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Editor’s note: Roger Goldingay was traveling outside the country and was not available for an interview.

Mississippi Marketplace, an eclectic blend of food carts and artisans, is the latest effort in Roger Goldingay’s decade-long endeavor to help revitalize the North Portland neighborhood he calls home.

Goldingay, born in Leicester, England, in 1950, played soccer for the Seattle Sounders in 1974 and for the Portland Timbers during the ’75 and ’76 seasons before pursuing his interest in development. When he bought the historic John Palmer House and moved to North Portland about 10 years ago, Goldingay was among the contingent of residents who faithfully picked up trash, cleaned up graffiti and discouraged prostitutes from working there, thus transforming the area into one of the city’s most vibrant neighborhoods.

“He’s one of the nicest guys you will ever meet,” said Mike Snoozy, a Portland contractor and longtime friend. “He’s a blue-jeans kind of guy and has such a laid-back attitude. He not assuming and he doesn’t brag about what he’s done.”

Goldingay held the grand opening of Mississippi Marketplace last October, with 10 foot carts as inaugural members. More vendors have since joined the “food-cart pod,” located at 4233 N. Mississippi Ave., and the smorgasbord found there includes not only a diverse array of food, but also fresh local produce, bath and body products, and even chair massage.

In introducing the marketplace concept last summer, Goldingay said his goal was “to create a vibrant, affordable and high-quality gathering place for local food and artisan craft vendors helping to sustain local markets.” Goldingay wanted a distinctly eco-friendly feel to the marketplace as well.

For example, it is situated on a vacant lot that was graded, graveled and coated with pervious asphalt that filters stormwater runoff. The site was landscaped with native plants such as Oregon grape, Colorado blue spruce and Japanese maples. And vendors are asked to use recyclable serving containers, utilize local food sources when possible, recycle trash, and compost or donate leftover food to Oregon Food Bank programs.

Mississippi Marketplace includes a German pub called Prost! that is housed in a renovated, 116-year-old building previously used as a church before it became a boarded-up eyesore. The renovation, carried out by Portland’s Eterne Architectural Restoration, began last February and was completed last September.

One has to wonder if Goldingay began cultivating the idea for Mississippi Marketplace while strolling downtown with longtime friend Bill Walton, former Portland Trail Blazer, eight years ago. Walton wrote about the experience during his 2002 “Loves It Live” tour of 30 NBA playoff games in 30 days.

Calling Goldingay a friend from his earliest days in Portland, Walton mentioned how the pair used to play pickup basketball and soccer games at Wallace Park in Northwest Portland. He shared a few details from their more colorful adventures as well and, given that Walton was along, their travels naturally included a few Grateful Dead concerts along the way.

“Roger and I have seen the world together – the Galapagos, Egypt with the Dead, Red Rock Amphitheater in Colorado, Santa Catalina and the Channel Islands off Southern California, raft trips on the Salmon and Snake Rivers in Idaho, Oregon, Washington and the numerous trips to Baja,” Walton wrote. “Then there was the time we went to the U.S. Geological Service here in Oregon to get a thermal hot springs map of the state. We then visited every single one…”