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I have written generally before about the opportunities for change presented by ongoing planning projects in east Portland, and now things are really starting to come into sharper focus as the planners and their citizen advisory bodies begin to get into the details of what it will take to make needed improvements.

While the new Comprehensive Plan will set the overall context, the single most important project in shaping revitalization is the Powell/Division high-capacity transit project, which will propose significantly improved transit service from Gresham to downtown Portland through Southeast Portland.

While it’s critical for the line to move large numbers of people quickly to their destinations, it’s equally important that the project reshape how this area functions, what kinds of living environments are created for residents, and how they access needed services. It will be important to identify new forms of urban development at perhaps three major transit stops between I-205 and downtown Gresham.

For instance, the corner of Southeast 122nd Avenue and Division has long been considered a potential major center for redevelopment. But how will that happen? What would that look like? How do you reconfigure this auto-oriented place to make it more people-friendly and serve their everyday needs more efficiently?

These same questions will have to be answered at other stops along the line, but by addressing them in this project the city will go a long way toward providing future guidance for the revitalization of this long neglected area.

Planning for these initial nodes of future redevelopment will lay the groundwork for a network of local centers across East Portland and adjoining areas in Gresham. This is a difficult landscape to redevelop in this manner, but starting the process through this transit project will greatly enhance the prospects for success in the longer term.