Pedal Pod

The Springwater Corridor inspires a next-generation cart colony

By Zach Dundas

THE WEEDY asphalt triangle at the intersection of SE 82nd Avenue and the Springwater Corridor might seem like just another dead used-car lot, a victim of the recession and Ron Tonkin. But in the dreams of developer Roger Goldingay, it promises a bold, new frontier for Portland’s cart-capitalist movement.

Goldingay, the 60-year-old developer behind North Portland’s popular Mississippi Marketplace food-cart corral, bought the lot and broke ground on an ambitious upgrade in February. By mid-April, he hopes to open a “superpod” of carts—dubbed “Cartlandia”—tailored to the Springwater’s swarms of cyclists.

The vision remains a work in progress. But if the $1.5 million project succeeds, it could push the cart format—already Portland’s most celebrated recession-era microeconomy—far beyond food. Here’s the anatomy of a possible pod paradise.