Skip to main content
When Portland gets hot, East Portland broils.
350PDX, the local affiliate of climate justice organization 350.org, hopes to make that fact clear with a bike ride on July 17 that will take cyclists from Lents Park to Laurelhurst Park to show them how much tree canopy varies from east to west, and how a dearth of it can turn a miserable heat wave into a life-threatening catastrophe.
“Trees are not equitably distributed throughout Portland, with BIPOC and low-income neighborhoods having less,” says Tyler Gilmore, a co-leader for 350PDX’s Forest Defense Team. “Our goal is to continue to increase community awareness and involvement in solutions.”
The ride comes amid a prolonged heat wave that has killed seven people in Multnomah County since July 4, and 17 in Oregon, according to KGW.
The ride will start at 5:45 pm at the southeast corner of Lents Park on Wednesday. Dr. Vivek Shandas, a Portland State University professor and founder of the Sustaining Urban Places Research Lab, will discuss the East Portland heat island. His research is aimed at mitigating climate change’s impact in cities.
Shandas researched the 2021 heat wave and determined that the surfaces of some streets in the Lents neighborhood reached 180 degrees as air temperatures soared to 124 degrees. The heat wave killed 69 people in Multnomah County.
350PDX riders will pedal past one of the areas in the city’s Trees in the Curb Zone Pilot Project, where, according to its website, a grant from the Portland Bureau of Environmental Services is helping “to develop a framework for tree planting in the curb zone, in collaboration with Portland Parks & Recreation Urban Forestry team.”
In Phase 1 of the project, 13 trees will be planted along Southeast Duke Street from 82nd to 94th avenues and 89th to 90th avenues.
The route will “visually illustrate stark contrasts in tree canopy in different neighborhoods,” 350PDX said, before the group arrives at Laurelhurst Park for the group’s monthly Action Night starting at 7 pm.