CREATING A NEIGHBORHOOD SENSE OF PLACE - TABORSPACE
Lauren Moomaw and Maggie Maggio are part of a new community effort, TaborSpace. This coffeehouse and gathering place feels like a throwback to the best of Portland in the 1970s, but it also reflects a uniquely 21st century understanding of how to create sustainable communities. This week on Locus Focus we talk with Lauren and Maggie about creating a neighborhood sense of place through village building.
Lauren Moomaw manages the cafe at TaborSpace and is the coffee house consultant. She tries to implement sustainability by buying local products whenever possible and composting food scraps. The coffeehouse replaces coffee grounds into the bags the beans came in and sends them out to the neighborhood to be used in gardens or home composts. And this past summer they used lots of neighbor's zuccini for the cafe's zuccini bread.
Maggie Maggio facilitates the new TaborArtSpace and coordinates the artists showing in the cafe. Formerly the coordinate of the Neighborhood Sense of Place Program at the Northwest Earth Institute, she sees TaborSpace as a perfect example of creating a local gathering place that will help to connect neighbors to each other and to the place where they live. At TaborSpace, Maggie practices what she calls Village Practice. The Cafe is the entryway into what is hoped will become a place alive with neighborhood activities.
MORE ABOUT TABORSPACE
As Wendell Berry says: "Think Local, Act Local." TaborSpace's outdoor tables were made out of concrete by a local concrete artist. Local artists are invited to show their work. Local small businesses are invited to rent space. Local school and sports groups are invited to use the space. The coffeehouse uses a local roaster and bakes with local garden produce.
TaborSpace is an adaptive reuse project. Taking space that was underutilized and renovating it for a new use means we don't have to build more new buildings. The project was done with reuse as the first choice for all purchases whenever possible, including used coffee cups from Rose's; cafe tables made from recycled lumber and a magazine holder made from the back of an old pew.