2023 Accomplishments

The Roseway Neighborhood Association (RNA) had an awesome year of community-building and helping our neighbors! Coming out of the pandemic, we wanted our neighbors to have ample ways to connect to one another. To read about our accomplishments in 2023, scroll on! Join us and help us to determine how best to devote our energy and resources in 2024!

Earth Day Event

RNA organized an Earth Day event on April 22 in the Roseway Parkway. Over 60 people attended and learned about many aspects of our local environment including. Ten environmentally focused non-profit or governmental groups were part of the celebration. They provided information on the urban tree canopy, soils and water systems, wild salmon, honey bees and pesticide use, benefits of farm-to-market food, and local restoration efforts. Our participants and activities were vital in increasing environmental awareness in our community. We plan to continue hosting an annual Earth Day event. 

Seventeen people signed up to adopt trees in the parkway, joining other neighbors that have been watering our young trees, and providing a crucial resource during the summer drought period. Five-gallon buckets for tree watering were provided by a grant through Portland Urban Forestry.

One of the most popular events on Earth Day was our plant and seed swap. We grew around 125 locally native plants to give away, and neighbors brought plants from their own gardens to share. We developed an environmentally focused scavenger hunt that was based on plants, trees and birds found on or near the parkway. We also offered a tour of a certified backyard habitat so that neighbors could see how to incorporate native plants into their landscapes, and how to harvest rainwater with a rain garden. Another popular event on Earth Day was the construction of a large mandala on the parkway that used locally available plant material to make an Earth Day focused art piece.

The flyers we created to advertise our Earth Day event were provided in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Chinese. We posted the flyers throughout Roseway and in Cully, Hollywood, and Madison South neighborhoods. Much positive feedback was received from neighbors on the flyers in multiple languages, and we think it is essential to increasing inclusion and diversity at our events.

Many thanks to Central Northeast Neighbors and the Office of Community and Civic Life for sponsoring this event!

Earth Day Preparation Event

One of the best reasons to have a party is the excuse to clean up beforehand. On April 16, over a dozen neighborhood members came out to the park blocks on the Sunday before our big Earth Day event to help fill in holes, disperse mulch, and pick weeds in the rain!

Wishing Wall

All who visited the 7200 block of NE Sandy Boulevard in June 2023 were greeted by an unusual piece of plywood with brightly colored cards blowing in the wind, the Roseway Wishing Wall!  

The project’s goal was simple, and surprisingly powerful: ignite the neighborhood’s imagination to fuel Roseway’s next business district and public gathering spaces. What if we could walk or bike to our favorite places, instead of having to leave our neighborhood for daily services and rituals?

Within a month, our community covered the wall with over 128 wishes for Roseway. The common thread was a call for more places to gather together as a community, to build community. Core themes that emerged included more food/drink options aligned with our neighborhood palate, greening Sandy Blvd to improve habitat and mirror residential Roseway, and all-ages creative venues to explore art, music, theater, books and movies together. To see the full spectrum of our community’s ideas, please visit the Wishing Wall report here and the wish index here.

The project came full circle in the fall of 2023, when RNA tapped Wishing Wall research to engage local property managers and prospective tenants in conversation about our community’s needs and dreams.

A big thank you to Ray and Judy Kent for hosting the Wishing Wall on their property.

Sunday Parkways

Sunday Parkways rolled through Roseway again this June. RNA was there to provide streamers for your bike handles, information on public safety, and encouraged people to contribute to the Roseway Wishing Wall.

Concert and Movie in the Park

On July 20, RNA hosted a Summer Free for All concert and movie at Wellington Park. This event brought together neighbors from Roseway, Cully, and beyond. Inspired by Scott School’s Spanish language immersion program, we presented the movie Lyle, Lyle Crocodile in Spanish with English subtitles. Local band Pura Vida Orquesta provided outstanding salsa and timba music for the crowd prior to the movie. RNA board members provided face painting to many grateful neighbors.

The movie and band attracted a diverse group of over 80 neighbors who enjoyed the performance and connecting as a community on a warm summer evening.

Many thanks to our sponsors, which included Central Northeast Neighbors, Portland Office of Community and Civic Life, Portland Bureau of Parks and Recreation, FACT Oregon, Fresh Love, Green Savers, the Gregory Heights Library, Habitat Gardens, Mom and Pop Wine Shop, NW Natural Gas, Recovery Café Roseway, and Rosehips Movement.

Ice Cream Social and Emergency Preparedness

On a gloriously warm day on Oct 8, RNA hosted an ice cream social with a theme of emergency preparedness. More than 60 neighbors joined to learn about the Portland Bureau of Emergency Management and what we all can do to help ourselves, our family, and our neighbors in the case of an emergency such as a fire, earthquake, or other neighborhood-wide event. Thanks to Neighborhood Emergency Team (NET) members Dave and Amy for educating people on NET and recruiting more neighbors to the team. For more information about NET, including how to volunteer, see the PBEM site.

Naturally, the free ice cream and other frozen treats were a big hit with kids and adults.

Thanks to Central Northeast Neighbors and the Office of Community and Civic Life for sponsoring this event!

Business Mixers

The RNA Business Relations Committee forges relationships between the neighborhood association and Roseway businesses. The committee organized two business mixers to connect local business owners and representatives to each other and to city and other services. One mixer focused on the benefits of a business district association. The other provided tools and tips for a business’ social media presence and best practices.

Roseway Bulletin

Through our monthly electronic bulletin, RNA provides information about upcoming meetings, exciting news about goings-on in the neighborhood, and important updates about what’s happening in the city. RNA’s monthly e-bulletin now goes out to 215 Roseway neighbors and has an exceptional average open rate of 80%.

If you haven’t already, please subscribe so you get the bulletin every month!

Outreach and Education through Social Media

In 2023, RNA kept the neighborhood informed and inspired through frequent social media posts.

On Facebook, we created 109 posts which reached 7,705 users, up 66% over last year. We have 1,355 followers, with 130 new followers this year. We post major news and events to the unaffiliated Roseway PDX community group, but please also follow our official Roseway Neighborhood Association page.
On Instagram, we created 91 posts and 5 reels. The posts reached 1,014 users, up 589% over last year! We have 229 followers, with 140 new followers this year. Please follow us for the latest!

History

Longtime Roseway resident Bonnie LaDoe provided us with lots of great photos and information to kick off our history project. In June and July we made weekly history posts on Facebook and Instagram with photos going back as far as 1915!

Blossom Mural

Portland’s Public Environment Management Office (PEMO) provided funding for the mural that is now on the east side of the Blossom building on NE 78th and Sandy. PEMO asked the Roseway Neighborhood Association to reach out to building and business owners to determine the best use of these funds. We selected the Blossom building as the top priority. Thanks to Portland Street Art Alliance for its beautiful design and painting!

RNA will work to secure funding for other mural projects in 2024!

Medians on Sandy at 72nd

Following the two violent and disruptive street takeovers of 2022, RNA worked with PBOT to brainstorm pragmatic ideas of how to avoid future street takeovers at NE Sandy and 72nd Ave. We determined that PBOT could quickly deploy soft medians and bollards. These not only divide the tarmac and make the intersection less appealing for street takeovers, they also help to route and calm traffic.

While the medians didn’t prevent a summer 2023 street takeover, it appears to have discouraged future events. The street takeover on Dec 30 avoided the intersection.

Roseway Dumpster Day

The Roseway Neighborhood Association plans and sponsors an annual Neighborhood Clean Up and Dumpster Day.  

Working with the Central Northeast Neighbors (CNN), Roseway has offered this low-cost and accessible opportunity for Roseway residents and others to conveniently drop off unwanted bulky waste which is either recycled, re-used or hauled away for a small donation based on your ability to pay. RNA has been able to provide a convenient opportunity in our neighborhood that generates unrestricted revenue for our neighborhood association to use in sponsoring other events year-round.

Here are the results of our August 19, 2023 Clean up and Dumpster Day:

  • 24 volunteers

  • 160 customers in cars, trucks, wagons and by foot

  • 10.27 tons of bulky waste collected (over 22,600 pounds)

  • 2.5 tons (about 5,000 lbs) of metal and electronics collected

  • Lots of item rehomed at the Treasure Swap (free area)

  • Total gross income: $8,576.15

  • Total expenses: $4,182.49

  • Net income to RNA: $4,393.66

If you are interested in helping plan or volunteer for the 2024 event, please email David Moskowitz.

Many thanks to Metro for sponsoring!

Roseway Parkway

The Roseway Parkway stretches five long blocks from NE Sandy Blvd to Prescott Street along 72nd Ave. It is a precious open space, providing peace, exercise, and recreation for our community. The parkway is officially a median, not park blocks. It is owned by the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT), with no access to water and limited maintenance, provided primarily through RNA and other volunteers. 

Roseway Parkway Plaza Planning and Placemaking

The RNA, with funding from the CNN Small Grant program, hosted two events this year at our future plaza space at NE Mason St and 72nd Ave between two blocks of the Roseway Parkway. Our Earth Day on April 22nd and an Ice Cream Social and Emergency Preparedness event on October 8th provided useful information and fun activities. We hope to host many future events in our street plaza.

 The RNA Placemaking Committee began planning for the Roseway Parkway Plaza at the intersection of NE 72nd Ave and Mason St. Our last update from PBOT indicated a start date of late in 2024 for the initiation of construction on the NE Mason / Skidmore Greenway Project. As a component of this project, this intersection will be closed to east-west motor vehicle traffic and will become one of Portland’s street plazas. We hope to make our plaza a destination for the neighborhood and for bicyclists traveling on the Mason and 72nd Ave greenways.    

Students from the Portland State University Program in Urban Studies and Planning visited the Roseway Parkway in April to talk with residents and observe uses of the Roseway Parkway. They surveyed 165 parkway users and identified common desires for the parkway and plaza space. Working in collaboration with Greg Raisman, Director of PBOT’s Livable Streets program, the group identified goals, objectives, and recommended action items for the parkway space in their PSU_IT STEP Report. We are using this data along with our own interactions with parkway users to generate ideas for meeting some of these goals and objectives.

Tree planting and ongoing parkway maintenance

Seventeen new parkway tree watering volunteers were recruited at our Earth Day event. They join neighbors that have been engaged in watering some of our young trees the last several years during periods of drought or extreme heat. 

Neighborhood volunteers continued to help with mowing and trimming the five blocks of the parkway. Thanks to Scott Everist for the use of his riding lawn mower for this task, and to all the neighborhood volunteers for pitching in on the parkway.

 The RNA ordered six yards of screened fill dirt in September and neighbors filled most of the depressions on the parkway. Grass seed and straw mulch were applied to these areas, including several areas damaged last year by vehicles driving on the parkway. These repairs make the parkway a safer place for both pedestrians and the PBOT and volunteer mowers.

The Youth Conservation Corp Tree Crew led by Urban Forestry staff spent three days on the Roseway Parkway in July, weeding and mulching the young trees. They plan to return in the coming year to help the neighborhood with parkway tree care.

Urban Forestry staff, Neighborhood Tree Stewards from throughout the city, and local volunteers will plant 12 new trees on the parkway blocks between NE Sandy and Mason St on December 16th of this year. Tree species were selected for qualities such as drought resistance, wildlife habitat, or pollinator resources. The new trees will add to the species diversity of our Roseway Parkway, and we plan to apply for official arboretum designation from the Urban Forestry Commission in the coming year.

Provided Groceries to Families in Need

RNA provided $600 in food assistance to Greater Roseway families in need. Working with Roseway Heights Middle School, Rose City Park Elementary, Scott Elementary, and McDaniel High School, RNA distributed Safeway gift cards to families. We hope that this food assistance helped these families to provide nutritious food to their families.

Thanks to Central Northeast Neighbors for providing the resiliency grant funds and to Roseway Safeway for providing extra gift cards.

Provided Feedback to PBOT on Transportation Projects

In April, we hosted several project managers from the Portland Bureau of Transportation. They reviewed their plans for several projects that intersect with Roseway, including the 70s Greenway: Cully Connector, Mason/Skidmore Greenway, 72nd and Mason Carless Plaza, 70s Greenway: Sacramento to Flavel, and 82nd Ave Critical Fixes. The board and community members asked questions and provided input on those projects. Attendees were generally in favor of the projects. Some attendees had concerns about certain aspects such as the impact of speed bumps and traffic control changes.

Placed City-supported Trash Cans

Through Portland’s Public Environment Management Office (PEMO), the Roseway Neighborhood recommended a number of locations along Sandy, Fremont, and 82nd Ave for city-supported trash cans. The lovely trash cans have substantially reduced litter in the neighborhood.

Advocated for Neighborhood-oriented Districts

In June, RNA invited neighbor Josh Laurente, a member of the Independent District Commision to present at a community meeting to share more about the three proposed maps that were developed in order to split the city of Portland into four districts. RNA then scheduled a follow-up meeting to learn more about the maps and the reasoning behind them. There was some concern, as in two of the three proposed maps, the Roseway Neighborhood was divided into two different districts. After gleaning more information from various parties, RNA advocated to endorse the Alder Map in order to keep the Roseway Neighborhood in one district (District 3). RNA was able to send out notice to neighbors about our endorsement during the public commentary period. The Alder Map ended up being the map selected by the commission.

Sponsored School and Community Events

Winter Solstice

RNA members organized a pop-up event at NE 72nd and Mason to celebrate the winter solstice. They provided hot cocoa and cider and marked the shortest day of the year with stories, poems, songs, and lights. Neighbors joined together for one last event of the year at the future site of the Roseway Parkway Plaza.

We also admired the freshly-painted parkway bench. Thanks to a gift from the City of Portland’s Graffiti team, we now have several gallons of Metro paint to keep the bench clean and tidy.

And So Much More!

  • Liaised with Portland Police (via PEMO), which helped encourage their missions targeting human trafficking, shootings, car theft, and street takeovers.

  • Promoted and provided feedback on PBOT’s Building a Better 82nd Ave program.

  • Endorsed letter supporting oversight of the CEI hub 

  • Grew the board from ten to thirteen members, which has increased our skills and capacity for work such as what’s listed above.

  • Monitored development notices, which ensured that new developments are responsible and benefit the neighborhood.

Join Us!

RNA is an all-volunteer organization. It takes the time, energy, and commitment of neighbors like you to make things happen and represent all of Roseway. Please join us so that we can contribute even more in 2024!