North Deering Park

Why North Deering Park?

The Portland Parks Conservancy is committed to park equity. We are working with the Trust for Public Land to acquire one of Portland’s last large undeveloped properties to create a new city park for this community. The site consists of ballfields, pond, and forested area. The preservation 24 acres of undeveloped property in North Deering can help minimize the effects of local area climate change. Portland’s public spaces offer a variety of natural landscapes from forests to an ocean beach, which benefit people throughout greater Portland. As the effects of climate change increase, parks are helping resilient cities across the world reduce their impact. Open spaces are becoming part of the infrastructure that helps manage storm-water and mitigate flooding.

Trees in urban parks remove up to 7,111,000 tons of toxins from the air annually. Their shade can reduce urban “heat islands,” protect people from heat waves, and reduce summer energy use. The American Planning Association has detailed ways that cities like Portland use parks to manage the effects of urban heat islands. Their findings show that parks can mitigate local precipitation anomalies and sequester carbon that may otherwise alter local and global atmospheric composition.

What’s Next?

With help from our partners to ensure local turnout and wide participation, we plan to host a public meeting to learn what kind of activities the neighbors would like to have available to them in their new neighborhood park. To collect the maximum amount of feedback, we will also create a survey that can be completed online. We will translate the survey into at least 5 languages.With that information in hand, PPC will work with a landscape architect to plan to create a concept plan for the space.

Fundraising has begun for the purchase of this land. If you would like to participate in making this park possible, you can make a donation here.

Future Goals

Our primary goal is to develop a land use and amenities plan for a new park in North Deering that reflects the community’s needs. The public’s vision for future development at North Deering Park may include a trail loop for hiking, trail running, and mountain biking; an outdoor learning space for school use; a public art installation; a redeveloped baseball field; and parking improvements. With a detailed designs and budget estimates, the PPC can launch a campaign to raise funds for the project from private philanthropic sources.

In the longer term, the PPC would like to resolve Portland’s most significant gap in public park access in the North Deering neighborhood. In addition to addressing issues of equity, North Deering Park will provide vital health and social benefits by providing a space for close-to-home recreation, social connection, and respite from everyday stresses.