Mayor Sam Adams highlighted the opportunities the city’s transportation plans present for the Lents neighborhood at his State of the City address on Friday.
In his speech, Adams showed how investments in transportation projects can transform a neighborhood, as he played an animation showing ways the Lents Town Center could change once a streetcar is constructed along Foster Road.
The Foster Road streetcar is a significant part of the city’s Streetcar System Plan, and Adams said last year that he expects future streetcar development in the city to begin in the outer eastside and work inward.
Streetcars direct investment toward neighborhoods because they represent a permanent transportation investment (as opposed to, say, a bus stop, which can be moved).
“Development of a streetcar along Foster Road will bolster Lents’ status as the Hub of the Eastside,” said Nick Christensen, vice chairman of the Lents Neighborhood Association. “With the MAX Green Line, the I-205 freeway and bike path, the Springwater Corridor and of course Foster Road, we’re at the center of everything on the east side. It was great that our opportunities were recognized in Friday’s speech.”
The Lents Town Center is a key part of an urban renewal area in southeast Portland, and the Portland Development Commission, working with urban renewal funding, has developed several projects to improve the town center, which centers around the intersections of 92nd Avenue at Foster Road and Woodstock Boulevard.
“I love how the rendering shows the freeway, the MAX line, the future Foster Streetcar and a cycle track in an area that people often insist will always be dominated by the automobile,” said Cora Potter, a Lents resident and the chair of the Lents Town Center Urban Renewal Advisory Committee. “There are many people that work, live and play in Lents who stand at this intersection every day and imagine the same future and vitality you see in this rendering. And we know it’s possible because we know our neighbors and our neighborhood. I really want to thank Mayor Adams for drawing the whole city’s attention to our vision today.”
Click here to view an animation highlighting the opportunities in the Lents Town Center

