The depave movement is part of the larger tactical urbanism movement, to create more compact, accessible, equitable, ecological, healthy, and humane cities, which are better able to weather ongoing climate change. Depaving is an essential tool to retrofit our cities, to combine green and grey infrastructures in creative ways to mitigate urban runoff and heat, and to remedy inequitable access to nature. Across the USA, there is an urgent need to reform local government land use rules and plans, to legalize an array of essential climate mitigation and adaptation measures - including pavement removal. 

Depave has worked in Oregon at the State and local scales to reform outdated parking requirements that create heat islands. We have built coalitions with environmentalists, as well as housing reform and active transportation/transit advocates to relax parking requirements and create opportunities to incentivize urban trees and pocket greenspaces, accessible and affordable housing choices, and transportation alternatives to the automobile.

In coalition, we have advocated for improved transit and bike infrastructure, affordable housing investments, as well as regional parks and nature funding - which are essential to fuel community-led greenspace restoration. We have spoken out to support and defend green infrastructure funding and programs, which are essential to climate mitigation and adaptation in cities. In recent years, Depave has become more attuned to traffic violence, and automobile domination of the public sphere.

Depave’s project-based work has fueled insights into the many, and multi-faceted ways that automobile domination and urban sprawl undermine community health, well-being and resilience. We believe our project work makes us better advocates.

Depave has completed a series of preschool nature playgrounds, typically hosted at churches. One challenge we face on these projects is various local government permitting requirements, especially those associated with ‘conditional uses’ and parking. Currently, Depave is tracking an initiative led by the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development to evaluate and report on permitting barriers to childcare facilities in Oregon. Through this initiative we aim to reduce barriers to nature playground and greenspace retrofits at churches and other community hubs.