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May 31, 2007

Intersection Repair

by Clarence Eckerson, Jr.

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Ever dreamed of making the streets outside your abode more livable, pedestrian-friendly, and community-oriented?City Repair in Portland, Oregon hosts an annual Village Building Convergence where hundreds of people come together to build diverse projects for the benefit of their communites and to take back their streets via a process known as the Intersection Repair.This involves painting streets with a high-visiblity mural that creates a public square for residents to gather and one which gently encourages drivers to slow down when approaching these spaces. Over time the neighbors further enhance the transformation by adding amenities like benches, community bulletin boards, and introducing gardens & art. As you'll see, the possibilites are endless.StreetFilms visited three of the Intersection Repairs and spoke with Mark Lakeman co-founder of City Repair, Greg Raisman, the Portland DOT Liason, and scores of residents & volunteers about why they were doing it.

28 Comments

Last comment by Angela Leave a comment »
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    Barbara

    I want this in my neighborhood right now!!

    May 30, 2007 at 10:52 am Link # 1
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    adam white

    A wonderfully inspirational, visionary and moving peice. The conversion of intersections to communal plazas is simple yet brilliant. Kudos to the folks in Portland and to Clarence for sharing the images with us NYC dwellers.

    May 30, 2007 at 11:46 am Link # 2
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    Andy

    Inspired film Clarence - Sweet Street & People - Intersection Insurrection Reclaiming the Street in style.

    May 30, 2007 at 12:21 pm Link # 3
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    Dan Kaufman

    A truly amazing video! Thanks for making it.

    There is definitely a "Eugene" vibe (a good thing in my book) but each neighborhood had it's own feel. As this concept takes off it will be interesting to see the different flavors particular neighborhoods bring.

    May 30, 2007 at 12:35 pm Link # 4
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    Mark Lakeman

    What a wonderful effort in making this video, it really captures the experience of being in Portland during the Village Building Convergence! Great, great work!

    Mark

    May 30, 2007 at 4:15 pm Link # 5
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    Streetsblog

    Have you ever dreamed of making the streets outside your home more livable, pedestrian-friendly, and community-oriented? [...]

    May 31, 2007 at 7:55 am Link # 6
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    raku

    Clarence, sweet!
    Thank you so much for sharing some of what makes Portland such an invigorating place to LIVE. While watching, I felt engaged, inspired, and hopeful that these seeds of peace that are being cast-out will sprout all over the world!

    May 31, 2007 at 1:26 pm Link # 7
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    Linda

    Great job, Clarence! It was so exciting to have you filming our efforts at the Freda's Tree intersection, and I hope our project will continue to inspire others.

    June 1, 2007 at 2:07 pm Link # 8
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    Andree

    Thanks, Clarence---It's so exciting to see our little neighborhood project captured so well and shared with like-minded folks. Great work!

    June 1, 2007 at 2:51 pm Link # 9
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    Chris Marco

    Clarence, what an outstanding job you did in 4 days! And it was up just days after the VBC ended! Next up should be Clarence: The Movie-Making-Maniac-Sasquatch (Sassie sits at a computer as his furry hands blaze across the keyboard in a blur...yes folks, it's a rare sighting of the movie-making-maniac!)

    Yesterday, after some mild culture shock transitioning from the streets, stories, and hugs of the VBC to the bluetoothed, laptopped, mean airport, I left Portland. As soon as I got home, I watched this. It made me so happy to be transported back there! You really did a great job of capturing the spirit of joy and optimistic energy that is the VBC. Thanks so much for your hard work and even more for sharing it with all of us.

    I had planned to take a few days off to rest, but your film has so inspired me that now I just want to get to work. Great work Clarence! Really, you're awesome. Whose streets? Our streets!

    June 1, 2007 at 3:22 pm Link # 10
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    Darla

    My nabe in Queens could use some of these. I am already friends with my neighbors. We could do this!

    Once we had a tag sale on every corner of our intersection.

    June 1, 2007 at 3:50 pm Link # 11
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    Clarence

    Thank you so much everyone here who posted (and those who emailed too.)

    I have been very touched by the highly emotional feedback I have gotten. I was moved very much when putting this together, and am so glad that many others were equally so. Please keep the comments coming....

    June 1, 2007 at 3:57 pm Link # 12
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    Sue B.

    Clarence, what a great job you did and so quickly! You captured the spirit of the people and place so well, it moved me to tears - especially seeing Lyn and John. Ah, VBC...I miss it so much already and can't wait for VBC8 (and Chris' film, too). Thank you, thank you!

    June 2, 2007 at 4:12 am Link # 13
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    pedro, adri, and santiago

    wow, clarence-- super job! we are totally impressed with how you plugged right into what we are doing here in portland, shot some film, and edited it into this real beautiful, on-point, inspiring film.

    EVERYONE in the world knows-- when they search the deepest places of their heart--that the time has come to re-connect to ourselves, to each other, and to our common source of creation. who would have thought that we are the revolution embodied?! thanks for sharing our process of becoming in portland.

    what's next?!

    June 2, 2007 at 3:18 pm Link # 14
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    Shirley

    Bravo Clarence, brilliant! I got a lump in my throat watching, it is so inspiring. Great for traffic safety, great for community, great for place. If only NYC would follow suit.

    June 3, 2007 at 12:37 pm Link # 15
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    Dustin

    Great video! I would love to see this idea spread to cities everywhere.

    June 5, 2007 at 2:20 am Link # 16
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    Streetsblog » Kids Demand Respect in the Streets of Brooklyn

    [...] on-street, community-based traffic-calming installation somewhat similar to projects undertaken by City Repair in Portland, Oregon. [...]

    July 20, 2007 at 11:06 am Link # 17
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    Streetsblog » Grist: NYC is Not One of the World’s Greenest Cities

    [...] favorites Copenhagen, Curitiba, London, and Bogotá all made the grade. StreetFilms' posterchild Portland captured the number two spot right behind geothermal-powered Reykjavik, Iceland. San Francisco and [...]

    August 3, 2007 at 10:34 am Link # 18
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    Intersection Repair | Urban Planning Blog

    [...] involves painting streets with a high-visiblity mural that creates a public square for residents to gather and one which gently encourages drivers to slow down when approaching these [...]

    August 16, 2007 at 9:35 am Link # 19
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    Pratik

    Great video. Tried embedding on my Urban Planning Blog but somehow didn't work. Would be great if you could upload your videos to YouTube as well. Might get more 'eyeballs' and will spread the word.

    August 16, 2007 at 9:38 am Link # 20
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    Clarence Eckerson, Jr.

    Pratik,

    Might just do that for a few of our videos. We have in the past but haven't put up many since the begining of the year.

    Thanks.

    August 19, 2007 at 1:37 pm Link # 21
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    metro(spokane)

    Intersection Repair......

    Everyone has that one intersection in their neighborhood that could just be so much better. For whatever reason, the cars seem to drive through too fast, the crosswalks are non-existent, or there is no place to comfortably sit and wait...

    August 28, 2007 at 1:48 am Link # 22
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    Joyce

    There is the perfect neighborhood for this in my city! I love the whole idea! Great!

    August 29, 2007 at 10:32 am Link # 23
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    Stan

    This would do best to go out to every Chamber of Commerce across the nation..God Bless America!!

    September 23, 2007 at 9:27 pm Link # 24
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    Greg Cantori

    Does everyone see the wonderful 'intersection' of Ciclovia, a regular Sunday streets for the people event, and intersection repair? The communities hosting Ciclovia can leave a permanent symbol of their welcome all week as well as on Sunday! You are on to something big here.

    April 15, 2008 at 10:33 am Link # 25
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    my humps my humps my humps… « andrea’s weblog

    [...] intersection repair [...]

    April 19, 2008 at 8:42 pm Link # 26
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    Fran

    What a beautiful film! The music perfectly captures the warmth and friendship fostered by these community gathering places. I want to do this myself!

    June 27, 2008 at 8:51 pm Link # 27
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    Angela

    Inspirational! It's wonderful for a community to come together!

    August 17, 2008 at 1:05 am Link # 28

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