Portlanders are kicking asphalt
If you’ve ever looked around you and thought, “There’s just too damn much pavement here!” you’ll understand what Portlanders Kasandra Griffin and Arif Khan were thinking when they co-founded Depave.
Inspired by jackhammer jobs in their own yards, Griffin and Khan wanted to motivate others to take stock of surplus pavement…and rip it out.
“In my travels around the world, I have yet to be inspired by a beautiful parking lot,” says Khan.
In June of 2008, Depave began its first public project, funded with a $10,000 grant from Portland’s Bureau of Environmental Services, and staffed by more than a hundred volunteers. The proposal? To pull up 3,000 square feet of asphalt from an old North Portland parking lot and turn the space into a multi-level, food-growing garden and community gathering space.
The hope is that customers at the adjacent Waypost Café, among others, will sit in the garden or stroll the grounds as they enjoy a sandwich or a cup of coffee.
Now that the asphalt has been cleared and hauled away for recycling, volunteers are talking garden design and stormwater management.
One idea is to create paths and patios designed to flood when it rains and facilitate rainwater infiltration into the ground. Another is to create a bioswale, which is essentially a ditch or channel, planted with native, moisture-loving plants. Rainwater is routed into the bioswale, where any silt and pollution is removed as the water slowly seeps into the ground.
“There’s an incredible amount of volunteer energy,” says Griffin.
An ecologist, a native plants expert, and a cadre of landscape architects are among those working on the project.
Griffin and Khan’s goal to inspire a pavement-removal movement , and not necessarily to lead multiple projects. So far, so good.
“Every day, I get emails from people saying, ‘Oh my god, I just saw that about depaving. How can I get involved?’” says Griffin.
“It is not just about doing something environmentally correct,” says Khan. “It is increasing quality of life for urban dwellers.”
Griffin says she’s excited about what Portland has done to facilitate a cultural shift from driving to biking. The American League of Bicyclists considers it the most bike-friendly major city in the nation.
“And if we’re not going to be driving everywhere,” says Griffin, “then we don’t need everything to be paved.”
Related Links:
2) http://news.opb.org/article/2347-carfree-conference-about-more-just-pedal-power
Photo Caption: Volunteers remove pavement as part of a project by Depave, a Portland-based non- profit. (Photo by Eduardo Green).
