Survey Says: Invest in Walking in East Portland

A multi-lingual survey, called one of the most comprehensive ever in East Portland, finds that residents prioritize one mode of transportation far above the rest: walking.

Michael Andersen reports on the findings of the survey, part of the East Portland in Motion planning effort, which sourced mail-in surveys from 1,365 households east of 82nd Avenue in Portland beginning in May 2014.

Andersen's post shares the insights of David Hampsten, an East Portland neighborhood advocate who also sits on the City of Portland’s Bicycle Advisory Committee. So, in answer to the question "What 3 kinds of projects are most needed in your community?" by far the most common response was sidewlkas on busy streets. The second most popular response was sidewalks on residential streets.

Andersen provides a lot more in-depth analysis about the existing conditions of transportation infrastructure in East Portland, as well as noting that East Portland is remarkable both for its needs in investment but also in its success in mobilizing, from the ground up, results. "The very existence of this survey, and of the entire city-funded East Portland in Motion plan, is part of the area’s recent success," writes Andersen.