Projects

Parks & Recreation

JLA works with public agency clients and our parks/land use consulting partners to plan for park improvements, master plans and new facilities. Our staff members have expertly guided local parks and recreation agency staff through sometimes contentious projects that threatened to divide neighborhoods, user groups, and property owners. JLA's community involvement and education efforts have resulted in the development of some of the best new parks facilities in Oregon and SW Washington.

Clark County Trail and Bikeway System Plan

Clark County, Washington
Client: Vancouver-Clark Parks and Recreation

Vancouver-Clark Parks and Recreation updated their 1992 Clark County Trail and Bikeway System Plan with expert public outreach assistance from JLA. We facilitated the community advisory committee meetings, designed and facilitated public workshops, and contributed articles for publication in local walking and biking publications. The resulting 20-year parks vision document incorporated hundreds of public suggestions and has been well received.

Clatsop Butte Park Master Plan

Portland, Oregon
Client: Portland Bureau of Parks and Recreation

JLA designed and implemented the public involvement plan for a 43-acre site for a future park in the East Buttes area of outer SE Portland, an area that has been historically under-served with parks facilities. The planning area is completely surrounded by urban residential development. As a result, close coordination and involvement with neighbors, parks advocacy groups and interested parties was an integral part the community outreach. We coordinated and conducted stakeholder interviews, recruited community members and facilitated meetings for a project advisory committee, developed event mailers and designed and hosted two community events onsite that drew more than 200 participants. The resulting park plan received widespread community support.

Skateparks Advisory Committee

Portland, Oregon
Client: City of Portland Parks and Recreation

JLA helped Portland to become one of the first cities in the world to have a comprehensive master plan for skateboard park development and siting. The Skateparks Master Plan, passed by a unanimous city council ordinance, recommends three types of skateparks: 13 neighborhood 'skate spots', five district-wide skateparks, and one central city anchor park. JLA provided strategy and facilitation for this master plan, including the facilitation of the SPLAT (Skate Park Leadership Advisory Team) which featured a wide variety of community stakeholders and skatepark advocates. As part of this effort, our team also designed and led a series of sometimes contentious city-wide community workshops and open houses for both the siting and design phases of the first two publicly-supported skateparks to come out of the Skateparks Master Plan - Gabriel skatepark and Glenhaven Park.