VisionPDX, the community vision project launched by Mayor Tom Potter in 2005, will host an open house from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, April 6, at City Hall.
VisionPDX is a group of 50-plus Portlanders selected to help craft the project and the vision for Portland. The goal of VisionPDX is to include the perspectives of thousands of Portlanders.
"Community visions really work when done well," said Sheila Martin, VisionPDX co-chair and director of the Institute for Metropolitan Studies. "VisionPDX aims to tap into people's hopes and dreams for the future, then create meaningful action steps to make it happen."
The VisionPDX committee will talk to Portlanders about the future and help create a roadmap for the city for the next 30 years. Specifically, the vision will lead to the development of a five-year strategic plan for the city. A shared vision is expected to help citizens make better decisions about how to spend tax revenue and where to focus community action.
Committee members will talk to residents from April through August; then the community discussion will become more focused on choices for the future through the fall. The results of those discussions will be shaped into a vision statement and presented to the City Council next April.
The April 6 open house will feature a mixture of art and history about Portland and its future, including:
• Performances from BroadArts Theater (www.broadarts.org) and WellArts Theater (www.wellarts.org). As part of VisionPDX, each of these groups will create theatrical works designed to stimulate discussion of Portland's future.
• Video from Oregon Film & Video Foundation/Public Media Works (www.publicmediaworks.org), another VisionPDX partner organization.
• Posters commemorating the 100-year anniversary of the Olmsted plan that established the vision for Portland's parks and trail network.
• Information on women who shaped Portland's history, including an exhibit on Dorothea Lensch, who is credited with building Portland's community centers and recreation programs.
• Artwork created by homeless and transitional youth who are involved with p:ear (www.pearmentor.org), a mentoring organization.
