The St Johns Lombard Plan (SJLP)
The St Johns Lombard Plan (SJLP) was published in 2004, the result of numerous meetings and conversations between members of the St Johns Community, The Portland Mayor's Office and Portland City Planners. Click here to be redirected to the SJ Lombard Plan: https://www.portlandoregon.gov/transportation/article/520827
Letters and Articles:
"Cherry Picking the St Johns Lombard Plan" John Teply
"A View from the Trenches" Gerry Howard
"Writing Points For Your Letter" John Teply
"What Is The Tipping Point For Quality Of Life?" Kristine Munholland
"Driving 20 Minutes Looking for Parking" Shae Uisna
"Taking a tip from Joan of Arc in Laurelhurst" John Teply
"I'll Miss Her If She's Gone" John Teply
"The Magic Genii" John Teply
"Honoring the Character and History of St Johns" Chloe Frisella Kunst
"St Johns and the Streetcar" Leaf Neilson
Letters and Articles:
"Cherry Picking the St Johns Lombard Plan" John Teply
"A View from the Trenches" Gerry Howard
"Writing Points For Your Letter" John Teply
"What Is The Tipping Point For Quality Of Life?" Kristine Munholland
"Driving 20 Minutes Looking for Parking" Shae Uisna
"Taking a tip from Joan of Arc in Laurelhurst" John Teply
"I'll Miss Her If She's Gone" John Teply
"The Magic Genii" John Teply
"Honoring the Character and History of St Johns" Chloe Frisella Kunst
"St Johns and the Streetcar" Leaf Neilson
"Cherry Picking the St Johns Lombard Plan"
John Teply Letter to the St Johns Review Dear Editor, In the Review article of 10/30/15, about the razing of Ivy Island, Lindsay Jensen, Executive Director of St. Johns Main Street said, “We are in support of it happening. We recognize that significant planning, resources, and neighborhood input went into developing the St. Johns Lombard Plan, which is the basis/reason for Ivy Island being vacated.” If we're going to use the SJLP than fine, let’s use it. It shouldn't be dragged out when it's convenient to promote a certain agenda. Let's not cherry pick what it is in the SJLP that will be used or not used. The Plan promotes much more than razing Ivy Island for a right turn signal into SJ. The SJLP is thoughtful, considered, and wholistic in its approach. Importantly, for the business district, this intersection is seen as a Gateway into St Johns and the SJLP acknowledged that importance... "Writing Points For Your Letter"
John Teply The most effective action you can take is to call or write a letter to Mayor Hales and the City Council. Below are some points you may like to make. The most important point is your own personal and passionate reason why you want Ivy Island not to be vacated, razed and built on. Be sure to include that. email:[email protected] snail: Mayor Charlie Hales and City Council, Portland City Hall, 1221 SW Fourth Ave, Portland, OR 97203 Email is good but snail is better; email and snail are the best of all. Some points for the Letter... "Driving 20 Minutes Looking for Parking"
Shae Uisna Letter to the St. Johns Review 9/8/15 Dear Editor, For those of us who live or work in St Johns, it’s becoming clear that lack of parking is starting to have an impact on all of us. There are several new developments in the works that won't have any parking associated with them. The few that do will charge residents extra to park there, prompting many to forgo the lot and take their chances out on the street. I think we're kidding ourselves if we think that by not providing enough parking spaces, people with cars are going to stop driving and start walking and taking the bus... "I'll Miss Her If She's Gone"
John Teply Letter to The St Johns Review Dear Editor, I’ve been thinking about Ivy Island, and how I will miss it, if this new Charleston St./Ivy Island development is approved. It will be gone under the current proposal. Consider the whole of Lombard, essentially a succession of strip malls and traffic lights. It feels gritty with asphalt, power poles and undistinguished architecture. And then you come to Ivy Island. Ivy Island is a unique and lovely segue into the business district. Perhaps a little quaint, but it is nice. It’s shady with trees and it’s landscaped. And there it is right in front of you. You can’t miss it. Only St Johns has it and you know you're home when you see it... "Honoring the Character and History of St Johns"
Chloe Frisella Kunst St. Johns is a valuable neighborhood. One of the things that attracts people to this city is its small town feel and its historic neighborhoods, its access to nature and its natural spaces within the city. These are all key elements of St. Johns. On the edge of Forest Park, St. Johns is an historic neighborhood that still maintains a small town feel and a sense of community. We are living in the age of gentrification and it is more crucial now than ever to maintain and foster our communities. Development and progress is important and necessary, but equally important is developing in a way that supports and enhances the neighborhoods and the people who have made this city what it is. From the moment a person enters down town St. Johns, whether traveling over the historic St. Johns bridge or ushered in by the welcome sign and the foliage of Ivy island, one feels that they are entering a community and a little piece of history. Ivy Island highlights the small town feel of the St. Johns Business district and provides easy access. Ivy Island is a signature gateway into St. Johns... |
"A View From The Trenches"
Gerry Howard Letter to the St Johns Review, 10/2/15 Dear Editor, As an original member of the Citizen Working Group (CWO) for the St. Johns/Lombard Plan, I am very interested in the discussion regarding the proposed Union at St. Johns project located at Lombard and Richmond which includes a redesign of the traffic island such that the city will allow the slip lane to be removed and the building to intrude into the vacated space. As noted by others, this will effectively construct a 4-story wall right at a strategic entrance to the business district. This was not the intent of the CWG. While the Plan itself does not discuss this intersection at length, the issue was an important topic of discussion at multiple CWG meetings... "What is the Tipping Point For Quality of Life"
Kristine Munholland I am writing today about the mixed-use development planned at the east entry to downtown St. John’s and the associated road/traffic changes the city has attached to this project. This seems a significant undertaking that will greatly alter many features of life in the immediate area. I want to express several caveats at the outset. I am not opposed to development in St. Johns. When I moved here in 2006, I looked forward to the prospect of more diverse businesses and amenities in the community. The movement in that direction to date has been really promising: I love being able to walk to Tre Bone, Etcetera, City Farm, Ace Hardware, Leisure, Barrel, Proper Eats, and Affogatto (among others,) and the announcement that a New Seasons is on the horizon on N. Lombard was welcome news. [Clip] All this said, I believe there are features of this new project deserving of attention and review... "Taking a tip from Joan of Arc in Laurelhurst"
I think that the way some people are ready to demolish Ivy Island in service to the Farid Bolouri Development is the wrong direction. I think that we have come to take Ivy Island for granted. After all it is this traffic island that we drive by all the time with little notice. What if we take a tip from Laurelhurst? Just by saying the word “Laurelhurst,” for most people the first, and even the only thing that comes to mind, is the Joan of Arc on the 39th Street Traffic Circle. Without that Laurelhurst would just be part of the blur of neighborhoods on the Eastside, and certainly no one would give thought to the traffic circle. Laurelhurst made their ordinary traffic circle significant and delightful. The first time you see it, it’s totally unexpected and charming and it stays in your mind... "The Magic Genii"
John Teply Letter to the St Johns Review 10/28/15 Dear Editor, The strongest support for the Farid Bolouri Development is the blind Lombard curve and the safety issue at Charleston. Believe me, I always have a wave of gratitude once I’ve crossed it! It doesn’t matter how slow the vehicles are traveling, they just appear out of nowhere. You don’t see them and you assume that they don’t see you. It feels dangerous. It is blind because the Huk Lab/ Weir Building blocks the line of sight. Now imagine that you are a giant Genii and with your great hand you can magically lift the whole Huk Lab building and move it four or five feet away from the street. Instantly your vision down Lombard would be changed from 50 ft to 150 ft. With the complete razing of Bolouri’s lot, as will be done, that offers a clean slate with which to build and something like this can be done. Simply put, if the sightline on Lombard is moved back four or five feet, the curve is no longer blind... "St Johns and the Streetcar"
Leaf Neilson As a new resident to the beautiful city of Portland, and more specifically, to the neighborhood of St. Johns, I would like to express my gratitude. I have lived in rural Oregon for the entirety of my adult life, and moving to Portland has been a cultural and exciting change. This brings me to my first point. The character of Portland’s unique neighborhoods is what makes this city so special. It’s this culture that makes Portland “The Best European City in America.” This was summed up in Mayor Hales' goal regarding non-auto transportation. This is interesting, because the Lombard slip, which is threatened by new urban development, is ideally set up for a street car, like the one that used to run in St. Johns... |