Elevations proposed for Homeland Security project. Image: GBD Architects   Design Advice: Department of Homeland Security Garage/Office Space Proposed in South Portland The unoccupied building on the 4300 block of Southwest Macadam may be occupied by the Department of Homeland Security. To make room for the Feds, the owners of the building seek to build a new three-story 74,000 square-foot parking garage, topped by more...

Six Great Things to Do This Weekend. LEARN 2010 Tour de Coops Where: various backyards across North, Northeast and Southeast Portland When: Saturday, July 24, 11a.m.-3p.m. Cost: guide booklets are $15 Tip: Bring your friends (the $15 cost covers groups as well as individuals) This strolling tour takes you to the backyards of 25 of your neighbors who display their very own chicken coops for those interested in more...

Thyme in full bloom Herbs are beautiful choices for both your yard and cooking adventures. Most can be planted from early spring until late fall and need virtually no maintenance once established. The favorites listed here are all drought tolerant, need minor trimming in the winter and are versatile in the kitchen. Use fresh herbs in your soups, salads, cocktails, meat and fish dishes, even desserts. All have medicinal more...

Okay, so we haven't been experiencing the steamiest "Wet Hot American Summer" so far this year. Lately, the morning grey skies and chilly night gusts have it feeling more like October in July. But with warm afternoons and bright, extended evenings—plus a few sweaty heat waves (fingers crossed for at least a few more spikes in the mercury)—it is still decidedly summer in Oregon. And how do we take advantage more...

After a wet and chilly spring with difficult growing conditions and week after week of mostly rainy market days, the local farmers market season is finally in full swing, There’s no better time of the year to be a cook in Oregon and for food lovers, nothing beats a shopping trip to a good farmers market. Following the long-awaited arrival of the sun, the next biggest market news in Portland is the new Monday market at more...

Six Great Things to Do This Weekend… LEARN Brewing Up Cocktails Where: The Hop & Vine, 1914 N Killingsworth When: Saturday, July 17, 3-7 p.m. Cost: Contact Hop & Vine at 503.954.3322 for price Tip: Hide your car keys. Five stiff drinks are on the menu, so plan on taking a cab or drunkenly stumbling home. Beer or liquor? This age-old debate has never truly been decided until now. And the answer more...

Just Us Hens can help with your brood of chickens. Rhonda Piasecki and Sharon Rowland like chickens, a lot. They’re also master gardeners, good friends and co-founders of Just Us Hens, a new urban garden consulting and chicken-sitting business based out of their Portland homes. Piasecki, a Boston native, says she got interested in chickens because it was the next step in organic gardening and growing her own food. more...

Classic Foods' new location in Woodlawn. Welcome. This is the first of many articles to come about development in the spaces near you. This column, which shall published every other week, will hopefully provide you with a general idea of what's going on in Portland's world of land use. Of course, if there's something specific you think your fellow readers should know about, let me know and I'll check it more...

Fit Camp at Overlook Park in North Portland. It sits there all alone. Unused. Maybe even a little bored. Frantically trying to figure out where it did me wrong. That little yellow card that, once scanned, gives me access to more exercise equipment than I know how to handle. That little card that gives me a dry place to run during the winter rains. But it’s summer now and once the sun shows itself for the first time, my more...

KBOO's new mural. Last week, Southeast Uplift Neighborhood Coalition (SEUL) and the City of Portland’s Office of Neighborhood Involvement (ONI) announced that grants were available for graffiti abatement. The funds encourage neighborhood associations, businesses and community-based organizations to keep graffiti at bay as well as create and maintain community-oriented murals. Southeast Uplift is the first of more...

Event date: Sep 25, 2010

Event location: A tour of sites featuring green building applications around the city of Portland and free info fair at Ecohaus, 819 Southeast Taylor Street

Presented by the City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, twenty-two inspiring and innovative green residential projects will be open around the Portland Metropolitan Area. Chat with homeowners and contractors about small space living, Passive House, ecoroofs, rainwater harvesting, natural landscaping, affordable housing, aging-in-place, water and energy conservation, healthy building materials, alternative more...