Mural aimed at keeping streets safe

Vancouver Heights — The Skyline Crest community held a ribbon-cutting for the neighborhood’s new Omaha Way street mural on Aug. 2 as part of the National Night Out gathering and celebration. Skyline Crest is a low-rent public housing development operated by the Vancouver Housing Authority. Members of the community and VHA staff spent July 30 painting the mural. The mural was placed to slow traffic at a pedestrian crossing that leads to a neighborhood playground. Organizers for the street mural project were Skyline Crest residents, with support from VHA staff. Funding for the mural came in the form of a Safe Neighborhood Streets Grant from the city of Vancouver Office of Neighborhoods. The mural is one of two in McLoughlin Heights funded by the grant; the other will soon be painted by the Vancouver Heights Neighborhood Association at Garrison and Morrison roads. To see more mural photos, visit http://www.columbian.com/weblogs/your-neck-of-the-woods.