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An Alternative Solution
Save The Greenspace AND Create A Landmark on 82nd!
Instead of the apartments going here:
We could put housing here:
A far better solution:
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Allows for green space to be saved, trees and food forest to flourish!
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Greenspaces prevent Heat Domes!
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Allows for apartments in quieter location off a side street.
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Allows new tenants to have a greenspace nearby instead of being on top of it and destroying it.
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Closer to bus stops.
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Closer to restaurants, stores, and businesses.
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Allows for a LARGE event and market PLAZA! Perfect for Farmers Market, Jade District Night Market, cultural events, and public art that truly represents and celebrates our Asian Community.
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Allows for small fenced playground just for tenants children.
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Better parking and access.
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Small trees already dot the parking lot and can grow, saving money on new plantings.
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On same campus as a library! On same campus as Head Start!
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Allows for greenspace to be improved and further nature-scaped into a true park, with additional potential for a sculpture garden or small live event area.
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Maintains parking and drop off area for head start program.
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We could create something truly spectacular, (award winning maybe?), instead of the bare minimum and the destruction of so much.
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This revised complex/campus could truly feed the soul of the community!
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Save The Green Space! Save The Trees! Move the Housing!!
More About The Plan - What COULD Be
The New Plaza created by moving the housing development from crushing and destroying a vital green space in our community will create a vibrant new market and event plaza, and a beautiful space that truly honors the Asian Community beyond a name on an apartment complex.
A Covered market and event area created with pavilions that features the classical Asian style of Architecture used in the Forbidden City to create something unmistakable and adding beauty to a bland and unremarkable stretch of 82nd Ave.
This neighborhood and this community deserves beauty, it deserves to have something to bring pride to the neighborhood and celebrate an important culture of this area.
The square could offer pubic art in front of the Easternmost apartment building. I imagine an ode to the Liangzhu city pillars, perhaps designed by someone like Maya Lin.
The covered pavilions could also include a pedestrian bridge in a similar style that links the small mall of restaurants across 82nd for visitors to partake in. Very likely the owners of this strip mall will want to help fund such a beneficial idea.
Even more behind the market area we could create a replica of the Great Wall of China. This would create a beautiful boardwalk, as well as help define the space of the plaza from that of the apartment complex. It may even offer some level of noise barrier - all the while representing an honoring one of the Seven Wonders of the World!
This new plaza could honest farmers markets, art fairs, and numerous other uses, and would create a destination for people to come to this neighborhood for more than an annual dim sum. _ Lets create something amazing, we can do it economically if we all come together!
Meanwhile, preserving the green space on Division and 77th allows for a large garden, perhaps the center of the space could return to a small marsh, and we can place additional public art here.
The proposed promenade to the green space through the PCC campus could include gates and public art representing other nations and culture of Asia - Japan, Thailand, Korea, Vietnam and more! The green space could perhaps have a small pavilion added in a more Japanese style of design, or as I said works of art to represent all of Asia, as the Jade District also welcomes more Asian business and restaurants outside of it's Chinese roots.
The project could change how 82nd and Division is thought of in the minds of most Portlanders as gritty and unattractive! It would create a world class landmark for the community, and there is known funding to improve and beautify the 82nd Ave corridor. It would also turn the neighborhood into more of a destination and a celebration of all of the beauty and community of the Jade District!