The neighborhood Parking Committee oversees the Area Parking Permit Programs in this neighborhood (Goose Hollow APPP and Gander Ridge APPP) and deals with other transportation related issues as they arise. It meets at 6:30 PM on the second Tuesday of every month in room 210 of the First United Methodist Church at SW 18th and Jefferson.
The Goose Hollow Foothills League is continually seeking neighbors who want to be involved, or simply informed, of events and issues in Goose Hollow. If you're an interested neighbor, you can e mail us your membership application. Be sure to include your Goose Hollow address, and your mailing address (if they're different), your telephone number, whether you're a resident, business owner, or property owner, and a request to be a Goose Hollow member.
Where and what's Goose Hollow?
The attached Statistical Profile is a summary of Goose Hollow social statistics assembled by the US bureau of the census from 1990 census block data and reported by neighborhood. The Goose Hollow Neighborhood Map is a street map base for the area identified in Goose Hollow's bylaws, and recognized by the City of Portland.
Goose Hollow Quartersection Maps
These maps are linked to the City's cadastral base and together cover the Goose Hollow area. They are updated periodically by the City, but should not be assumed to be current. Any information taken from them should be verified by the Portland Bureau of Planning.
Housing in Goose Hollow
This neighborhood association is host to several distinct, but related, residential communities. These consist of an "uptown" area of older brick apartment houses and residential hotels, mixed with commercial and light industrial activities the we have called the Lownsdale area; an area called Kings Hill that once hosted the residences of Portland's turn of the century wealthier merchants, now partly infilled with higher density apartments and offices; the "hollow" itself, an outskirt of downtown that mixed commercial, residential, industrial, and highway commercial activities in an area that had been family farms and Portland suburbs before the automobile. Less intimately associated are Gander Ridge and Vista Ridge, hillside residential areas bordering the hollow, but strongly related to it socially and historically. While the neighborhood has now less than half the housing stock it had thirty years ago, it remains one of the most densely populated parts of the City. Its attractiveness as a place to live has much to do with this association's insistence on maintaining a pedestrian environment and rebuilding a community focus lost in a period of dislocation and changing patterns of urbanization accompanying the development of urban freeways. Recent trends are toward rebuilding the neighborhood's housing stock with new units exceeding demolitions in the 1990's.
- College Housing Northwest is a private non-profit organization that provides housing for students of nearby Portland State University, Portland Community College, and their families. Because of it's proximity to the University and to downtown Portland, Goose Hollow has long been a favored location for student living.
- The Inner Westside Community Development Corporation is another non-profit housing provider with an interest in rebuilding and maintaining the stock of affordable housing in Goose Hollow. Contact the Goose Hollow Planning Committee for further information.
- The Housing Authority of Portland administers a number of rent assisted housing units available to individuals and families meeting income guidelines in Goose Hollow.
Neighborhood Institutions
Goose Hollow is host to a number of community and regional institutions. These neighborhood landmarks and the organizations that converge on them are vital interests in our neighborhood.
Neighborhood History and Landmarks
Of the five historic neighborhoods in the area now comprising the Goose Hollow Foothills League, one of them, Kings Hill has been designated a Historic District. Kings Hill is the site of a fine collection of turn of the century Portland residential architecture. Goose Hollow itself is the site of a pond, long since drained, that was the primary residence for a substantial goose population in the late nineteenth century. Gander Ridge and Vista Ridge were (and are) at the foot of Portland Heights and at the edge of the bowl that makes downtown Portland and Goose Hollow. The "uptown" part of the neighborhood, east of Civic Stadium and north of Lincoln High School was once called, at least in part, the Lownsdale district, and was heavily residential in character. Like Goose Hollow, it was becoming a warehouse and light manufacturing area, but is now undergoing redevelopment toward mixed residential/commercial activities.
Goose Hollow Businesses and Services
There will eventually be a free directory to Goose Hollow businesses and services located on this page.
Pertinent Planning Resources
The Goose Hollow Community Plan , taken together with the Portland Comprehensive Plan, of which it is a part, is the comprehensive plan for that part of the GHFL that is also within Portland's Central City Planning District. (See map)
Community planning is generally implemented by the Portland Bureau of Planning using Zoning and Design Review tools from the Portland City Code, Title 33 (Portland Zoning Code) and the Central City Fundamental Design Guidelines. Particular guidelines that apply in Goose Hollow, the Goose Hollow Design Guidelines , regulate site and building development tailored particularly to the needs and vision of the Goose Hollow community. The Goose Hollow Planning Committee uses a worksheet modeled after one originally developed by the Urban Design committee of the Portland AIA chapter to distinguish project design issues in the Goose Hollow subdistrict of the "Central City". A similar worksheet derived from the design criteria applied in the Kings Hill Historic District has been developed by the committee.
The Metropolitan Service District (METRO) is engaged in region-wide planning for urban growth, housing, and some regional services.
The Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) publishes state-wide land use planning goals and coordinates local planning efforts in the State of Oregon under provisions of ORS Chapter 197.
Citizen involvement in planning issues is encouraged in Oregon at all levels of government. How to Put the People in Planning was developed by the Oregon Citizen Involvement Advisory Committee to be a primer on Citizen Involvement in planning issues in Oregon.
Because transportation issues so heavily affect Goose Hollow, transportation agencies of the City, Portland Department of Transportation, the region, METRO transportation, and the State Oregon Department of Transportation are very important to our neighborhood. The primary transportation polanning documents that affect us are the Central City Transportation Management Plan, the 2000 Regional Transportation Plan, and the Oregon Highway Plan.
Adjacent Neighborhood Associations
There are over ninety neighborhood associations in the City of Portland. The six associations adjacent the Goose Hollow Foothills League are:
Citizen involvement activities in the City of Portland are supported by the Portland Office of Neighborhood Involvement (ONI) , by the Multnomah County Citizen Involvement Committee (MCIC) and by the METRO Committee on Citizens Involvement (MCCI) .
websites and Mailboxes of interest:
- The City of Portland maintains a home page on it's site with pointers to many City Bureaus, to the Mayor , and to the Commissioners. Pages posted by Portland's Bureau of Police , Bureau of Housing and Community Development, Bureau of Planning , Bureau of Traffic Management , and the Office of Neighborhood Involvement are particularly interesting because of their community impact.
- The Oregon Historical Society , another cultural resource located not in but nearby Goose Hollow, is a resource for much information about Goose Hollow, Kings Hill, and the many early Portland families that lived here.
- Several local newspapers carry stories stronly relate to neighborhood interests. The Oregonian's "Local news" web page carries some stories that are truly neighborhood oriented. Willamette Week , in its idiosyncratic way, often addresses neighborhood issues. The Northwest Examiner carries neighborhood news and a neighborhood association supplement on a monthly basis for Goose Hollow (and for each of the other west/northwest neighborhoods as well). The Examiner is available on newsstands and in local business establishments.
- Tri-met provides schedules and route maps for Light Rail and Buses as well as everything you wanted to know about the transit business.
- Cascadelink is a comprehensive public source of regional information developed by the Multnomah County Library that offers links to still other citizen involvement opportunities.
- The Coalition for a Livable Future is a network of over 40 organizations which promotes an integrated approach to regional planning in the Portland metropolitan region. The Coalition emphasizes connections between issues such as affordable housing, protection of "greenspaces," transportation options, urban containment, and economic vitality.
- The Public Involvement Network is a nascent web networking effort by an association of people who "do" public participation programs. The links here form a network of public involvement web sites.
- The League of Women Voters has been a significant voice in citizen involvement and has been actively involved in the neighborhood movement.
- Maintenance of a Civil Society has been a constant theme in American politics and governance since Alexis De Toqueville toured the young republic in the early 1830's.
- The Planning Commissioners Journal maintains a web page and posts articles of particular interest to citizen planners, planning professionals, and the development community.
- Idea Central is the" home page" of a web network devoted to public policy issues and is one of the more interesting and useful web sites for folks interested in urban affairs. May be a bit academic for some, but it's evenhanded and ecumenical.
You can email questions and/or comments to the Goose Hollow Foothills League through its administrative office, Neighbors West/Northwest.
(last rev. 11/16/01)
This document has been designed and is maintained by:
Jerald M. Powell.
As it is (and will probably always be) a "work in progress" please contact him with your comments or suggestions.
