One more thing you should be aware of….
A Village resident left the following quote as part of a long comment on Sam Adams’ blog, as a follow up to the transportation meeting on Tuesday night. Since the poster didn’t leave his full name, I’m leaving this anonymous although I know who the speaker is in this case - feel free to ping me if you want me to attach your name to this.
Currently there is a pre plan application for new condominiums in Multnomah Village. The plan calls for the removal of two small homes with 18 new condo units and street level store frontage being added. In this plan it calls for only 17 parking spaces, 4 of which are on street. With recent improvements in the village the Business corridor lost 4 parking spaces in this area. So with 18 residential units and store frontage and only 17 parking spaces where will the cars go that people will have? because we don’t have light rail and we have bus service only on the 1/2hr, they will park on the gravel unimproved streets, on neighbors lawns and along the major unimproved edges of the arterial right of way’s. Think about NW 23rd without curb and gutter. That is what we will have soon if something isn’t done. There are several options to solve this: Force extended infrastructure installation by the developer, Add a parking garage to offset the increased added traffic (probably not popular thing with the city or the residents for that matter, but a way to solve a problem. A great location in Multnomah Village is the parking lot next to the Multnomah Center. A two or three level garage could be put there without impacting any views, and in my mind would actually enhance the site as it is a bit ratty today. Add Trolley, Light Rail or substantially increased bus service and of course sidewalks or walking paths that extend well beyond the arterials.
I’ve been meaning to post about this potential new devleopment, but haven’t had access to sufficient information, but the resident I’m quoting is right to be concerned about the impact on traffic and parking if this development goes forward as planned. FYI the site that’s being talked about here is the gravel road bit between Troy and Multnomah Blvd to the side of Abby’s Auto Body. What is that, 37th? Either way, it’s one of our “unimproved streets”. I’ll post more info as it becomes available because we Village residents want to make sure that this developer puts in the necessary infrastructure improvements to help alleviate the traffic and parking issues a development of this scale, in this location, will cause.
June 23rd, 2007 at 9:00 pm
Are they kidding? That’s a driveway not an area to build a condo. The parking has gotten out of hand. I own a salon on Capitol Hwy where clients need to be in the salon sometimes up to 2 hours for color; there is no place to park. The bus comes down Capitol at least 40 miles per hour almost hitting the pedestrians and cars parked along the street. I have contacted MTD, city planning, ODOT and a few other agencies to have a speed reader board put up on Capitol near the bridge. I almost saw an elder hit by a speeding car. There is no speed limits posted or Ped Xings posted. Now with less parking it is going to be even less ped friendly. Not happy about this at all.