wsbob
04-19-2011, 10:40 PM
Constructive, do-it-yourself minded people on the Westside, that reflect wistfully on places like the Rebuilding Center over on Mississippi St...way across the river in Portland...will possibly be very delighted to learn that Habitat for Humanity is soon to be opening a Re-Use center in Beaverton. At a city event held at Central Library, back in January or so is when I first learned a strong possibility existed that HFH was going to open such a center here in Beaverton (I was told another such center exists in the Forest Grove area.). This is the kind of place where you can pick up for reasonable prices...used, but still very good house building repair and remodeling stuff.
Hints were made at the time about where the location might be, but the deal wasn't set, so the staff didn't want to cite locations being looked at...though the hints were that possibility was good that the location would be prime by way of visibility and accessibility. The secured location for the Re-Use Center is every bit of that: The location is situated in the NW corner lot at the intersection of Millikan Way with Hocken Blvd.
For those of you not exactly familiar with Beaverton and it's streets relative to the city's center...How prime is this location? This is Central Beaverton. A couple minutes away from Cedar Hills Blvd, the big multi-service mall Cedar Hills Crossing, Tektronix, middle and lower-middle income neighborhoods all around. There's quite a bit of traffic on Millikan Way, especially during rush hour, and the street has a good bike lane (except, as a commenter to a main page story has noted: where Millikan west-bound bike traffic approaches Murray Blvd...it disappears until resuming once again on the Murray's west side.).
The Re-Use Center location is very visible to road users on both Millikan Way and Hocken Blvd. The center occupies a space in a single story, newer, light industrial structure. It's got a new, nice looking, back lit sign. Interior space is spacious: looks to be 4000-5000 sq. ft, is well lit.
Is the Re-Use Center favorable to shopping by bike? Leave it to me, not to think of asking the staff that question. What I'd tend to think though, is that yes...it probably is, or at least, the setting seems to lend itself to bike-friendliness, and it probably would be the intention of the staff to set something up so it could be. With the Millikan Way bike lane, relatively flat terrain, and the Re-Use Center's modest sized motor vehicle parking lot (not a lot of motor vehicle traffic in the lot to contend with.), it seems likely that people wanting to use a bike and if they have one or can make one to haul the kind of stuff a person might buy here (read...big, long, bulky.), this center's setting would probably work out just fine for many residents in the surrounding neighborhoods.
This light industrial building is set up to load and unload trucks. So it is the entrance is up above ground level about 3', with an steel railing (a long ramp is located to one end of the building, also with a steel railing). Bikes might be able to be locked there. The parking lot is basically two rows of spaces for cars. Some bike racks could be located down there.
If this future opening sounds interesting to you, I'd say...roll on by and check the new Habitat for Humanity Re-Use Center out. Looked to me like they had lots of work to do setting things up, but if they're not too busy, maybe they'll invite you in to look around, like they did for me. Share your thoughts with them. By the way...if you're feeling in a volunteerism kind of mood, they did say they were seeking volunteers for a wide range of jobs staffing the place.
Hints were made at the time about where the location might be, but the deal wasn't set, so the staff didn't want to cite locations being looked at...though the hints were that possibility was good that the location would be prime by way of visibility and accessibility. The secured location for the Re-Use Center is every bit of that: The location is situated in the NW corner lot at the intersection of Millikan Way with Hocken Blvd.
For those of you not exactly familiar with Beaverton and it's streets relative to the city's center...How prime is this location? This is Central Beaverton. A couple minutes away from Cedar Hills Blvd, the big multi-service mall Cedar Hills Crossing, Tektronix, middle and lower-middle income neighborhoods all around. There's quite a bit of traffic on Millikan Way, especially during rush hour, and the street has a good bike lane (except, as a commenter to a main page story has noted: where Millikan west-bound bike traffic approaches Murray Blvd...it disappears until resuming once again on the Murray's west side.).
The Re-Use Center location is very visible to road users on both Millikan Way and Hocken Blvd. The center occupies a space in a single story, newer, light industrial structure. It's got a new, nice looking, back lit sign. Interior space is spacious: looks to be 4000-5000 sq. ft, is well lit.
Is the Re-Use Center favorable to shopping by bike? Leave it to me, not to think of asking the staff that question. What I'd tend to think though, is that yes...it probably is, or at least, the setting seems to lend itself to bike-friendliness, and it probably would be the intention of the staff to set something up so it could be. With the Millikan Way bike lane, relatively flat terrain, and the Re-Use Center's modest sized motor vehicle parking lot (not a lot of motor vehicle traffic in the lot to contend with.), it seems likely that people wanting to use a bike and if they have one or can make one to haul the kind of stuff a person might buy here (read...big, long, bulky.), this center's setting would probably work out just fine for many residents in the surrounding neighborhoods.
This light industrial building is set up to load and unload trucks. So it is the entrance is up above ground level about 3', with an steel railing (a long ramp is located to one end of the building, also with a steel railing). Bikes might be able to be locked there. The parking lot is basically two rows of spaces for cars. Some bike racks could be located down there.
If this future opening sounds interesting to you, I'd say...roll on by and check the new Habitat for Humanity Re-Use Center out. Looked to me like they had lots of work to do setting things up, but if they're not too busy, maybe they'll invite you in to look around, like they did for me. Share your thoughts with them. By the way...if you're feeling in a volunteerism kind of mood, they did say they were seeking volunteers for a wide range of jobs staffing the place.