CJ (yellow)
Age: 30s
Neighborhood: St. John Valley
Occupation: Executive Director, Friends of Congress Square Park
Portland Resident: since February 2021 – CJ moved to Portland from Providence, Rhode Island to start his position with Friends of Congress Square Park
What do you like about Portland? Scale – it is walkable and dense; ability to walk to many places or amenities in a short amount of time; places where feel able to “escape” feeling of being in a city; food + beverage options; people say hello, make eye contact when walking around
How much walking each day?
“I don’t go a day without walking a couple miles even if don’t have to go anywhere”
Typical Destinations: 1-2x week go to CSP for work events, groceries (several choices), maybe farmers market, gym, recreational walks; since the pandemic - just grocery, meet a friend, work at park, recreation
Challenges: going for walks means only going in one direction because of location, natural topography and unwalkable areas/car-oriented/trains/industrial; takes longer because of roundabout; wayfinding can be difficult without adequate street signs; like giving directions but because of the pedestrian perspective it can be challenging to remember one-way streets; weather is not a deterrent
Car-free: over 7 years
“I read an essay/blog post by a mom in Cleveland who felt more free not worrying about a car – that inspired to me make a goal. I made a goal to live without a car and haven’t owned own car in 7 years.”
Do you enjoy being car-free?
“It is less stressful to not drive, less to worry about; walking is more control about where you are, where body is, where going, can stop, change direction without someone angry at you, own pace, serendipity of reacting to environment - like that freedom, power, control over place and movement, seeing and being with all senses, smelling, hearing, feeling. When people drive somewhere they have to carve out time to be outdoors but when walking, can do all these things at the same time. It’s not only the money but the process and activity is less stressful. Cars also have impacts on sustainability, land use, pollution, deaths, - it’s nice to not partake in that system.”
How does being a pedestrian influence your experience of Portland?
“It’s hard to be assertive as a pedestrian or biker - pedestrians are hyper aware of their vulnerability. It can be hard to claim territory.”
“I can’t imagine missing the details of the mundane things you miss with the pace of the bike/car and also safety, focus, keeping vigilance are factors. . . .It’s like a scavenger hunt all the time. You get to enjoy all these little things you would miss otherwise. You get a sense for how people are. I love people watching. You can absorb a lot about a place”
