Intersection Repair
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.
I want this in my neighborhood right now!!
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.
Inspired film Clarence - Sweet Street & People - Intersection Insurrection Reclaiming the Street in style.
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.
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
Have you ever dreamed of making the streets outside your home more livable, pedestrian-friendly, and community-oriented? [...]
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!
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.
Thanks, Clarence---It's so exciting to see our little neighborhood project captured so well and shared with like-minded folks. Great work!
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!
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.
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....
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!
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?!
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.
Great video! I would love to see this idea spread to cities everywhere.
[...] on-street, community-based traffic-calming installation somewhat similar to projects undertaken by City Repair in Portland, Oregon. [...]
[...] 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 [...]
[...] 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 [...]
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.
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.
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...
There is the perfect neighborhood for this in my city! I love the whole idea! Great!
This would do best to go out to every Chamber of Commerce across the nation..God Bless America!!
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.
[...] intersection repair [...]
What a beautiful film! The music perfectly captures the warmth and friendship fostered by these community gathering places. I want to do this myself!
Inspirational! It's wonderful for a community to come together!
As a Portlander, I have enjoyed the benefits of City Repair and the place building they do. One thing I have noticed is that such efforts inspire folks who perhaps would not have thought of taking place building into their own hands to do so. my elderly neighbors heard about the work of city repair over the years and included a bench and a shade spot in their yard as they redid their front garden. When asked,they said they got the idea from the Village Buiding convergence.
Positive energy can inspire more positive energy.
Inspirational... Despite having watched it so many times, I always feel like watching it again. Maybe the urge to watch it will end when I finally get to do this in my neighborhood.
Congrats!
Mark, why don't you get a haircut or wash that head once in a while!
[...] of the films we screened was Portland’s “Intersection Repair.” A few days ago I received an email from Cara Priem, who thanked us for the event. “I [...]
[...] Here’s a similar example, where people paint wonderful murals in residential intersections. It’s in Portland, so it’s a little crunchy, but even if that’s not your bag, it’s a great idea. (If the video does not appear, click here). [...]