This grass roots initiative brings a collaboration of neighborhood associations and community representatives together to create a shared vision and tools for action. Through a new Division Design Committee process, stakeholders will work to engage the surrounding Division Area neighbors and businesses to explore how we can build upon the efforts started as part of the Division Main Street/Greet Street Plan (2008), and make recommendations for how we can address design issues and concerns.

A key goal for this effort is to improve the notification and input process so that community members can engage more effectively with developers and projects earlier for more context sensitive design. Another goal of this effort is to hopefully develop resources that other Portland neighborhoods can use a model for their own, essentially a toolbox for neighborhood design. This might include design guidelines, photos of good/bad development examples, mapping of key sites/special places, special studies, and strategies for community engagement to articulate goals, vision and priorities for new development and community growth that is sensitive to existing character and supports economic growth and vitality.

Preliminary Goals, Themes & Strategies  were developed in early meetings of the Division Design Committee. Note, these will be revisited and updated as we begin the design guidelines process in 2015.