Signal Fire is a locally-adapted artist residency program in tents in the Mt Hood forest. There was an opening of resulting artwork November 4, see the notes here for that date for more information. One of the coorganizers, Ryan Pierce talks about the project and his own artistic inspirations. Talk in the Shattuck Hall Annex out front, 1914 SW Park Avenue, at the corner of SW Broadway and Hall on the PSU campus. 7:30PM Free
Bright Lights explores the Columbia River I5 transportation project tonight. The series is a meetup of architects, developers and influential volunteer civic leaders connected to the Portland City Club. So that it is being discussed there says something. I have an amateur interest in planning and architecture, and my thoughts on the project have evolved, and are certainly not settled. The project has many moving parts. The bridges themselves; light rail; Hayden Island as a port, big box sales tax free mecca or blank land for developing thousands of condo-apartments in a flood plain; a giant smooth moving gently curved interchange at Marine Drive for triple trailer trucks; saving a Safeway, Hooters and the Jantzen mobile home park; what happens to downtown Vancouver and how it connects to neighborhoods to the East of I5; tens of thousands of Clark County residents working in Portland while craving cheaper housing, income tax arbitrage in dual income families, a more wealthy K-12 and university system, or the elusive 5 acre lot; a desire to spend roughly equally on interchanges between the states; air pollution in North Portland; bikes and walkers; the architecture of the bridges; an old airfield nearby; future federal transportation funding decreases and future election impacts on key House and Senate committee chair positions; the effect of the Alaskan Way project in draining available Washington funds - I'm sure there are many more parts too.
The presenters fall into the skeptics of the current highway department plans. They are Bill Scott, general manager of Zipcar’s Portland office; economist Joe Cortright, presenting an analysis of car volume and financing projections; and urban planner George Crandall who has a plan for upgrading the 3 current bridges and adding two more. They will be interviewed by Randy Gragg, noted regional planning and architecture editor, writer and journalist.
At Jimmy Mak's, 221 NW 10th. Doors 5:30PM, discussion 6. Free
