PSU's capstone for the Master of Urban and Regional Planning Program is a group planning project called "workshop." In workshop, we apply our fledgling planning practice to a real world project proposed by someone in the community. The project lasts two terms, about six months.

I worked with five highly talented others on a project submitted by the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT): “Carfree Central City,” where PBOT said they “would like to identify and evaluate potential opportunities for new carfree streets and places in our Central City area and identify strategies for implementing these spaces in a temporary, interim, or permanent fashion.”

Our final plan, which we renamed “Living Streets” to decouple from the automobile, was built on:

• Countless hours of research on the topics of urban carfree streets, pedestrian malls, and streets used for activities.
• 222 intercept survey responses from three locations.
• 26 interviews with a spectrum of stakeholders, including business owners, advocates for better pedestrian spaces, advocates for the blind and those with different physical abilities, transit planners, and others.
• 1 technical focus group that included representatives of freight, emergency services, transit, and roadway design.

Everyone in the group contributed to all aspects of the project, but my areas of focus were:

• Literature review and research on historical precedents and current examples.
• Creating maps and graphics.
• Creating renderings.
• Finding, coordinating, and placing photos.

Read the full document: Living Streets