Kenneth Helphand, FASLA, the website tour guide for Pioneer Courthouse Square, explains this 40,000 sq. ft. brick public space was a central piece of Portland's 1972 downtown plan. The square is convenient to the city's light rail and transit mall, all part of the city's urban vision. The design includes an upper terrace, belvedere and crescent amphitheater. Pioneer Courthouse, department stores and hotels enclose the space.
Photo: Kenneth Helphand, FASLA

Tom McCall Waterfront Park, explains website tour guide Carol Mayer-Reed, FASLA, is over a mile long and directly east of the central business district. The city replaced Harbor Drive with this 30-acre riverfront park in 1974, one of the first removals of an urban freeway in the U.S. The American Planning Association named Waterfront Park one of America's 10 Greatest Public Spaces, and it garnered one of ASLA's Centennial Medallion awards.
Image: Carol Mayer-Reed, FASLA

New Website Highlights Portland's Leadership as Urban Innovator

Portland, Oregon has a trendy reputation and a willingness to experiment and innovate, so it's no surprise that the city by the Columbia River is ahead of the curve in urban design and sustainability.

Now, the ASLA has launched "The Landscape Architect's Guide to Portland" at www.asla.org/portland. ASLA considers Portland one of the most livable and sustainable cities in the world. The guides in these Portland tours tell the stories of how the landscapes of Portland have evolved. It's informative to the general public, but also instructive for city leaders, urban planners, designers, and, of course, landscape architects.

Topical tours offer printable bike maps and Google maps. The guide includes tours by district, which people can view on their smartphones tablets or desktop computers.

The website guide was created by ASLA in partnership with the ASLA Oregon Chapter and 11 local
landscape architects.

The helpful and instructive tour guides are:
Brian Bainnson, ASLA, Quatrefoil Inc.
Bennett Burns, ASLA, independent landscape architect
Mike Faha, ASLA, GreenWorks, PC
Kenneth Helphand, FASLA, University of Oregon
Rachel Hill, ASLA, AECOM
Lloyd Lindley, FASLA, independent landscape architect
Carol Mayer-Reed, FASLA, Mayer/Reed Inc.
Jeff Schnabel, ASLA, Portland State University
Jean Senechal Biggs, ASLA, Portland Bureau of Transportation
Rebecca Wahlstrom, ASLA, Olson Engineering Inc.
Robin Wilcox, ASLA, Alta Planning + Design

The guide is organized by sections: the built environment; food; energy; grand parks; health; people spaces; social equity; transportation; waste; water; and wildlife.

This is the third guide in ASLA's series on sustainable American cities. The first was the 2012 Landscape Architect's Guide to Washington, D.C., followed in 2013 by the Landscape Architect's Guide to Boston. Both guides were released in time to benefit landscape architects visiting those cite for the annual ASLA meeting. The guides have been viewed more than 150,000 times.