The Grant Neighborhood Association meets on Thursday the 7th, and
at last month's meeting they learned more about the September Open Streets event that will use the Winter-Maple Greenway again.
The discussion was notable in no small part because it was the first public announcement, as far as I know anyway, of its new director (
job announcement here):
Emily Loberg, the director of the event, was present to present information about the September 22nd program. Open streets is observed internationally and the Portland Open Sundays Parkways is part of it. Streets are closed to motorized traffic and activities, food and entertainment at various venues invite participation from bike riders and pedestrians. The goals are to support diverse modes of transportation, make the streets safe and accessible to all , and to play, create and celebrate neighborhoods. It promotes community connections with new ways to meet up and participate in the arts, theater and dance. It supports and encourages local businesses.
The event will begin at 11:00 am and continue through 3:00 pm. The route will be along the Maple-Winter Street Bikeway, through Highland, Grant and Cando neighborhoods. The busier intersections will be monitored by professional flaggers or police officers. There will be four activity hubs at: Highland School, Broadway Commons, Grant School and the Salem Saturday Market. Each will also have information booths.
Volunteers are needed for planning, including: activities at each hub; food and refreshments; food truck outreach and participation; school parent club involvement with fundraisers, perhaps by selling snacks; organization of activities, such as ping-pong, basketball, soccer, yoga, lawn games; performances by choirs, bands, dance troupes, theater groups; traveling events along the route; and, providing transportation to the event. Neighbors are encouraged to think outside the box for ideas of what to include. Volunteers are also needed to distribute fliers, set ups the night before and morning of and, of course, as always, cleanup. The event is pet-friendly and will have activities for all ages.
More information is available at openstreetssalem.org
This is great news. You might remember Emily from
the news story about her cross-country trip back in December 2016.
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| In front of the old SJ building ("old SJ" is sad to say!) |
She also worked on Salem's first "smart trips" individualized marketing campaign in the Grant and Englewood neighborhoods. (
Start announcement and
end assessment.)
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| Working on a smart trips project in Grant and Englewood |
All in all this looks like a strong move to build out the event and organize neighborhood participation!
On this month's agenda also:
- Cherriots Trip Choice: Oregonian Crossing, Mischa O’Reilly (about crosswalks, both safety and advocacy)
- Community Participation in Transportation & Land Use: Steve Anderson
The Grant Neighborhood Association meeting is on Thursday the 7th at 6:15pm, at
Grant
Community School,
725 Market St NE.
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| Proposed new Costco Site on Kuebler at 27th, and near I-5 |
Costco
Speaking of community participation, and totally at the other end of the transportation and land use scale, on Tuesday the 5th there's a meeting on the prospect of a Costco relocation:
Your South Gateway Neighborhood Association brings you a public meeting on June 5, 2018 at 6:30 p.m at South Salem Seniors, 6450 Fairway Ave SE, Salem OR 97306. To talk about the possible relocation of Costco to Kuebler Boulevard.
That's lots of traffic and even more absolutely car-dependent development. Neighbors have not been happy about the lack of participation on the prospect of Costco's move, and this is sure to be a lively meeting.
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