Over the past 14 months, a large group of citizens have spent 20-60 hours each planning and discussing the future of North Williams Avenue. This is a major thoroughfare through Eliot and inner North and Northeast Portland for people riding the bus, walking, bicycling and driving in motor vehicles. The street has historically been home to a dense urban neighborhood and is becoming that once again. In the interim, urban renewal projects and highway construction projects have demolished buildings on the street, displacing many residences and community businesses. Members of the community have spent significant time and energy rethinking the neighborhood with several key goals: encouraging a full-service grocery store, more employment centers for neighborhood residents and dense residential development to replace lost housing. In the coming period of housing and commercial development along N. Williams Avenue we are seeing many of these goals achieved.

Continue reading The Future of North Williams Avenue