Depaving Portland: Ripping Up Pavement, Planting Community

Depave organizes volunteer work parties that jackhammer and pry up unnecessary pavement at schools, churches and community sites, then plant the reclaimed ground with native trees, shrubs and rain gardens. Since 2008 the Portland nonprofit has completed 80 projects removing 366,535 square feet of pavement, using an equity matrix to prioritize under-resourced neighborhoods hit hardest by urban heat and flooding. The redesigned sites soak up stormwater on site instead of overwhelming storm drains, and NASA-measured pilot sites showed surface temperatures up to 7.7°F cooler after depaving.