Deep Dive: New Columbia, Portland
Written by Marcy McInelly
New Columbia was a federally funded, $150 million revitalization of an 82-acre public housing site. The project converted a low-income housing community into a mixed-income housing community for up to 850 families and individuals. The master plan is based upon the New Urbanist principles of connectivity and walkability. The public realm is defined by the street and characterized by street trees, sidewalks, and front porches instead of driveways and garages. New Columbia won numerous awards and is considered one of Portland’s best planned communities.
Project Overview
462
Public housing units before redevelopment
Nearly doubled
Density of development
850
Families and individuals housed after redevelopment
More than 50%
Existing trees preserved
Complex Entitlements
Over the course of several years Urbsworks was intimately involved in the planning and design of New Columbia. Prior to its transformation, Columbia Villa was an isolated, fenced-off enclave. Urbsworks assisted the Housing Authority of Portland (HAP, now Home Forward) in a complete redesign of the site that reconnected the community to surrounding neighborhoods, designed walkable blocks and streets that connect all residents to new parks and school, and mixed housing types side-by-side to create a truly integrated community.
Urbsworks assisted in redesigning the suburban-style service and retail center into a more walkable and transit-oriented main street configuration. An essential component of the Trenton Street main street design was relocating workforce training and the housing authority client services, along with a new school and a Housing and Urban Development senior housing building to create a critical mass of community services and retail that serves as the heart of the community. Urbsworks then coordinated the necessary Comprehensive Plan amendments and rezoning, as well as the completion of the conditions of approval due to the critical nature of the project schedule leading to the recording of the final plat.
At the time it was completed, New Columbia was the first HOPE VI project that was more dense than it had been prior to redevelopment
Another critical piece of the New Columbia community was the creation of a Community Campus at the eastern end of Trenton Street, formed by co-locating the new school (built to replace the existing school several blocks away from New Columbia) with an existing city park, gymnasium and a new Boys and Girls Club. Urbsworks assisted the school architects in the site design for the new elementary school, then coordinated the conditional use permits and street vacation, and worked with city traffic engineers to design the Safe Routes to Schools signage and pedestrian access routes.
New Columbia Street showing stormwater bioswales.
A site plan of the New Columbia Project.
Gaining approvals and meeting critical timelines for funding
The project was the first large land division to be approved under the newly adopted and substantially revised land division code. Urbsworks enjoyed the challenge of guiding the housing authority’s project through the new code, ensuring that the goals of the City, Home Forward, and the Hope VI program were achieved in their highest form.
The conditions of approval set by the individual departments and bureaus (including fire, transportation and police) were complex and numerous. In order to be satisfied, any individual condition required the coordination of the entire design and construction team. In early 2003, Urbsworks was appointed by the housing authority to manage the completion of the conditions of approval because of the critical nature of the project schedule leading to the recording of the final plat.
Walkable and connected
A street hierarchy was developed to match street function with neighborhood function, with traffic calming features such as curb extensions at intersections, mid-block crossings, speed humps and street trees. The New Columbia internal street grid was developed to complement the grid of adjacent neighborhoods, allowing existing homes to connect to the New Columbia central park within a five-minute walk.
A series of walkable paths connecting homes in the neightborhood.
Master plan elements/land use approvals secured by Urbsworks: final plat (including street network and public parks), “main street” Comp Plan amendment and rezoning (areas in yellow and blue).
Tree Preservation
While the New Columbia development doubled the density of homes, Urbsworks and the Home Forward team managed to preserve half of the trees that were on site, including the largest, oldest trees. Before reconstruction there were about 430 trees, many planted in 1942 when the original development was created to house WWII shipyard workers. The city’s new tree preservation ordinance required 35% of the trees to be preserved, but the team was able to exceed that requirement and preserve more than half of the existing trees, including many with the largest dbh (diameter breast height), meaning diameters greater than 48”. These kinds of mature trees provided a link to the past and helped create an instant neighborhood feel. Previous Columbia Villa residents who returned to New Columbia said that, even though the buildings and streets were new, they recognized and were comforted by the old trees.
By the end of December 2006, 29 percent of the households that had been relocated from Columbia Villa returned to New Columbia —110 in rental housing and two as new homeowners
— New Columbia: Report on Development Goals, Housing Authority of Portland
Sustainable features of New Columbia
The stormwater system manages stormwater generated from the new development almost entirely on-site. Sustainable stormwater elements include Portland’s first neighborhood green street system utilizing bioswale curb extensions at intersections and mid-block crossings, alleys that utilize linear pervious pavement for subsurface infiltration facilities, and integrated stormwater planters. Almost all existing asphalt and concrete was crushed and reused on-site.
A community basketball court located in the site.
Awards
Winner in Overall Excellence
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 2007 National Award for Smart Growth Achievement
Richard Riley 2007 Award
American Architectural Foundation and KnowledgeWorks Foundation
Mayor’s Award for Design Excellence
Portland Chapter American Institute of Architects, 2007
Planned/Mixed-Use Winner
Affordable Housing Finance Magazine Reader’s Choice Awards, August 2007 issue
Excellence in Housing Awards: Housing Revitalization
Oregon Housing and Community Services Department (OHCSD)
Merit Awards: Community Revitalization, Design for Transformation, and Transforming Lives During Community Revitalization
National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO)
Best in American Living Awards: Best Urban Smart Growth Neighborhood, Gold Award
National Association of Home Builders
Best Urban Planning
Northwest Construction Magazine Best of 2006 Awards