February 6, 2008 – One is a park located next to a popular shopping mall.  The other is a trail that cuts through the heart of the St. Johns neighborhood.  Both are important public resources that could be made safer with a few changes to their environmental design.

That was the finding of a study conducted by members of Open Meadow’s CRUE (Corps Restoring the Urban Environment) class.  Three members of the crew - Adrian Thompson, Elizabeth Brenneman, and Sherman Taylor – presented their findings to Portland’s City Council on Wednesday as part of the City Corps project.

Working with staff from the Mayor’s Office, the Office of Neighborhood Involvement, and Portland Parks and Recreation, the students evaluated the safety and design of NE Portland’s Holladay Park and the Peninsula Crossing Trail in North Portland.  They found that both parks experience criminal activities.

The class then developed recommendations for improving the parks’ safety and appearance such as trimming trees and bushes to allow for better security camera access, adding more garbage cans, and changing the design of benches to prevent sleeping and loitering.

After viewing the crew’s Power Point presentation, Mayor Tom Potter told the students: “You have produced a very professional and valuable product.  This is the kind of thing the city pays professional consultants to put together.  I commend you for your excellent work.”

Commissioner Dan Saltzman, who oversees Portland Parks and Recreation, told the students that the department would work with park security to implement as many of their recommendations as possible.

City Corps is a collaborative project between Open Meadow and the City of Portland that is funded by Worksystems, Inc.