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The City of Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) has been asked by the Boise Neighborhood Association to help develop strategies to manage parking in North and Northeast Portland.
Last updated July 2025
Background and Study Area
The Boise Neighborhood Association asked the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) to do a comprehensive parking management plan for the neighborhood (including portions of Eliot, Humboldt, and King). The project kicked off in 2022.
There has been extensive growth in the neighborhood since the initial projects kicked off, and is not slowing. The WNBA team will kick off their season at Moda Center in spring 2026 and new mixed-use development slated for the Williams corridor, including two at Russell Street.
The original Boise Parking Management Plan has been extended further into the Eliot neighborhood south to Schuyler Street and has been renamed to the N/NE Parking Management Plan.
Expanding the boundary of the existing plan ensures PBOT doesn’t have to go back to the drawing board with community members or city council. However, this doesn’t mean PBOT will apply the same parking management strategies everywhere within the district. PBOT will be guided by parking data, community input, and goals identified by the Boise and Eliot neighborhoods.
- Physical and Psychological Safety
- Balance Between Users
- Ensure Displaced Residents Feel Welcome
The N/NE Parking Management Plan is guided by a joined Boise Parking Stakeholder Advisory Committee and the Eliot Parking Task Force.
What We Learned
Through a parking assessment of the neighborhood we learned that Mississippi, Vancouver, and Williams are extremely constrained with cars, like residents and employees, that are staying approximately 4 hours. This is not the parking behavior we want to see on a commercial corridor that needs continual turnover to support the local businesses.
What We Heard
In 2023, two surveys were administered to gauge perspectives on parking in the neighborhood. Through the surveys the big takeaways included hesitation to visit the area due to parking constraint and a preference for priced, convenient parking over congested, free parking.
Boise Parking Stakeholder Advisory Committee
15 people were selected to advise PBOT on the N/NE Parking Management Action Plan. Members are not parking experts but are familiar with their local area parking patterns and transportation issues. PBOT was seeking diverse perspectives, interests, and lived experience with parking and transportation such as residents, employees, regular visitors to the Boise neighborhood, property and business owners, as well as those who fit the descriptions below.
It was critical to the success of the project that we hear from everyone directly affected especially:
- Long-term residents who drive and own vehicles
- Small business owners or managers, especially on the Vancouver/Williams Avenue corridor
- Historic Black residents
- Black residents and others displaced from North and Northeast Portland who regularly visit Boise and Albina neighborhoods
- Employees who live outside the neighborhood
- Residents with young children
- Residents and employees with disabilities or who have mobility challenges
- Renters and residents of multifamily buildings
Bylaws for the Boise Parking Plan Stakeholder Advisory Committee 176.95 KB
Boise Parking Plan Committee members
- Jen Stack, Chair - Resident, Boise Neighborhood Association
- Velmer Bridges Jr., Vice-Chair - Resident
- Trent Aldridge - Chief Program Officer, Self Enhancement Inc. & Historic Resident
- Marc Beck - Resident
- Stephanie Hering - Employee
- Chase Holenstein - Resident
- Jaclyn Kirouac-Fram - Executive Director of The Rebuilding Center
- Christian Lee - Owner of The Rambler, Historic Mississippi Business Association, Resident
- John Russell - Resident
- Mela Seaver - Resident
- James Thompson - Owner of jetwoodshop
- Jesse Nobile - Resident
- Jerrell Waddell - Assistant Pastor Life Change Church
- Stacee Wion - Owner of SpielWerk Toys, Resident
Leadership
Jen Stack Co-chair
Jen and her family moved to the Boise neighborhood in 2013 after living and working in California as a chemist. In addition to being a full-time mom, Jen is the Boise Neighborhood Association Communications chair, involved in her daughter’s school PTA and she and her husband, Zack, have been managing the Free Clothing Exchange, a small nonprofit that provides clothing resources in a shopping style environment for all. She cares for this city and neighborhood and wants to help make it better and safer for everyone. She loves giving back to this neighborhood and looks forward to serving on the parking committee.
Velmer Bridges Jr. Vice-Chair
Velmer has lived in the Williams district for 3 years now with his girlfriend Samantha. He works as in -Home Tech Expert with a company called Asurion which includes a lot of driving throughout the region. Recently his car was stolen because of a viral Tik Tok challenge that influenced people to steal tons of Kia and Hyundai cars. Thankfully he got it back and it was a reminder that parking in our community is essential for services, engagement and growth and it's important to focus on the challenges and safety to provide adequate parking for everyone! He hopes that being a part of this parking committee, he can become more engaged and understanding of common issues we all encounter in our neighborhood and can help to implement a more sustainable and easy to navigate parking system.
Purpose:
- Co-chairs help set agendas, bring up issues, ideas, concerns to project team.
- If people have concerns, they can bring them up with co-chairs/vice-chairs, especially if they don’t feel comfortable bringing up to city or project staff.
- Bring positivity to the group and process.
- Energy is important to ensuring a good process and good outcomes.
- Foster an open and inclusive environment.
- Bring local knowledge, act as a bridge between neighborhood and city project team.
- Listen, learn, and advocate for those who may not have time but whose voices/perspectives need to be heard.
Project Initiation
- 2014-2015 | Neighborhood participated in Centers & Corridors Parking Study
- 2018 | Portland City Council approves a new Parking Pilot Program.
- 2018 | The Boise Neighborhood Association (Boise NA) requested an area parking permit program, but failed to get enough votes.
- 2019 | Boise NA requested PBOT's help to develop a long-range parking plan.
- December 2019/January 2020 | PBOT & Boise & Humboldt Neighborhood Associations get started on planning scope.
- February/March 2020 | PBOT recruits parking consultants.
- April 2020 | Project put on hold due to COVID-19 pandemic.
- June 2022 | Boise NA support resuming the planning process.
- Fall 2022 | PBOT and consultants start on public involvement strategy.
- January 2023 | Recruitment for the Stakeholder Advisory Committee begins.
- April 2023 | Stakeholder Advisory Committee begins to meet.
- Spring 2023 - committee meetings begin; decide study area and hours
- Summer/Fall 2023 - conduct parking study and community survey; develop project goals; hold committee meetings
- Winter/Spring 2024 - hold corridor working group meetings; hold committee meetings
- Summer 2024 - draft parking management plan; focus groups and listening sessions
- Fall 2024 - resume committee meetings; open house
- Summer 2025 - Finalize plan; City Council hearing
Goals and benefits of parking management
The goal of parking management is to balance all the competing needs for on-street parking. Customers, commercial delivery drivers, and a growing population all need access to on-street parking.
Benefits of parking management include:
- Better livability for residents
- Better access to local businesses for customer and freight
- Less congestion and carbon emissions
- Better air quality and safety for everyone
- Less illegal parking and fewer blocked driveways with regular enforcement
Parking management videos
Two videos have been created to help explain why PBOT manages parking in Portland and the strategies that we use. The specific strategies chosen are tailored based off the needs of the neighborhood.
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Contact Rae-Leigh Stark at 503-865-6244 or rae-leigh.stark@portlandoregon.gov with any questions.