depave in the streets
7th and Sandy Green Complete Street
Depave envisions greener, more livable cities that support more vibrant versions of humans and nature. Walking, biking, skating, rolling, are all forms of non-fossil fuel dependent transportation that are part of the future we must look towards creating in response to climate change and peak oil. Integrating nature and slower forms of transformation mean supporting life processes that are not only less dangerous than automobiles, but actually healthier and more supportive of life.
Check out Depave’s annual BIG BREAK BLOCK PARTY: a festive demonstration of the future commons space we hope to create at SE 7th and Sandy. This year’s event will be held on July 26 and 27, we hope you can make it!
The space today:
SE 7th Ave between Stark and Washington Streets exists in the Central Eastside Industrial District (CEID), in Portland’s urban core. Halfway between the Willamette River and tree canopy-abundant residential neighborhoods to the east, this part of the Central City has low access to parks and greenspaces and high populations of houseless Portlanders. The 700 acre, historically industrial area of the CEID, significantly lacks access to greenspace and tree canopy, making it one of the hottest places in Portland due the Urban Heat Island effect.
The intersections surrounding this section of street are considered “high crash” corridors due to challenging sight lines and lack of bike/pedestrian infrastructure. The landscape of this specific part of the CEID sits on a moderate hill that drains into stormdrain inlets connected to the City’s combined sewer system.
Located one-block off the Green Loop on the 7th Avenue neighborhood greenway (a critical bike/pedestrian thoroughfare connecting Blumenauer Bridge and Tilikum Crossing), this area presents critical safety challenges for all street users.
What we envision…
Our dream aims to combine traffic calming, community placemaking, and green infrastructure to an over-paved area in the Central Eastside District of Portland (CEID). We aim to create a vibrant, living, community space that creates community, celebrates arts and small business, while providing much needed stormwater management, habitat and shade from tree canopy.
The City of Portland’s 2035 Plan, anticipates that by 2035, there will be an additional 7,000 new households moving to the CEID, many of which will be low income families, creating new demand for accessible parks and open space.
Through a public imagining process of surveys and community engagement with neighborhood businesses, street users, housed and unhoused community members and conversations with local leaders, we have collected input and support for our complete cul-du-sac design at the project site (image right).
The project
The SE 7th and Sandy Green Street project brings together a diverse group of project stakeholders, including local business/property owners, community non-profits, design professionals, and City staff to develop more than a comprehensive intersection design that manages stormwater, improves the pedestrian and bicycle connections, and enhances the aesthetics of the streetscape.
This project functions through collaborative partnerships with PBOT, BES, Ground Score Association, Zucker Engineering and Design, Art Heaux, and others to redevelop and re-green SE 7th Avenue between Washington and Stark into a community street plaza.
Special thanks to our project partners and sponsors:
Zucker Engineering & Design
SUMMER ACTIVATION SERIES
BIG BREAK BLOCK PARTY
Welcome! Come rest, play, notice, create, listen, watch, engage. Join us in the celebration of life existing in the street and help transform this once-dangerous intersection into something safer and healthier for our future. This is a dreaming process and we encourage feedback and creative solutions.
During the summer of 2024, Depave will be closing the street at the 7th and Sandy project site from July 26 - September 20 to demonstrate the future project design, solicit feedback and design ideas, and create an opportunity for positive activation.
Partnering with The Courts, Depave will be working with the diy skatepark to relocate ramps and other skate features to the Future Green Plaza. The Courts, began as an informal skatepark on the PSU campus. Now that PSU has plans to redevelop the site, Depave will be collaborating with the group to rehome the ramps during the interim before they are able to find a new location.
Depave’s annual party in the streets celebrating community-driven multimedia art, music, food, local crafts, skating, and more! This event aims to activate the street while demonstrating the future commons space we hope to create at SE 7th and SE Sandy. This event celebrates all forms of non-motorized transportation safely sharing the street while depaving and regreening the city to increase access to greenspaces, manage stormwater, and reduce urban heat.
July 27 BLOCK PARTY LINEUP:
MAIN STAGE
4pm - 4:30pm Trout Novel
4:45pm - 5:15pm Josefina del Norte
5:30pm - 6:15pm Blvk Harmony
6:15pm - 7pm Stéfano Calles
7:15pm - 8:15pm Brown Calculus
8:30pm - 9pm Quomni
9pm - 10pm Parisalexa
TEACH-IN SPACE
5pm - 5:30pm
Shifting Perspectives and Subjectivity & Fugitivity
The Power of Narrative in Building a Movement [ Sunrise & Letters for Palestine Lead 15 minute presentation ] 5PM
Critiquing Narrative in the Development of State Power, Market Power, and People Power [ BRUJAS leads 5:15 PM ]
6pm - 6:30pm
Debate and Call to Action: Storytelling For Power Versus Subjugation [ Moderated Debate / Exchange ]
6:30pm
[ SECTION 2 BRUJAS THEORY ] DOCUMENT WRITING WORKSHOP PRACTICUM
“ESCAPE & PUBLIC NARRATIVE, DISCIPLINE, PRESS, THE WITCH” 6:30PM / BREAKOUT X CALL TO ACTION WITH LFP ETC.
July 26 - September 20 | PLAZA ACTIVATION EVENTS
July 25 | 10am - 12pm SOLVE Community Cleanup
July 26 | 6pm - 10pm Art Heaux Film Festival
July 27 | 4pm - 10pm BIG BREAK BLOCK PARTY
join us for a community block party with interactive mural painting, site-specific art, skating, vendors, live music and more!
Interested in hosting an event at the site?
To sign up to host an event in the art gallery and stage, fill out this form to apply to host an event during the July 26 - September 20 Future Green Plaza!
