conditions. This document provides recommendations that are accompanied by concrete strategies to support a vibrant Downtown Milwaukie in the short and long-term future. The recommendations are the project team’s interpretation of community desires, transformed into policy direction and planning …

Not In Cully: Anti-Displacement Strategies For The Cully Neighborhood, Ricardo Banuelos, Brooke Jordan, Rebecca Kennedy, Danell Norby, Erik Olsen, Cary Watters

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

This document presents a set of strategies for preventing the displacement of low-income Cully residents as new investment comes in to the neighborhood. It was developed at the request of Living Cully: A Cully Ecodistrict, an innovative partnership of three community-serving organizations, Hacienda CDC, the Native American Youth & Family Center (NAYA) and Verde. In 2010, Verde established Living Cully as a strategy to introduce new environmental assets into Portland’s Cully Neighborhood. Living Cully reinterprets the ecodistrict concept as an anti-poverty strategy, as a means to address disparities by concentrating investments at the neighborhood scale. Cully suffers from many disparities: …

Alley Allies, Scotty Ellis, Katie Hughes, Derek Dauphin, Sarah Isbitz, Shavon Caldwell, Liz Paterson

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

This is the guiding document for the project and sets the stage for the potential of alley re-use in the Foster Corridor. It includes: A 2020 vision statement; a project overview; context regarding the importance of alley revitalization; and our recommendations. The intended audience for this document is the leadership of the project, the non-profits and other organizations who will be involved in the project’s implementation, and the City agencies who will play a critical role in facilitating the successful repurposing of these alleys.

This document describes the development of the project during the planning phase, including the public engagement …

Lombard Reimagined, Kathryn Doherty-Chapman, Zef Wagner, Jake Warr, Jodi Jacobson-Swartfager, Rebecca Hamilton, Brian Hurley

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

From January to June 2013, Swift Planning Group worked with the Kenton, Arbor Lodge, and Piedmont Neighborhood Associations, residents and businesses in those neighborhoods, and the broader community to develop a vision for what the future Lombard should look like and how to get there. Lombard Street has long been considered a dividing line between neighborhoods where walking is not only unpleasant, but unsafe. Businesses line much of the street, but they have not always served the needs of surrounding neighborhoods. The Lombard community, however, is made up of passionate people who care about their neighborhoods. They are ready to …

Live It Up Downtown: A Framework For Housing In Downtown Oregon City, Jennifer Koch, Ryan Farncomb, Ian Matthews, Lina Menard, Kate Drennan, Derek Abe

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

Five to Nine Consulting was formed to work with Main Street Oregon City and the City of Oregon City to develop a framework for the reintroduction of housing into downtown Oregon City. The name “five to nine” is inspired by the idea of activating Oregon City’s downtown into a lively, dynamic, and attractive urban center beyond business hours.

This project was conducted under the supervision of Gil Kelly and Ethan Seltzer

Toward An Age-Friendly Portland, Dawn Hanson, Mark Person, Garrett Phillips, Colin Rowan, Collin Roughton, Alison Wicks

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

Toward an Age-Friendly Portland connects the people-friendly efforts of the Portland Plan with input and specific needs expressed by older Portlanders to create a vision for what people want their neighborhoods to be like as they grow older. This vision informs recommendations that may be integrated into Portland’s planning efforts. Orca Planning found that the needs of older adults now and in the future are not adequately met by the transportation, housing and greenspace options available in today’s Portland. This project was conducted under the supervision of Ethan Seltzer and Gil Kelley.

Imagine Holgate: Transit-Oriented Community Vision Plan, Tara Sulzen, Chad Armstrong, Joshua Shaklee, Alex Steinberger, Michael Weidmann

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

The Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail (PMLR) line will open in 2015 and bring change to the Brooklyn neighborhood of Portland, Oregon. The Imagine Holgate project engaged the public in a visioning process to learn the community aspirations for future transit-oriented development in the Station Area around the southeast 17th Avenue and Holgate Boulevard Station on the PMLR line. This Transit-Oriented Community Vision Plan provides an overview of existing conditions in the Station Area, including a brief history of the Brooklyn neighborhood, a snapshot of Station Area demographics and the regulatory environment and market conditions for development in the area. Please visit …

On Solid Ground, John Boren, Michael Burnham, Jacob Nitchals, Andrew Parish

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

On Solid Ground is a community disaster preparedness plan for the community that lives, works, and plays within the 12 neighborhoods that compose the Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods (NECN), the client for this project. Through extensive research, public involvement, and a partnership with the Portland and Multnomah County Bureaus of Emergency Management, Terra Firma Planning provided recommendations for leveraging the unique characteristics of NECN to create a more resilient community. The team also created a virtual "toolkit" for NECN and its constituent neighborhoods to use to engage and educate people in creative ways, including a Disaster Preparedness Outreach Guide, Resources …

Neighborhood Main Streets: A Plan For Revitalizing Milwaukie’S Neighborhood Commercial Areas, Jay Higgins, Allison Moe, Kelly Moosbrugger, Levi Roberts, Tony Vi

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

The Neighborhood Main Streets Project is an effort to revitalize neighborhood commercial areas in Milwaukie, OR. Horizon Planning conducted the public involvement for the project with walking tours, a survey, visioning workshop, focus group, and open house to determine the community’s vision for walkable and vibrant commercial areas. Horizon Planning also examined existing zoning, transportation, and economic conditions that were not conducive to pedestrian-friendly and vibrant commercial areas. Finally, the project made recommendations to: Update zoning to allow for community-desired land uses; Change development standards to allow pedestrian-scale development; Improve transportation safety and connectivity to encourage walking and biking; and …

Connect Cascade Locks: A Trails Plan For Economic Development, Danielle Fuchs, Michael Ahillen, Sarah Bronstein, Ellen Dorsey, Sara Morrissey, Chloe Ritter

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

Located in the heart of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, the City of Cascade Locks is a point of entry for regional and national trail systems. Recreational development opportunities abound for the community including mountain biking, hiking, sailing, bird watching, road biking, wind surfing, fishing, and camping. As the only city located directly on the Pacific Crest Trail, Cascade Locks sees thousands of hikers pass through every year. The Historic Columbia River Highway, a National Scenic Byway, draws in bicyclists and motorists from across the region. With these opportunities in mind, Celilo Planning Studio worked with the Port …

Olde Towne St Helens Historic Design Guidelines, Sadie Carney, Caitlin Francis, Drew Meisel, Victor Sanders

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

Throughout the northwest, portside communities are capitalizing on their rich cultural heritage by concentrating investment in their historic districts and waterfronts. From Astoria to Port Townsend, historic communities are benefiting from renewed economic vitality based on heritage tourism and the increased numbers of new businesses drawn to the district. As a former center of industry and manufacturing, Olde Towne St Helens boasts a rich heritage in its collection of buildings along the Strand and First Street. These structures offer a glimpse into the working-class, industrial past of the town and the era of shipbuilding and raw goods manufacturing that shaped …

Vision Zero Oregon, Marielle Brown, Nick Falbo, Brandy Steffen, Michelle Van Tijen, Ben Weber

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

Vision Zero Oregon (VZO) is a street safety philosophy that aims to create streets where no one will be killed or seriously injured. Vision Zero Oregon prioritizes road safety above all else. Every life is worth more than an increase in speeds or road capacity for vehicles. Achieving Vision Zero Oregon goals will require a shift in the focus of policy, laws and enforcement, and the formation of a new relationship between residents and their streets, and revolution in the way transportation departments operate their streets. This project takes on one part of this complex topic, focusing on community interest, …

David Hill Urban Reserve Concept Plan, Joey Shearer, Misty Schymtzik, Lisa Peffer, Ryan Michie, Lindsey Kuipers, Krissy Hostetler

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

As the City of Forest Grove continues to grow, the David Hill Urban Reserve presents opportunities to accommodate development needs for the next 20 to 50 years. While this type of growth is not expected to occur for many years, a concept plan for the area is required by Metro to guide how the area should develop.The Concept Plan for the DHUR begins to create a framework for accommodating future development in an efficient manner, sensitive to natural features, topography, and views. This plan is not intended to be a complete “concept plan” under Metro’s definition and does not meet …

Reimagining Weston, Nathan Emerson, Zach Gustafson, Holly Howell, Carrie Pipinich, Matthew Rohrbach

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

Weston was once a prosperous city, home to pioneers, farmers, and an active downtown. Today however, Weston faces many challenges common to communities throughout rural Oregon. The key question for this small city is: How can Weston capitalize on homegrown and regional assets in order to revitalize downtown and maximize the well-being of the community as a whole? Reimagining Weston provides a blueprint for the community to answer this question. This plan is a proactive effort by Weston residents to shape the livability and prosperity of their community over the next 20 years. Reimagining Weston consists of three primary parts: …

Reinventing The Wheel, Amy Hesse, April Cutter, Spencer Williams, Reza Farhoodi

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

The Reinventing the Wheel project is the process of developing a Bicycle Refinement Plan for the City of Redmond. A group of volunteer urban & regional planning graduate students from Portland State University, known as b:spoke Planning & Design, has been charged with developing strategies to increase bicycle ridership and remove barriers to transit options in Redmond. The project is a "refinement plan", as it involves the refinement of and building upon existing City plans such as the Transportation Systems Plan (TSP), Bicycle Master Plan, and Parks & Recreation Trails Master Plan. This project was conducted under the supervision of …