By Daniel Perez-Crouse
Portland’s Foster-Powell Neighborhood Association (FPNA) is working to overhaul a beloved street with its Better Center project. The goal is to make it a safer and more pleasant experience for residents.
SE Center St. is a designated Greenway and Safe Route to School. It runs east from SE 52nd Ave. to SE 82nd Ave.—sandwiched between Holgate Blvd. and Powell Blvd. It’s best defined by its distinctive rainbow street art on 60th Ave. The most high-profile addition to the corridor as of late are upgrades that made pedestrian and cycling safer along SE 52nd Ave. Despite this, residents feel there is plenty of room for improvement.
As stated on the Better Center page, they say the corridor lacks features like street trees, bulb-outs or partial traffic diverters to ensure a safe environment “for the most vulnerable users such as kids and the elderly.” Additionally, in evaluating the street, they’ve identified large stretches with low amounts of stop signs, ADA accessibility issues and problems with the 56th Ave. and Foster/Center streets intersection—which is an awkward, cumbersome process to navigate for anyone who’s been in the area.
It frames challenges in the area around equity, climate and safety. The FPNA points out that the Foster-Powell neighborhood has residents who are lower income than the city average and are less likely to own a vehicle and have to walk, bike or take the bus in order to meet their transportation needs. This, in addition to the declining canopy coverage of recent years, thus reducing protection from heat, makes it potentially dangerous for low-income residents who aren’t using vehicles in this area.
They are aware of the city’s limited resources and seek budget-friendly and alternative ways to improve the street. Their goals include making street space safer and more appealing to the residents who use it to walk and roll—more green space and trees, painted intersections and segments and measures to limit the use of higher speed through-traffic.
The Better Center has been a project/subcommittee within the FPNA for almost two years in varying capacities—with one of its earliest mentions in their April 2024 minutes, where they submitted an application to PSU’s Better Blocks program. Around the summer of 2025, it was revived and gained more traction.
They surveyed Foster-Powell residents to determine the high-priority changes and their top uses of the project area. They received over 200 responses, and over 100 residents expressed interest in staying informed and being willing to help. Their top concern was traffic, and the primary use of the street was walking for exercise.
The project most recently had success engaging with city officials. In January, they had a lengthy and thorough walkthrough of the corridor with Alan DeLaTorre, Sr., Council Aide of District 3 Councilor Tiffany Koyoma-Lane. In February, Koyoma-Lane herself joined the neighborhood association meeting to discuss the project further. She has been vocal about transportation in Portland and said her goals and priorities around Vision Zero, Safe Routes to Schools and tactical urbanism align well with the Better Center project.
During the meeting, she offered ideas around project pilots, daylighting and working with nonprofits to lower the number of cars. She was excited by the project and invited future collaboration.
Koyoma-Lane mentioned this in one of her newsletters saying, “I sincerely appreciate the opportunity to engage with the community, listen to feedback on how to improve projects and outcomes and ask questions so that I understand what constituents are experiencing in District 3. I look forward to future meetings and opportunities to ensure improved mobility and traffic safety.”
FPNA is currently applying for grants and having discussions with community members about repainting some of the road art to beautify the space. They’ve even got a date set to overhaul the sunflower painting at SE 75th Ave. and SE Foster Rd. in August.
The Better Center project committee plans to hold regular meetings on the first Monday of every month, 7:15-8:15 pm. To attend or for more information, head to FPNA website, fosterpowell.com/better-center-project.
Aerial view of the Better Center Project. Photo by the Foster-Powell Neighborhood Association.
