Carol Mayer-Reed, FASLA, Author at Mayer Reed

Governor Announces Willamette Falls Riverwalk Design Team

Governor Kate Brown announced the selection of the Mayer/Reed, Snøhetta, DIALOG team for the design of the Willamette Falls Riverwalk at the former Blue Heron Paper Mill site in Oregon City.

As the prime consultant, Mayer/Reed will collaborate with our international design partners and work with numerous agencies, stakeholders and the public to create an experientially-rich Riverwalk that will enable connectivity and public access to this powerful site for the first time in over a century.

With the Willamette Falls Riverwalk as the first phase of the former mill site’s redevelopment, we are honored to accept this incredible opportunity to shape the future of the site. We are continually inspired by the layers of history and are energized by our team’s rapport and shared vision. We are prepared to reveal this remarkable scenic and cultural treasure that has been buried in plain sight for decades.

A Look at Street Food and Urban Vitality

Carol Mayer-Reed examines Portland’s lively food cart culture and its relationship to urban vitality in “Portland’s Street Food Phenomenon,” published in the May issue of ASLA’s blog, The Dirt. MayerReed_foodcartarticle “The carts, which also form food cart pods, make a positive, colorful contribution to the city’s sense of livability, promote social interaction, and support small businesses. After all, the presence of people gathering in places attracts more people.”

Just Launched – The Landscape Architect’s Guide to Portland

ASLA National has launched a mobile friendly, online guide to over 48 significant landscapes in Portland. The Landscape Architect’s Guide to Portland is organized into tours under categories such as grand parks, social equity, wildlife, water, and health. It includes site reviews along with addresses, maps, bike and transit routes.

As one of 11 local landscape architects who contributed, I was asked to be the guide for the Water Tour and demonstrate how Portland leads the nation with the development of green infrastructure. The Water Tour showcases a range of public open spaces that highlight ways Portland experiences, expresses, treats, uses and celebrates water. To tell this multi-faceted story, I reviewed Tom McCall Waterfront Park, the Water Pollution Control Laboratory, the Rain Garden at the Oregon Convention Center, Sandy Blvd. Streetscape, and the Amy Joslin Memorial Eco-roof at the Multnomah County Building.Portland is a walkable, bikeable tour-friendly city. It’s a city without a single, stand-out landmark; yet increasingly we see visitors on the streets with maps and mobile devices exploring our many nooks and crannies. Through the eyes of visitors, this is an opportunity to ask ourselves, what has Portland done right? What can other cities learn from Portland? What is Portland doing to maintain our quality of life and continue to become even more sustainable?

Bud Clark Commons Work Day

Landscape architects at Mayer/Reed volunteered “hands on” time last week, applying elbow grease into pruning shrubs and trees of the two courtyards at Bud Clark Commons, a non-profit center providing services to the homeless. The Day Center and Men’s Shelter courtyards get intensive use everyday. While we don’t normally maintain the landscapes that we’ve designed, returning to sites after installation is time well spent to see if the spaces are being used in all the ways we anticipated.