Posts Tagged ‘public spaces’

February 15, 2015

The Future of the Library

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet Thanks to Google, e-books, Amazon.com, and book store cafés among other factors, libraries are changing at a breakneck speed. Libraries used to be where you looked things up, and now you can look anything up practically at any time if your smartphone is within easy reach, which for many it is all the time. But what about the community development role of the library in society? By not using the library as a resource in the same way, are we losing a sense of community when so much information is at our fingertips without ever having to get up…

June 26, 2014

21 Reasons Portland’s Director Park is One of the Most Successful Public Spaces in the World

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet Director Park, located between Yamhill and Taylor on Park, is one of the Park Blocks, a series of consecutive parks in downtown Portland that originated in 1848. The Park Blocks ended up being divided into the South Park Blocks and the North Park Blocks. Director Park is a way to connect the two sets. Believe it or not, Director Park narrowly escaped the fate of becoming a 12-story parking garage in 1995. Thankfully, more visionary leaders, like then mayor Neil Goldschmidt and developer Tom Moyer, interceded and the block became a public park instead. And what a good thing…

October 09, 2012

Why I Fell in Love with Portland, Part I

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet You know that feeling when you fall in love? You know…your senses are heightened, food tastes better, the air feels crisper and your knees feel weak. I didn’t think I could feel this way again, especially since I am wading through the pain of the recent breakup of my marriage. But lo and behold, my heart started beating hard with joy and an ecstasy began percolating in my gut. It wasn’t for any wonderful guy that I had met though. It was for the city of Portland. I went there for a visit last week and it changed my…