Lloyd District certified as one of only 4 'EcoDistricts' worldwide
Finally some good news from my neighborhood in PDX!
https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/good-energy/lloyd-center-environmental-ecodistrict/283-aa8e0cc5-0b89-46a3-961f-4993059ad3d6
“To get certified, potential EcoDistricts must commit to making equity, resilience and climate protection part of every decision; form a collaborative governance body for planning and implementation; create a long-term roadmap for how projects and programs will be put in place; and track their progress to measure over time.
"It was a really rigorous 3-year process where we developed a long-term strategy in our 2030 road map," Leiber said. "It involved convening hundreds of people in the district."
The Lloyd EcoDistrict has several distinct areas of focus; for example, they’ve put an emphasis on placemaking and creating habitat for pollinators. That includes frequent cleanup parties at Peace Memorial Park, just above the Eastbank Esplanade, and community mural painting projects.
On Northeast Multnomah Avenue, bike lanes are separated from the roadway not by a curb, but by planters filled with native foliage to attract pollinators.
The Lloyd EcoDistrict organization has also focused on developing a path to decarbonization, working with building owners to increase efficiency and developing best practices that owners can share with each other.
Joshua Baker, outreach coordinator for the organization, said the workshops help forge another invisible part of resiliency: the relationships neighbors form with each other.
"We believe that the more bonds and the more connections that residents have, the more that they are able to respond to crises," Baker said.
And there will be plenty of opportunities to forge more connections in the runup to Earth Day. The organization is holding it’s annual fundraiser on Wednesday, a cleanup at Peace Memorial Park on Friday and a host of other events in collaboration with Earth Day Oregon.
A lot of climate strategies tend to focus on statewide, national or international policies. But Leiber said neighborhoods present the perfect scale to get people engaged and to implement programs that produce tangible results.
"It involves a lot of collaboration, which is easier to do in a few blocks rather than citywide," she said, "but it's more impactful than, say, a single property owner might have on one building."
