Mapping Existing MotiveSpaces: Background and Considerations

Posted on | April 3, 2010 | Comments Off

At the next Salon we’ll explore basic questions:

• What makes a space welcoming? 
• Is it the people, the process which began it, or something in the way it’s designed?

MotiveSpace, being one part advisory network, and one-part project incubator, is dedicated to helping neighbors build neighborhoods.  That means we help communities build collaborative visions, and we help builders find communities who need them.  We believe in people-first, people-responsive development.

To better understand the spaces already existing in Portland neighborhoods, we’re coordinating a Community Spaces/Places mapping, kicking off at next month’s Salon.  We’d love to hear your ideas about community spaces already existing in your neighborhood- where do you feel inspired, welcome, and empowered?  What is it about those spaces that you love- is it the people?  The food?  Something about the way it was designed, built, or the way it’s run now?

Start considering the types of spaces you want us to include on the base map.  To get started, we’re dividing them into three distinct categories.

Type 1: Open Spaces. Public spaces where everyone is welcome are the foundations of community in every neighborhood.  The basic layer of the map will include:

• Parks
• Community Gardens
• Community Centers
• Farmers Markets
• Public Squares

Type 2: Collaboration Spaces. Spaces which enable collaboration by encouraging users to share resources, or ideas:

• Cohousing or Collective Housing Communities like Daybreak Cohousing, or Portland Collective Housing
• Co-working Spaces like NedSpace or Hacker Spaces.
• Nonprofit Artist communities like the Falcon Art Community, the Milepost 5 project, and the Everett Station lofts.

Type 3: Mission-driven spaces. Some spaces exist to support cooperative action, to support specific social missions, or unite communities around shared principles.  This list could be a big one – to begin, we’re prioritizing communities whose values are in-line with motiveSpace’s Mission.  That is, not only do the communities value mutual support and solidarity internally, but they value openness and collaboration with other neighbors, as well:

• Cooperatively owned or operated spaces like the People’s Food Coop, or the Red and Black Café.
• Community-oriented Churches like the Tabor Space @ 60th/Belmont, or St. Francis Assisi Church.
• Spaces like the Pixie Project office and doggie day care, where nonprofits have partnered together to strengthen their individual missions.
• Grassroots projects on public streets, like City Repair’s Intersection Repairs

What are we forgetting, Portland?  And what do you want to see more of?

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