SULLIVAN'S GULCH
NEIGHBORHOOD ACTION PLAN

(Page 11)

  NEIGHBORHOOD LIVABILITY

Safety and Security, Noise and Nuisance, Neighborhood Identity

FINDINGS/Safety and Security

• Although the crime rate in Sullivan's Gulch is still relatively low compared to many Portland neighborhoods, it is higher than the City's as a whole and higher than is used to be.

• Increased street crime, auto break-ins and burglaries are a threat to the safety and security of the neighborhood residents and businesses.

• The threat of crime fosters fear, suspicion and isolation among residents ultimately resulting in a decline in neighborhood livability.

• Improving the situation will require increased cooperation among management companies, local businesses, civic and church groups and the neighborhood association.

POLICY 10: SAFETY AND SECURITY

REDUCE CRIME AND THE FEAR OF CRIME WITHIN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

OBJECTIVE 10A

Support neighborhood activities which can help reduce crime.

NEIGHBORHOOD IMPLEMENTING ACTIONS (These are not intended to be adopted by Planning Commission or City Council.)

1. Develop a crime prevention program within the neighborhood association structure which utilizes available community resources such as the Office of Neighborhood Associations, Neighbors Against Crime, and the Portland Police Bureau.  

2. Form a permanent Neighborhood Safety and Security Committee as part of the neighborhood association.  

3. Apply for a Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) grant for neighborhood improvements which can help reduce crime.  

4. Help educate neighbors and businesses about crime prevention through grants, special studies, programs or speakers for neighborhood meetings.  

5.      Establish alliances among residents, property owners, tenant groups, area businesses and Portland Police to address common concerns.  

6. Identify common concerns such as transients in the gulch, unauthorized use of vacant parking lots or overgrown shrubbery which can be addressed by the neighborhood association and established alliances.  

7. Develop "Block Watches", "Eyes on the Streets", and other home security programs like porch lighting campaigns, shrub and tree trimming, neighborhood cleanups and lock programs.

Discussion: The neighborhood identified crime and the fear of crime as issues. That there is only one objective addressing these issues is a commitment from the neighborhood to assume the responsibility for educating and protecting themselves in order to reduce crime.  

FINDINGS/Noise and Nuisance

• Noise from the Banfield Freeway has increased with the construction of Light Rail and the resurfacing of the freeway.

• Abandoned cars and unkempt yards detract from the attractiveness of the neighborhood.

• Cars left on the street (abandoned or not in working order) interfere with regular street cleaning.

POLICY 11: NOISE AND NUISANCE

REDUCE NOISE AND OTHER NUISANCES IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

OBJECTIVE 11A

Enforce the City's noise control, parking and other nuisance ordinances.

OBJECTIVE 11B

Support ways to reduce noise generated from the Banfield Freeway through coordinated efforts of the City, the State Highway Department and the Department of Environmental Quality.

NEIGHBORHOOD IMPLEMENTING ACTIONS (These are not intended to be adopted by Planning Commission or City Council.)

1. Monitor the neighborhood for abandoned cars and other nuisances or code violations.

2.  Increase neighborhood pride in conjunction with neighborhood clean-up campaigns.

3.  Request assistance from responsible agencies in order to reduce or mitigate the noise from the freeway.

4.  Request that the State Department of Environmental Quality monitor air pollution in the vicinity of the freeway

5.  Explore removal of unsightly guy wires along NE 21st which inhibit redevelopment of adjacent property.

Discussion: Abandoned cars and increased noise from the freeway were the most common nuisances identified by the neighborhood. The responsibility for initiating ways to deal with these problems is assumed by the neighborhood. The city has codes which address various nuisances. The Banfield Freeway noise is a larger issue which will require an effort coordinated with several responsible agencies.

FIND INGS/Neighborhood Identity

• There is little interaction between the large number of apartment dwellers and the population which lives in the detached houses.

• The configuration of the neighborhood is long and narrow making interaction between the east and west ends difficult.

• N-E 21st is a barrier between the areas to the east and west of it because of traffic.

• The neighborhood core is effectively separated from other nearby neighborhoods by the Broadway/Weidler corridor on the north, the Banfield Corridor on the south, Lloyd Center on the west and the Hyster property on the east.

• The neighborhood is faced with the challenge of integrating an older, stable population which has lived here for years with a recent influx of young families and a younger, more transient renter population.

• Pressures from businesses, traffic and requests for higher density all affect the social fabric of the neighborhood.

POLICY 12: NEIGHBORHOOD IDENTITY

INCREASE THE POSITIVE IMAGE OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD BY FOSTERING INTERACTION AND IDENTIFICATION WHICH REFLECT THE UNIQUE CHARACTER OF SULLIVAN'S GULCH

NEIGHBORHOOD IMPLEMENTING ACTIONS (These are not intended to be adopted by Planning Commission or City Council.)

1. Continue to sponsor an ever-expanding Blackberry Festival every summer to bring people together from the neighborhood as well promote Sullivan's Gulch to other City dwellers.  

2. Promote symbols and activities indigenous to the neighborhood to celebrate both community and diversity.

3. Work with City Council to pass an ordinance allowing the placing of banners that advertise the Blackberry Festival.  

4. Design a neighborhood flag, tee shirts and other memorabilia using the blackberry as the neighborhood symbol because it represents something sturdy, resilient, thriving on adversity, bearing delicious fruit and very hard to kill!  

5. Erect signs or other physical landmarks identifying entrances to the neighborhood.  

6. Publish a neighborhood newsletter, the Gulch Gazette, on a regular basis to inform residents and businesses of ongoing neighborhood activities and items of mutual concern and foster a sense of community.

7. Sustain and expand the working committees of the neighborhood association.  

8. Establish a nonprofit organization for raising funds and exploring additional resources to aid in implementation of the goal, policies, objectives and activities of the Sullivan's Gulch Neighborhood Action Plan.  

9. Request help from the City with annual monitoring and updating of the neighborhood action plan.  

Discussion: It is important to maintain a positive community identity in order to further a sense of neighborhood. Highlighting the qualities and activities that distinguish the Sullivan's Gulch neighborhood is a neighborhood goal. The neighborhood plan recognizes that accomplishing a more positive neighborhood image and continuing the neighborhood activities that contribute to its identity is the neighborhood's responsibility.

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