Lunch in Hosford-Abernathy
Big-time Lunch Tour
Last week’s Bigtime Lunch Tour (BLT) took us to the Hosford-Abernethy neighborhood. It’s not far from SE Uplift’s offices but we still had a great tour and visited some spots some on our staff weren’t yet familiar with.
Our first stop on the tour was Piccolo Park , at 29th and Division. This park is an important part of the neighborhood’s history because it is a remnant of the proposed Mt. Hood Freeway project that was cancelled due to grass-roots opposition from the community. The lots were acquired as part of the project and homes were demolished to make way for the freeway, as hundreds more would have been if the freeway would have been built. The space was claimed as a park once the freeway project fell apart.
Next we traveled to 19th and Division to what neighbors hope will soon become a pocket park. Currently, the space is technically SE 19th Avenue, although it’s not a through street and it’s being used as a parking lot by neighboring businesses. HAND just received a Neighborhood Small Grant to begin visioning for the future park.
The final stop before lunch was at the site of the future MAX stop at 12th and Clinton. We stood at the corner and marveled at drivers, cyclists and pedestrians navigating the intersection, and tried to imagine what the area will look like with the addition of the proposed station.
After all that hard work we gave ourselves a treat by eating lunch at Genies Café, at 1101 SE Division. HAND board members Carolyn and Amy joined us and told some stories about living in the neighborhood. The food was fantastic and, what can we say, so was the company.