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Years ago an effort was made to help reforest the metropolitan
areas in the wake of Dutch Elm disease. At that time, communities,
like many urban areas, were forced to cut down most of their mature
boulevard trees because of Dutch elm infestation. The urban forest,
environment and land values in the cities were fast disappearing.
At one time I was fortunate enough to work with an organization
that took part in the effort to replant trees to recreate the
beautiful avenues that used to cover the country. Traditionally, an
avenue is a straight road with a line of trees or large shrubs
running along each side, and in most cases, the trees planted on an
avenue will be all of the same species, so as to give uniform
appearance along the full length of the avenue. In modern urban or
suburban settings, "avenue" is often simply a street name used to
differentiate some streets from others. In most cities in the
United States, there is a convention that "avenues" run in a
north-south direction, while "streets" run in an east-west
direction. I recently decided to do some research around Portland
to seek out some of these traditional landscape designs.
I started my research driving to the American Institute of
Architects in Portland hoping to run into some city planners and
ask about locations to check. I got a tip from a guy outside to go
check out the Portland Development Commission and ask around there.
After a quick visit there I maneuvered my Jeep to the Chance of
Rain Café for a quick cup of coffee to get energized for my quest.
After traveling around a while and searching I found myself in
front of the Storables store in the Pearl District. I shopped there
for some cache containers and went on my way. I looked around town
just a few more minutes and decided to end my search that day
meeting a friend for a beverage at the Lair Hill Too Café.
The next day I thought that I would go out and look some more. I
thought a great place to start would be at the Leach Botanical
Gardens. I looked around for a while but realized my search wasn’t
over. I decided my next stop should be the Swedish Consulate and
ask them about European landscape design. (They really know what
they are talking about.) Moving along on my journey, I stopped at
Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital to check out some classical areas. I
walked around, enjoyed the rose garden, and continued my journey. I
ended my day going into Earth Water Sky Fine Art gallery to see how
others have captured the essence of nature. Of all the miles I put
on with this search, I realized that the perfect example of what I
was seeking was right on my way home. I pass it every day and never
thought to take a look!
Avenues, stemming from the French word, meaning "to arrive",
were first created to emphasize one’s arrival at a certain
landscape or architectural feature. Well, in honor of this
“arrival”, this spot now has a cache hidden somewhere within it!
And now I don’t have to travel far to see a prime example of the
once magnificent Elm tree-lined avenues of my hometown.