Overlook Neighborhood Update (May 13)

1) Overlook Neighborhood General Meeting (May 16)
2) Neighborhood cleanup (May 20)
3) Vanport Mosaic Festival (May 26-29)


1) Overlook Neighborhood General Meeting (May 16)

Come meet your Overlook neighbors and discuss what’s happening in the neighborhood on Tuesday at the Overlook Neighborhood Association General Meeting, 6:30-8:30 p.m. We have an jam-packed agenda. Topics include

We’ll also receive an update on the Good Neighbor Agreement discussions with the Hazelnut Grove homeless camp and hear residents input on what they’d like to see in that sort of agreement.

View the full agenda.

OKNA General Meeting
Tuesday, May 16, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Kaiser Town Hall Building (3704 N Interstate Ave.)

2) Neighborhood cleanup (May 20)

Have you finished your spring cleaning but now have stuff that you can’t even get rid of at the curb?  There’s a better option than heading to the dump.

Join your Overlook neighbors next Saturday, May 20, at the annual Overlook Neighborhood cleanup.  In return for helping us tidy up the neighborhood, you can drop your bulky waste in our dumpster. You’ll also receive an organic tomato plant and enjoy pastries, coffee and other goodies. (Many thanks to Grand Central and Blend Coffee for their generous donations.)

We will accept block Styrofoam packaging but not the following:

  • Packing peanuts
  • All hazardous materials (including batteries and light bulbs)
  • All construction, remodeling or demolition materials
  • Kitchen garbage, residential yard debris and trimmings
  • Waste and recyclables collected at curbside
  • Items that could be donated for reuse.

Please bring work gloves and dress in clothes you don’t mind getting dirty.

Many thanks to our financial sponsors, Metro and the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability.

Annual Overlook Neighborhood cleanup
Saturday, May 20, 10-noon
Bethel Lutheran Church parking lot (5658 N Denver Ave.)

3) Vanport Mosaic Festival (May 26-29)

The Vanport Mosaic Festival is a four-day exploration of the history and legacy of Vanport, Oregon’s second largest city wiped out by a flood in 1948.

Through theater, documentaries, historic exhibit, lectures and tours organizers and attendees honor the experience of those who lived there.

To honor the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the city of Vanport, this year’s festival aims to engage Portlanders in an exploration of community histories around the themes of home, housing, migration and displacement. Several of the events will consider the rippling effects of gentrification on affordable housing, and how unresolved issues with race-based displacement are addressed today. To understand the role gentrification has played in Portland, we must first understand the history of housing discrimination and displacement. Vanport is a critical chapter in this story.

The festival runs May 26-29 at several locations, including in the Overlook Neighborhood. Check out the full schedule online.