In order to obtain financial aid, I had to find a 1 credit class. With no colloquium, I chose a field trip class on open spaces in Portland. One evening lecture and a day in the field? Sounds nice.
The lecture provided a decent background on the Olmsted vision for Portland, and our century long progress towards it. The field trip included visits to several parks in the area mostly focusing on “natural” parks like Marquam nature park, Johnson Creek Nature Park, Beggar’s Tick natural area, and a section along the Columbia Slough. The sites varied from archetypical midwest lamplight lawns with winding paths and large deciduous trees to tangled messes of native and invasive plants. Some were created over a century ago and some were gifted, traded, or reclaimed. The variety of opportunities is immense, though one of the classmates was only interested in the sites that offered opportunities for fishing.
John Charles Olmsted, adopted son of Frederic Law Olmsted (Central Park) came to Portland in 1903 and developed a park master plan for the city. Although much of it was shelved, sections like Forest Park have an immense legacy for the city. Over a century later, Portland is trying to recreate a circular trail Olmsted had envisioned, connecting the city by greenway between open spaces. It appears that the city is close to realizing this goal, due largely in part to a tireless band of dreamers and the support of the citizens. A 40 mile loop of nearly connected trails is in places and more are planned that would bring the count to 160 miles.
I think this summer is going to have to include a bike circumnavigation of Portland.