​Welcome Neighbors!

Welcome to Sullivan’s Gulch. We're the Sullivan’s Gulch Neighborhood Association (SGNA).  We plan activities and events, such as block parties and trash clean ups.  We support neighborhood businesses and also comment on government policies that affect “the Gulch”.  

​Download a copy our current newsletter.

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Summer Play Streets
​Coming to the Gulch

Be on the look out for lots a kids having a good time in a street near you!  Play Streets will close a block so kids (and adults) have the space to be kids!  

And consider having a barbecue or play music ouside that afternoon for even more fun

Susan Bickerstaff and friends have scheduled 3 dates this summer for the Play  Street series:

• Sunday, June 4th, 2100 Block of Wasco (hosted by Kelly and Sue)
• Sunday, July 23rd, NE 19th between Clackamas and Halsey (hosted by Dave and Susan)
• Sunday, August 20th, 2400 Block of Wasco (hosted by Lindsay and Jesse)

Streets will be closed from 10 am to 5 pm.  We're looking forward to seeing you playing in the street soon.

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SGNA Board Meetings

SGNA Board meetings are held the 3rd Monday of each month in person at Central Lutheran Church (NE 21st & Schuyler, use the Schuyler St. entrance) and via Zoom. We also hold spring and fall general meetings to update neighbors on our activities.

Upcoming SGNA Activities

SGNA Board Meeting
Monday, June 19, 2023 at 7:00 pm
Central Lutheran Church 
1820 NE 21st Ave. 
This is the regular monthly Board meeting.  All are welcome.  Agenda & Zoom login posted here.

Summer Play Streets for Kids (of all ages)
Sunday, June 4
​2100 Block of Wasco
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​Neighborhood Yard Sale
Saturday, July 8. 
We'll post information about how to participate here closer to the date.

Summer Play Streets for Kids (of all ages)
Sunday, July 23rd
​NE 19th between Clackamas and Halsey

Summer Play Streets for Kids (of all ages)
​Sunday, August 20
2400 Block of Wasco
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May-September: Events in the Alley!
Look for posters on telephone poles!

September: Gulch-O-Rama
More info soon.

September-October: Fall clean up
More info soon.

October: Halloween Block Party
More info soon.

November: Fall General Neighborhood Meeting and Board Elections

Gulch O Rama

Our annual neighborhood block party returned on September 10 after several years of a Covid time out. It was an alley party this year, simplifying the planning and execution.  Thanks for the organizing done by Esther Saulle-Simek and Marisa Perez and volunteers Sara Osheroff, Donald Issacson, Betse Thielman, Lynne Coward.  

As these pictures, taken by Keith Iding, attest a good time was had by all, and by those of all ages.

Crime in Sullivan's Gulch 

 Here's a summary of police crime statistics for Sullivan's Gulch as of June, 2022.

You can easily search other neighborhoods and time periods on the Police Bureau website. Select the neighborhood you want from the map or search box and then narrow the time frame if you want.  There's a short description of what each category of offense is if you hover your cursor over the numeric total for that item.

1903 Panoramic Photo
of North East Portland

The panoramic photograph above is of NE Portland in 1903.  It was taken just before the Sullivan's Gulch and Irvington were developed.  The view is east-northeast.    It's part of a bigger panorama of Portland taken by courtesy of local historian Doug Decker.

First a little orientation: 
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• Point 1 is Rocky Butte
• Point 2 is on the Alameda Ridge, with just a few structures on it — probably farms
• Point 3. This open area is farm land that was on a trajectory to be part of the broader Irvinginton development, but not yet subdivided on the ground. Doug Decker says,  it's bordered by today’s NE Thompson-Fremont between 7th and 15th.  This may have been used by the Multnomah Fair Association for various activities.

A higher resolution version of the image, without the circles, can be found here.  Smaller images of the full panorama are here.

We Really Cleaned Up
at the Spring Clean Up!

It took 13 rugged volunteers to fill a 20 yard dumpster to hold all the trash collected during SGNA's annual Earth Day clean up, April 22nd.

​Thanks for the volunteers + coordinators Michael Brown (pictured) and Dan Lerch-Walters for another successful event. And special thanks to Lloyd Center for allowing us to use their dumpster.

​Be on the lookout for another clean up this fall.

We Could Use Your Help

Neighborhood Associations don't happen automatically.  We could your help with our website, newsletter, gatherings and activities — things that brings neighbors together and makes the Gulch a nicer place to live. You might even consider serving on the Board of Directors.  To get involved, attend a meeting or send us an email.

See Gulch History
in Pictures & Maps

In case you missed the excellent History of Sullivan's Gulch at the recent General Membership meeting here's the link.

The hour-long presentation, by neighborhood historian Doug Decker, used pictures and maps to show the early days of Sullivan’s Gulch - both the neighborhood and and place itself.

Doug has now written up the information for a 4 part series on his website AlamedaHistory.org.  He's included some new information and the old photographs and maps are available in higher resolution than on the video.  

Sullivan’s Gulch: A look back in four parts
(+ bonus)
Chapter 1: Homesteads and railroads
Chapter 2: Manufacturing comes to the Gulch
Chapter 3: Old Lloyd Golf Course + Shantytown
Chapter 4: The highway nobody wanted (coming)
Bonus: What’s a Gulch and where is it exactly?

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A North-South Bus on 20th-21ST?
​MAYBE  SOME DAY...

Trimet provides really good transit service to Sullivan’s Gulch.  It’s easy to get downtown, NW Portland, Hollywood and beyond. And we’ve got several lines that go north to Alberta, Woodlawn Concordia, as well as along 11th & 12th to Sellwood.

One area that’s hard to get to on public transportation is due south on 21st/20th Ave.  Imagine being able to take a bus to Revolution Hall, get to Cleveland High School (the neighborhood high school for Gulch students) without changing, eat at Castagna on Hawthorne or even go to a concert (or class) at Reed College?  That’s the possibility sketched out by Trimet — a new north-south bus line on 20th-21st — Line Y.

• North from the Gulch Line Y would travel on NE 21st and then up 24th-27th (in place of the existing #17, which would be re-routed to 33rd) all the way to Concordia College.
• South from the Gulch Line Y travels on 20th, jogs over to 26th past Cleveland High School, then past Reed College, swing thru Eastmoreland and on Bybee to 13th in Sellwood.  In the concept maps (below) the #70 would end in Lloyd District (as it used to).

 The proposed route is shown on the maps below.  Note that Line Y is shown as an orange line in the NE map and a light blue line in the SE map.  The route is easier to see in Trimet's long range Service Enhancement plan (click on North/Central and Southeast to see the maps in detail.  (Text continues below.)

Last year SGNA Land Use Chair, DJ Heffernan, and I met with the head of Trimet Service Planning to learn more about what it would take to make Line Y a reality.  We were told that even with all the expansion and improvements that Trimet is currently implementing it appears promising that Line Y could happen in the 5+ year time frame.  But we were cautioned that there are some competing interests for the estimated $4 million it would take to operate Line Y.  This includes the possible conversion to electric buses or making all of Trimet free!  Since Trimet is a public agency they have an open process in setting the priorities each year.  It’s guided by a Citizens Advisory Committee and, ultimately, the Trimet Board of Directors.

Given COVID-19, Trimet will certainly put this kind of service enhancement on hold, probably for several years.  If you think it’s a good idea and would like to spend time trying to move this forward, we need help contacting neighborhood associations along the route to alert them to the possibility of N-S bus service on 20th-21st and work together to rally support to move it up Trimet's priority list for future investments.  But it’s going to take regular attendance at the Citizens Advisory Committee and later Board meeting to move the project along.  We’ll post new information as we get it.  If you want to help out, get in touch with Dave or DJ directly or via the Contact box on this page.   

Source of information and maps 
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North/NE
https://trimet.org/future/northcentral.htm
https://trimet.org/future/pdf/north-central-final-map.pdf

SE
https://trimet.org/future/southeast.htm
https://trimet.org/future/pdf/southeast-final-report-map.pdf

Current bus routes map
https://trimet.org/maps/img/trimetsystem.png

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