Together with the Beaumont Business Association (BBA), BWNA recently submitted an initial application to participate in the City of Portland’s Public Street Plaza Program.
Launched in 2022 and currently consisting of 20 locations, the program is built upon partnerships between neighborhood groups and the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT), with a stated aim of creating “community-oriented public spaces where business and the neighborhood come together.”
Plazas are created via full or partial block closures of relatively low-traffic streets where necessary residential, commercial, and emergency access can be retained. They are established with minimal physical infrastructure, often include outdoor seating for adjacent establishments, and are intended to serve as hubs for informal gatherings and venues for organized events. Specific locations are ultimately identified through consideration of multiple criteria in a collaborative process involving sponsoring organizations, PBOT, neighbors, and nearby businesses.
In the case of Beaumont Village, the most likely configuration would involve the partial closure of a cross street at its intersection with NE Fremont. An example of this concept can be found nearby at Concordia Commons on NE 30th immediately north of NE Killingsworth, with another similar installation in the Montavilla neighborhood at SE 79th and Stark.
The initial application to PBOT consisted of a survey in which prospective partners described their vision for a plaza, their programming and stewardship capacity, and the people and area that the plaza would serve. If the joint BBA-BWNA application is selected to move forward, the next steps would be a refinement phase comprising outreach, budget and funding conversations, and working with PBOT staff to decide on a specific location. This period would include opportunities for neighbors to ask questions and provide feedback; among those opportunities would be a BWNA special meeting devoted to the topic of the plaza proposal prior to a BWNA Board vote on whether to continue.
If selected in the first application round, final proposals will be due on March 1, followed soon after by an announcement of new locations to operate as trial plazas in summer 2026. If a Beaumont Village location is among them, a committee tasked with planning, programming, and upkeep would be formed, and interested neighbors would be encouraged to join.
More information about the plaza program is available at tinyurl.com/bdz3k9a2. You can also find PBOT’s 2024 Portland Street Plazas Annual Report at tinyurl.com/swpsdh9r. See excerpts from the annual report on page 19.
Aaron has lived in Beaumont-Wilshire for 15 years. He and his wife, 12-year-old son, and 4-year-old dog spend lots of time roaming the neighborhood and love having so many destinations within walking distance from their front door.