75% of Portlanders can walk to a park or natural area in 15 minutes or less. Many of these parks have features like ball fields, playgrounds, walking paths, picnic areas, and more.
East of I205, it's a different story. Because East Portland was incorporated into the city fairly recently, it lacks the rich history of park development other parts of the city enjoy.
Yet, East Portland is growing - today, 40% of families with children are living in this area - and demand for equitable services and amenities is high.
New parks can cost tens of millions of dollars to fully develop. In this economy, that's not realistic. A future bond measure could fund the development of East Portland parks and natural areas, but that doesn't help the families who want to use their neighborhood park today.
The E205 initiative put a down payment on future improvements by making small (under $250,000) improvements that have a big impact. We added things like community gardens, playgrounds, paths, and new seating to sites around East Portland.
In February 2013, we celebrated the completion of E205. Learn more about the improvements below!
In August 2011, Mayor Adams and Commissioner Fritz joined us to celebrate an exciting milestone - the completion of our very first E205 project, at Parklane Park. City funding brought great new playground equipment to the park, and it was wonderful to unveil it to the community. It was a really fun event, with a soccer clinic, face painting, a bike skills course, live music, and more. We wrapped it up with a free showing of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, part of our Summer Free for All lineup.
In October 2011 - we had a celebration at Gilbert Primary Park to mark two events: Portland's designation as "America's Most Natural City" and the completion of an E205 project at Gilbert Primary Park.
We added a soft-surface path, new seating, and drinking fountains to serve park users and nearby Gilbert Elementary School students.
In June 2012, we witnessed two examples of the inspiring power held in effective partnerships as we welcomed 72 new plots for 72 new gardeners. These plots, at the Grant and Ed Benedict Gardens, were part of our 1,000 Gardens initiative. In October 2012, we celebrated reaching our goal of adding 1,000 new garden plots in Portland.
The hilly dirt track lets people ride in a loop without pedaling, and provides Portlanders a mountain biking experience without having to drive outside of the city.
In September 2012, Lynchwood Park was improved with a half-mile of walking paths, more than an acre of off-leash dog areas, new benches, signage, and a drinking fountain.
