The last issue of Price Tags had a section on Portland’s South Waterfront, and the new park being constructed along the Willamette River.
I wondered whether this was the finished state, particularly of the asphalt walkway. And no, of course it isn’t.
Ken Pirie from the office of Walker Macy, the designers of the waterfront master plan, sends along an image of the eventual plan for Bargeway Park:
Nice to see the separated path for feet and wheels.
Ken explains:
The city has no money currently to build the full Greenway with proper paths, but new condo dwellers demanded something resembling the grand open space they thought would be there instantly! We hope to also design the eventual park but much will depend on city funding and on the cooperation of river frontage developers.
I would have thought that the developers should have been required to design and build the park as a conditon of approval. After all, it only adds value to their product.
We still haven’t learned that trick. We subsidize our developers to do density, rather than extracting amenities to allow them to do density.
Sigh…
Chris Smith, Portland