Portland Gentrification and Other Problems

Put The Bugs In A Jar And Shake It

Remember "urban grit"?

Urban grit is what drew Reves to his eighth-floor corner unit in the Civic.
“The reason I bought here was because it was downtown but it wasn’t in the Pearl,” says the 33-year-old Reves, who works for Nautilus in Vancouver, Wash. “I like to be around a more diverse location, even if there are drug dealers or prostitutes.”
http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=118945870998628300

Yeah, yeah, take it easy, Lou Reed. I can remember when there was a little bit of it everywhere. Maybe even as recently as when Jim-Jim was beaten to death for being too gritty in the Pearl, f'rinstance. For my money, though, if you want grit, Flavel, Duke -- these are the streets to hang your hat.

Street-drug turf war heats up,
with Flavel Street murder
Officials say this stabbing wasn't drug related; but sources tell us violence may escalate, as drug dealers – not gang members – fight to protect their distribution areas …
Just before 10 p.m. on May 8, two men get into a scuffle on SE Flavel Street, a block east of SE 82nd Avenue of Roses.
Angry words are exchanged – and, in full view passengers riding in a passing TriMet bus, one man attacks the other with a knife. A teenage girl tries to intervene and gets slashed, while trying to stop the knife-wielding suspect from stabbing the wounded man to death.
http://www.eastpdxnews.com/index.php?mod=article_detail&id_art=860

Man, apartments over there are probably cheap! They're probably giving them away. But maybe I better check Craigslist before I head on over to the Rebuilding Center for some 2nd hand burglar bars. (Nobody seems to need those things in "No Po" any more!)

$679 / 2br - 2 Bedroom Apartment in Park-Like Community
- Truly Great Residents to have as Neighbors
- Rents From Only $679!
Timber Grove at Mt. Scott
8860 SE Flavel Street
Portland, Oregon 97266
http://portland.craigslist.org/clc/apa/676622684.html

Lemme make sure there's enough urban grit though. I like a little urban grit, that's why I want to live in the city!

Bravado beef or turf war?
While at the scene just before midnight, we speak with a confidential source who suggests that this fight was the result of "turf war" among drug dealers in the area.
Saying that SE Flavel Street has become the dividing line for street-drug dealing territories, the source tells us, "I expected violence to erupt in this area. And, now it's happened."
We ask the source if this is gang-related. "No, it's drug dealers protecting their sales area."
http://www.eastpdxnews.com/index.php?mod=article_detail&id_art=860

Hm, sounds like I'm going to have to pick a team. Wonder what's dirt-cheap, priced-to-move on the Duke Ave side? Ground floor, anyone?

$1150 / 3br - NICE HOUSE FOR RENT (S.E)
newly rremodel
new kitchen
hardwood floors
1-car garage
new paint in & out
ice cold A.C
GAS Heater very comfortable
larch fenced back yard
located at 6512 S.E 83rd----83rd & duke
NO PETS
NO SMOKING HOUSE
FIRST AND LAST MONTH plus $700 DEPOSIT
TO MOVE IN. TO BE PAY ON THE DAY OF SIGNING
http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/apa/680887232.html

Wow, a whole house, and they're only asking as much as about a thousand houses within walking distance of downtown on the east side were going for four or five years ago! I only need Three Thousand Dollars (and a dictionary) to move in.

Detectives and criminalists from the PPB's Identification Division set up a tent over the dead man's body, and spend several hours processing the scene and interviewing witnesses.
Schmautz tells us officers and detectives contacted several individuals in the area, including 18-year-old Sean Michael Lagrew. "An autopsy conducted by the Multnomah County Medical Examiner confirmed that Adams died of a stab wound. Detectives arrested Lagrew on one count of Felony Murder, and booked him into the Justice Center Jail."
http://www.eastpdxnews.com/index.php?mod=article_detail&id_art=860

Well, urban grit aside, three bedrooms sounds like a bit "too much house" for me. I ought to check with my buddies at Grid Property Management. They specialize in renting out anything that's too gritty for their dad, Phoenix Redevelopment , to be able to sand and paint and sell for like $400,000.

$1095 / 2br - Classic Craftsman Bungalow (SE Portland)
Renovated 2br/1ba Craftsman at 7128 SE 83rd Ave...Great floorplan, full unfinished basement.
$1,095.00 per month, $1,500 refundable security deposit, $2,595.00 total to move in...Please drive by then call...Please respect the privacy of our current tenants [who don't know that we made their shithole house habitable only so we could kick them out and rent it for more money to you]
http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/apa/682144729.html

83rd and Knapp, wow. I could have watched the stabbing while having a nice cold Fat Tire on my front porch

"When officers arrived, they saw 28-year-old Jason Manuel Adams collapsed on the ground," says Portland Police Bureau (PPB) spokesman Sgt. Brian Schmautz. "Officers called for an ambulance, but Adams died at the scene.
http://www.eastpdxnews.com/index.php?mod=article_detail&id_art=860

Good thing this happened in the middle of the month. I'd hate to be writing out my rent check while the cops have my front yard blocked off with crime-scene tape. In fact it would make me wonder why the hell I'm barricaded inside my house in the very center of the epicenter of the nerve center of the middle of ground-zero of Felony Flats, but still paying hardly anything less than some neighborhood where the cops might, I don't know, drive by more than once a week?

$700 / 2br - Great SW location with awesome views (SW Broadway Drive)
Council Crest area great walking paths right out back through nature park. 100 year old converted house has 3 apartments...Real quiet location and neighbors. street parking/ non smoking/ cats and small dog on approval with extra deposit. application fee $37 per adult. month to month rent $500 security deposit $150 non refundable set up fee.
SW Broadway Drive
http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/apa/684329425.html

But after dressing down for another furtive run to Plaid Pantry for some more Mirror Pond Pale Ale -- much more -- I'd have to admit: it's because Council Crest is lame! Whether it's 20th and West Burnside, or 83rd and SE Flavel, I'm an urban dweller, and I've just gotta have the urban grit!

More "Pearl"-Bashing: "Neighborhood Notes" Wins Dippiest Blogroll Award

Let's have a look at the totally ludicrous shit that the many "Pearl District" "blogs" have to tell us. Of course, most of them are actually advertising in the guise of a blog. But that's the Pearl, baby! Creativity! Jasper Johns is at the front door of your loft right now, holding a tunafish sandwich in one hand and a copy of Dwell in the other! Let'm in! He just "scored" for some "charlie" down in Lake Oswego!!

"Neighborhood Notes" is the motherlode.  Here's a choice example of their puerile, brain-dead horseshit. Dig how they saw the word "multi-modal" on a website ten minutes ago:

When the Tram first opened we couldn't get enough of it. It was a multi-modal day trip that involved packing a lunch and bringing binoculars. We'd catch the streetcar out into the wilds of South Waterfront, take the tram up to OHSU, explore the gardens and atriums and decks that seem to hang off the edge of the hill. And then head to the river on our way back.
http://www.neighborhoodnotes.com/2008/05/urban-hiking-and-aerial-views.html

Day trip. You've got to be kidding me. Why aren't you at work? Anyway, this idiotic blog has links to all the other ones. They're, predictably, pretty much all marketing blogs -- I'm not sure why there's a different section for "Our Advertising Partners." I guess a blog is just an advertising partner that gets it free. Take for example, "The Pearl Of Portland." Take a look at their mind-numbing exegesis of the Barack Obama situation, the 1968 Paris student riots, and the New York Times -- or whatever the hell it is they figured spending five seconds thinking about qualified them to explain to the rest of us:

The 1968 generation of protesters in Paris, in the U.S., and yes in Portland, have birthed a new generation, and now comes the test of how those passionate lovers of humanity did as parents and as citizens....This election is a test of Portlanders who pride themselves on community and citizenship. This election is the test of an American generation.
http://pearlofportland.blogspot.com/2008/04/us-election-tests-generation-of.html

The link above takes you to the quoted text, but only as it is embedded amid a forest of ads for Pearl real estate and associated amenities. We note that the cheapest thing listed is down on yucky 4th and Flanders for $264,000; wonder how many bedrooms it has HA HA HA. Then again, in fairness, there are ads for jobs in the Pearl as well. These merit reproduction:

Latest Job Listing
* full time am line cook- bridgeport brewpub & bakery (nw pearl)  - May 13, 2008
* Cashier/Counter + Line Cook (Pearl)  - May 13, 2008
* Busser (The Pearl District)  - May 13, 2008
* Baker (The Pearl District)  - May 13, 2008
* Server - Fenouil (the Pearl)  - May 12, 2008

Hm, how about some apartments to go with those $8-an-hour Pearl jobs?

Craigslist for Apts
* Gorgeous McCormick Pier Condo with A/C!! (1040 NW Naito Parkway O-5/Portland) $1425 2bd  - May 13, 2008
* SPACIOUS STUDIO APARTMENT (PEARL DISTRICT) $1171  - May 13, 2008
* The Pinnacle - 1255 NW 9th #908 (1255 NW 9th #908) $1750 1bd  - May 13, 2008
http://pearlofportland.blogspot.com/

Live and work in the Pearl.
Let's move along to the "Pearl Insider." They haven't bothered to post anything for two months. When they have, it's about shopping.

We've always been huge fans of the Lucy store in the Pearl District (when you live in yoga pants, Lucy items are must-haves). Last year was our first Lucy warehouse sale experience. And it was overwhelming... in a good way. First, we pulled up thinking this was our little secret and it turns out half the city of Portland was there. The line wrapped down the block!
http://www.pearlinsider.com/2008/03/hold_us_a_spot_in_line.php

Yoga pants. "That's hot." Everyone knows they're just barista-pants with a higher price tag. But what other inside scoops does the Pearl Insider have for us? Here's a revealing, not to mention nauseating, tip. Or is it an ad? Hard to tell any more:

As the Pearl District has grown beyond its industrial-warehouse roots, it's inevitable that the unique artist lofts and one-of-a-kind living spaces are becoming harder and harder to come by. In fact, let's face it: it can be hard to tell one condo from the next if you don't take the step of putting your own personal touch and style into your home. Well, a gorgeous new solution to the "cookie cutter" nature of condo design has arrived. Architectural Elegance, which recently opened in the Pearl Design Center, is a boutique-style showroom offering some very unique and high-end hardware. One look at their selection, and you'll want to start replacing the hardware on every kitchen, bath and cabinet surface in your place!
http://www.pearlinsider.com/2008/01/bringing_architectural_eleganc.php

Thank god you don't live in Tigard with all those shallow, materialistic squares, huh? Their phony, plastic existence is the complete opposite of your sustainable, urbanistical ways. In fact, there's even a blog for how urbanly you are raising your kids! "Little Urbanites!" Which is, of course, a catalog in Pearl Blog drag, offering $250 highchairs:

We Have The Scandinavian Child Svan High Chair In Stock!!
We know how hard it is to find the scandinavian child Svan high chairs but we have some in the store right now! Please call 503-227-8729 or email info@littleurbanites.com to find out what finished we have in stock. Currently we have Mahogany, Espresso, Natural and Cherry.
http://littleurbanites.com/blog/blogs/index.php?title=we_have_the_svan_in_stock...

Even if they've never learned to capitalize the names of nations, luckily there's more than just selling the mahagony kid-furniture - they can even design your whole life so you are a sustainable little condo-proud phony just like all your Pearl neighbors:

As an additional benefit to our customers, Little Urbanites offers custom apparel design and interior design services at our store. We know how children prosper in environments that foster development and stimulate imagination.
Our goal is to facilitate these ideas into their rooms and closets.
http://www.littleurbanites.com/product.html

"Their closets?" How...weird. Anyway, who else do we have on Neighborhood Notes' blogroll? How about "Pearl District Blog"? Ah, nope, not a blog -- just a real estate site:

#725 is 1140 square feet and offered at $339,000!!! $297 Sq Ft
**Owner will finance, subject to approval**.This courtyard facing loft has 1140 square feet & could easily be made into a 2 bedroom...Taxes $258/year until 2016!
http://www.pearldistrictblog.com/pearl-district-blog.html

Or maybe "Perfectly Pearl"? Nope again - it's some sort of bridal business actually:

Whether it’s stylish and sustainable or elegant and refined, the Pearl District offers distinctive venue options for modern weddings.
Over 65 home furnishings merchants are available to create your personalized bridal registry.
Sophisticated boutiques offer custom jewelry, bridal gowns, stationery and other wedding-related accessories.
The City’s top hair, beauty and spa professionals will help you look and feel beautiful.
http://perfectlypearl.wordpress.com/about/

OK, let's try Pearl District Express...

How I Turned $400.00 into $6,000 in ONE WEEK
Written by admin on April 3rd, 2008 · No Comments · Tell-A-Friend
I know you are shaking your head and harrumphing in disbelief. I certainly would be. In fact, sometimes I still do that when I think about how incredibly easy it was [Read more ?]
http://www.pearldistrictexpress.com/

Uh, guess not. Jesus. Well what about "Portland's Pearl District?" More RE shilling but with amusingly handicapped language skills. [I think I caught most of the errors - here, I'll correct them so you can understand this gibberish]:

These lofts contain elegant and detailed designs, high-end amenities while retaining the building’s historic integrity [comma fault]. For example, each unit boasts exposed brick and heavy-timber structural beams. [comma fault]
You’ll also find 14’ ceilings, floor to ceiling bookshelves with rolling library ladders, and grand master suites with over-sized walk in closets. Kitchen feature new stainless steal [sp] gas appliances & rolling islands while many of baths [article] have deep soaking tubs and showers.
Since its mid-1990’s conversion, The Pearl has a cultural renaissance [tense agreement] and now offers outstanding restaurants, boutiques and art galleries, and Powell’s, the largest independent book store in the country.
By living at The City Lofts, you’ll enjoy all that the Pearl District has to offer. Plus, the streetcar or MAX light rail to more distant areas like Gresham to the east and Hillsboro to the west [fragment, no predicate].
http://www.portlandspearldistrict.com/

Wait a minute, here's one that sounds like the artistic, creative Pearl District we've been hearing about: "Lynnette Fusilier's Writing Blog":

The business of fashion has a new face. Say hello to Changing Room Magazine, a regional magazine that focuses on the business side of fashion retailing. It’s about time, right?
I’m really proud to be a contributor to this magazine (”Top 10 PR Tricks”) and look forward to reading the entire issue.
http://lfusilier.wordpress.com/

Nah, on second thought, she's disqualified - she's in on the wedding dodge:

I’m particularly proud of this issue because it was the direct result of a pitch I made to the Pearl District Business Association and the Oregonian on behalf of wedding-related businesses in the neighborhood

and is part of Neighborhood Notes itself anyway - conflict of interest! Conflict of interest!

Well, there are more, but strangely they mostly seem to be advertising things. I guess there aren't really too many Pearl District blogs after all. Or given the nature of the place, is it actually more fitting that in place of blogs, they have ads and marketing?

The Pearl District: It's like television, but in three dimensions! And just think, if they keep up with this wedding-destination angle, they'll eventually -- if such a thing is possible -- become even more like Beaverton than they are today.

 

Wasting Gas $$? Just Move Closer In!!

Let's do a little back-of-the-envelope on the subject of "close-in vs. gas-prices." It's a common insinuation, that the working poor and lower class individuals, when looking at their rental so-called choices (let's forget buying for the moment, shall we) are only shooting themselves in the foot when they decide on an apartment in the outer areas obliging them to take a long commute in to work. Certainly, the closer in one looks for a place, the higher the prices. But you've got to think how much money you'd save on gas! You've simply got to factor that in!

I thought I'd take a couple example apartments from current rentals on Craigslist and compare. I'm looking at 2-bedroom housing, something big enough for a couple with a kid or two, or two people needing an extra room for whatever. Let's say they can live without a second bathroom, and check out the prices.

First up, looks like a decent price for downtown, we're looking at $1395 for 2BR's on the Park Blocks. Walk to everything, quit wasting money on a car, gas, insurance, etc.

$1395 / 2br - Downtown Condo on Park Ave.
Expertly renovated condo conversion on the beautiful, vibrant South Park Blocks. This 2-bed/1-bath unit has stone countertops, stainless steel appliances [wonderful, just like at work], W/D, generous closets, and a south facing deck, Jacuzzi, Exercise room, several common areas. Parking and storage is included. A few blocks from Portland State University
http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/apa/676129283.html

Now let's say that living out East would mean insuring, maintaining, parking, and tanking up your car to the tune of several hundred a month. Four bills easy. Say you're bent on keeping it though, and just subtract the cost from the twelve- to fourteen hundred these downtown places are going for. You hear that the 2BR's are more like 800-900 or so out Gresham way.

$800 / 2br - Don't rent an apartment for the same price as a duplex! (13644 E. Burnside, Portland)
If you are looking for peace and quiet in a small complex of 4 with a nicely updated unit then look no more. This location is in a quiet spot on the max line. Very little foot and car traffic. Come drive by and check it out. No extra deposit for cats and dogs. Dogs must be under 25 pounds.
1. NO WHITE WALLS!- Warm designer colors throughout
2. Beautiful, Cozy, and Quiet Setting
3. Wood burning fireplace
4. Living room with large picture window for lots of natural light
5. Large Master Bedroom
6. Both bedrooms with 8+ foot closets
http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/apa/670033387.html

So you're looking at saving $600 a month on rent, but thinking that with gas prices going up, a good percentage of that is going to disappear right into your tank. (The fireplace at the 136th place sounds nice though - wonder if they have many of those downtown?) The prospect of spending zero dollars and avoiding commuting to work except on foot sounds excellent.

So downtown it is. You calculate that it'll actually cost you, gas inclusive, about $1200 a month to live 136 blocks from the center of town, but in real terms, it's only about a hundred more to just live right there. Either way, you make about $15 an hour at your office job (whew! At least you're out of the restaurant grind!) and you, like half the renters in the county, are well accustomed to spending roughly 50% of your income on rent and expenses. It's tough but you can exist on $300 a week spending money no problem, right?

So good luck with the rental application, which we all know will specify that you won't get rented the place unless your income is at least 3 times the monthly rent. This means, since $15/hr=$2400/month, you don't stand a chance getting rented a $1300 apartment, and in fact you don't need to bother looking at places much more than $800 a month. Because landlords don't give a shit how much money a more expensive, closer-in apartment could save you in gas.

Seeing The Sky; And, The Privilege Of Bike Commuting

Having returned from a brief trip to a certain sprawling, soul-sucking city of the American Southwest ( not pictured) to which I periodically travel, the usual feelings of gratitude for the wonders of Portland (primarily drinkable tapwater, Spanish Coffees, and the civilizing effect of smoking cigarettes indoors) are less noticeable than on previous occasions. And after so much pondering of such things as "sprawl" and "density" over the past few months of Portland Gentrification writings, one might expect that one of these trips south, wherein I observe and am immersed in suburban sprawl of truly hideous dimensions, might result in an expansive spell of forgiveness on my part. Certain things might begin to re-suggest themselves...land-efficient multistory buildings might be felt as preferable to the spread-out single story vastness of hated, hated suburbia...car-centric planning, after really experiencing it in the wild, might shock one into recognition that there might be something to all this urbanist planning jazz after all...sidewalks....bike paths...really, a visit like this ought to make one distinctly less apt to complain about gentrification, and more inclined to count ones blessings that there is more to life here than enormous parking lots, shopping centers, and housing developments.

But being thankful is overrated, in my opinion. While driving around this dusty sprawltown I had to admit, in fact, that there is something sprawl-hate fails to take into account: it matters, how much sky you can see. Compactness and walkability get all the attention, but the feeling of elbow-room affects the quality of life as well.

A mere thought for this returning post, after my week on the many-laned boulevards that criss-cross under the giant sky of Whateverville USA. That, and my internet find of the moment,  one of the most succinct thoughts I've ever seen amid the comments on that Jack Bog blog, and one which mirrors my thinking exactly when the bikes-vs-cars discussions start careening this way and that, never acknowledging this unfortunate truth:

Commuting by bike is an extremely privileged opportunity available to a very few who most likely have no families (kids), no tools of a trade (Laptop at most?), no appointments to make outside of a mile radius, no shopping on a realistic scale, no emergencies, no extended family or friends to care for, no volunteering duties that require expediency or supplies, etc., etc., etc.
http://bojack.org/2008/05/sauvie_island_bridge_move_kill.html#comment-64960

I rarely agree with comments on that blog - the tone is normally shaped by anti-tax outrage, from what I can see. But it seems to me that those who, for whatever reasons (personal, ecological, political), want to promote the bicycle and discourage the automobile would do well to view this statement as the first problem to be addressed. Commuting by bike has everything to do with the economic freedom and mobility of a class that can determine where work and home are located, and how permanently. That it is in many ways a privilege, mostly denied to the working class, is too rarely admitted. To change how people get to work from where they live, without seeing that we need massive changes in what work people can do and where they can manage to live, is in my view folly in the truest sense of the word.

**Updated: even more convo on this topic is over here, for those interested:
http://bikeportland.org/2008/05/12/gentrification-labels-and-the-privilege-of-bike-commuting/

E.g., this guy, who isn't missing the point, and makes a good one as well:

I can understand where the article comes from. Living inside of town, near many of the best employers, is not an option for many people. As for myself, I've been priced out of the housing market inside of the urban growth boundary, and currently have to traverse the entire metro area, in order to get to work.
http://bikeportland.org/2008/05/12...comment-831546

Or this right-on comment:

I would argue that people drive so much because they are compelled to do so: the entire urban environment was constructed to make it the main form of transportation, plus public transportation in this country was purposefuly made inefficient and shitty in order to boost the number of cars and the profit of those who make it. Then, given this situation, the SOCIAL DYNAMIC (as opposed to personal choice) is so that people must drive if they want to compete for jobs and what not...I believe this idea of personal choice and freedom, when applied to such scenarios, simply reflect certain MYTHS spread out in this country - the myths of democracy and the idea of freedom, which, in practice is no more than freedom of consumption - which is no freedom at all since the choices are actually put out by the powers to be.
http://bikeportland.org/2008/05/12/...#comment-832701

Oughta Be A Law, #2,384

Landlords are really smelling blood in the water, aren't they? Checking out what's on Craigslist for under 600 a month, I notice that the latest development seems to be charging a "move in" or "rental prep" fee. Kinda like NYC used to have "key money" aka a bribe to the super to move into an apartment. (Of course they were rent-controlled...not to mention, in fucking New York.)

920 SE Nehalem St. #3
Move-In Costs: All payments must be paid with money order or cashier’s check
Screening Fee: $40.00 per applicant (non-refundable) Cash is okay for this payment only.
Move-In Fee: $100.00 (non-refundable)
Security Deposit: $400.00 minimum (refundable)
Rent: $565.00
http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/apa/660800079.html

4847 SE 67th Ave
Rent: $575 per month
$45 Application fee for each person 18 and over
$300 Security Deposit (OAC), $150 Rental Prep Fee
http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/apa/658954503.html

Nice double-dip: Charge the previous tenant's deposit for money to get the place ready for the next person, then charge the next person for the same thing.

UPDATE: And yet...is it not the fact that the "inferior classes" stopped buying houses and went back to clogging up the rental market what's giving the landlords/owners every reason to ask top-dollar? You know, that supply and demand mumbo-jumbo? Well then, maybe we're in for a treat - seems the realtor-voodoo-dolls have finally started to work and prices have begun to turn. So if you're with the rentin' & waitin' crowd, don't sign too long a lease!

http://portlandrealestateoutsider..../portland-home-prices-continue-falling.html

82nd Ave: Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Ant

The ongoing synonymization of "Yuppie" and "Artist" took another step forward with the recently relaxed "artists-only" requirement for 54 condo units out on 82nd. Flogged until last week as Portland's newest artists' colony, the public-private redevelopment "Milepost 5" is no longer auditioning talent as a requisite for buying -- or investing in -- one of their somewhat-not-outrageously-priced "loft-style" "live/work" condominiums, located near the Montavilla neighborhood on Portland's car-clogged carotid, everyone's favorite, 82nd Ave.

The goal was to create an environment where artists would live, work and play among peers — allowing all of them to further refine their visions and skills.
But with 54 condominiums nearly ready for sale, the requirement has been dropped.
http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=120880608193695400

"Milepost 5" was covered in breathless tones by Portland Architecture (photo credit Brian Libby, click to enlarge) not long ago, the combination of an artists' nexus and a redesigned 60's modern type building being irresistable.

The completed building by Works provides the best eye candy, and it's where I'd want to live...it's easy to imagine a group of young, creative people here -- some staying for many years and others just passing through. Most of the for-sale units are somewhat affordable, too.
http://chatterbox.typepad.com/portlandarchitecture/2008/04/artist-hub-on-8.html

Not to mention, too good to be true.

The project plans to begin closing sales this week. So far, 20 of the units have been reserved, a number [developer] Gilbert considers good, given the economy.
“A lot of condominium projects would be glad to have 30 percent of their units reserved before they start selling them these days,” he said.
Gilbert expects the prices to soon attract many other buyers...“Why make people jump through hoops if they don’t have to?” he asked.

I can think of one reason: To discourage speculators from ruining it. To prevent people from buying the units who have no intention of making messy art in them; but, rather, every expectation that a cozy unit in this artist's mecca will be worth much more to people seeking that loftish cred in a few years, and of turning a profit thereby. In short, (ignoring for the moment whether or not the hoop-jumping was all that well thought-out) to make good on bullshitty assurances like these:

As a completed project, the Milepost5 complex will be a prototype for multi-discipline artist housing and the cornerstone of an entire self-contained arts community.
http://www.worksarchitecture.net/html/project5_0.html

Milepost 5 provides affordable and sustainable live/work spaces for artists in a supportive and interactive, community setting. The comprehensive, campus facilities provide the rare opportunity for artists and creatives either to rent or own studio/live space.
Milepost 5’s mission is to provide a long-term artistic and economic sanctuary to support and sustain working artists and their art. Milepost 5 is dedicated to building and enhancing the arts community on its campus
http://milepostfive.com/overview

and to make sure that none of these units, when housing prices recover after this momentary stumble, will have been flipped and turd-polished into just more market rate generic "loft" condo crap.

Ah, but democracy! Non-discrimination! These tricky issues arise if Milepost 5 seeks to exercise selective control over what sort of individuals will be allowed to buy a condo for their living and painting and sculpting and Web 2.0-designing and Ebay-scamming and offshore-consulting and risk-managing and financial-product- innovating...you know, all that creative stuff that the creatives do -- you don't have to use a paintbrush to be an artist; you can be creative just by being a capitalist entrepreneur too! That's the beauty of the idea of creativity: it can be twisted and abused into meaning almost anything, especially if a computer is somehow involved. As long as it's not just a place to live. And the Cheetos-and-dandruff brigade of Portland Tribune commenters, predictably, seize on exactly this point.

I would like to know why only artists should have access to affordable (not low-income/subsidized) housing in Portland, while the rest of us average Joes still can't get affordable housing...It's nice that the complex has opened up their eligiblity, but it should have NEVER been restricted in the first place. Else, what's to stop me from opening up a housing development that is only for...oh, pretty people? Or only for restaurant employees? Or only for industrial workers?
[comment by Erik H.]
Wow, this was a partly public money financed project and they were excluding non-artists, who were finacially needy? Talk about elitists, wow
[comment by Steveo]
http://www.portlandtribune.com/news...#comment_section_container

Then again, the reactionaries do give one pause. Was it better - or fair - that they restricted it to some unknown criteria for "real artists," even if an "art colony" was the long-term intention of those behind this project? Something is a little weird about that. But then, is it better to open it up to the market at large and let the flippers loose? Somehow, no, and, no. To me there is something oddly-conceived about the whole thing if an issue like this kind of obvious discrimination angle was deemed ignorable. And anyway, neither a restricted nor an unrestricted building solves the problem of how to make an artists' colony happen, when it is affordable only to people who have it together enough to get a loan and pay a mortgage, even on a relatively low price unit. Surely few fine artists in Portland are actually making that kind of money from their art itself. Of the tiny minority that do, how many can do it while confined to four or five hundred square feet?

If the developers are really concerned about creating what they're saying they want to create, the simplest solution, to me, would be to have implemented a policy of owner-occupation only, and to have restricted resale of any unit back to the community. Lacking evidence of such policies, I fail to detect a genuine effort at engineering something truly collective and permanently designated. As things stand, deregulated, it isn't at all clear that any but market forces will ultimately determine the future prices and future uses of these units. Because what we see more than anything is that the "market" only cares about "artists" insofar as it can hijack their cred for some urban niche appeal.

Woodward and Bernstein:
http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=120880608193695400
Jacques Derrida:
http://chatterbox.typepad.com/portlandarchitecture/2008/04/artist-hub-on-8.html
Le Corbusier:
http://www.worksarchitecture.net/html/project5_0.html
Tom Peterson:
http://milepostfive.com/overview
(note - no flipping/investing/owner-occupation restrictions mentioned) (actually there is something about some units - comment by "george" has detail)

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A li'l addendum, from the Oregonian:

Caroline Latham, owner, RealFacts, a research organization and database specializing in the housing market:
"Many condos were purchased to flip at maybe 35 percent profit in a year. Somewhere between a quarter and a third of condos that have been bought are not occupied. They were bought as investments."
http://www.oregonlive.com/special/...

Elsewhere on the Web - Smart Summary of Local Pols, Gentro

This is Weblogging: today at More Hockey Less War a pleasantly intelligent summarization of some local political contests, in the context of a well-considered rundown of how various local political traditions all tend to favor gentrification.

The historic split in municipal politics has come between real estate developers, who want to maximize the value of their land by increasing density, and those who have stood in their way: neighborhood preservationists and environmentalists.

Siding with the developers, you often find labor, since commercial real estate development usually means union jobs.

But a funny thing happened on the way to global warming. The developers managed to co-opt environmentalists with the idea of “smart growth.” Without the environmental movement in their way, the developers now have virtual carte blanche to run things as they please.

One of the only constituencies left in opposition to this juggernaut are those who oppose gentrification and favor rent controls, that is, people who are virtually powerless by definition.
http://morehockeylesswar.org/blog/archive/2008/04/21/charting_portlands_political_landscape/

Steve's characterization of the mayor contest between Adams and Dozono leaves me barely capable of pulling the lever for Sam. I suppose I'd better look into the fringe candidates and find a freak I can use to lodge a protest vote. And unhappily, pro-rent-stabilization candidate for city council Ed Garren hasn't managed to get within anything like striking distance of frontrunners Fish and Middaugh. In any event I heartily recommend reading Steve's agreeable analysis.

The Oregonian: "Gentrification, Apartheid, the Holocaust-- Y'know, Stuff Like That"

For the cynic, Portland's gentrification discussion series, the "Restorative Listening Project," is troubling. On the one hand, the people responsible for it at the Office of Neighborhood Involvement are obviously neither stupid nor evil, and in fact are trying to get a grip on something truly vital. On the other hand, though, can these really be boiled down to much more than hand-holding hug-sessions, functioning more to assuage guilt than to materially prevent further dislocative pressures on the Black community in North and Northeast Portland? I honestly doubt it very much, and as gentrification has been presented in the material I've seen on this series as something that can be talked about but not controlled, I haven't been interested in attending. As a progressive leftist myself (of the bitter resignation variety) I find often embarrassing the lengths well-meaning Portland liberals can go in terms of figurativeness, metaphor, language or what have you, without actually getting to the meat of any matter and hammering out a deal that would actually challenge the status quo in any way.

I was informed by a commenter on this blog earlier in the year about these meetings. Of course, bloggers aren't reporters, and in any case the rules of blogging (as I understand them) restrict me to sniping away from behind my Dorito-encrusted keyboard about this and that as it appears on the Information Superhighway, while wearing a bathrobe. Fortunately, today's Oregonian finally weighs in on the Restorative Listening Project:

The city of Portland is using a deceptively simple technique -- storytelling -- to confront the complicated issue of gentrification.

And it's bringing surprisingly powerful results.
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian....0271814

For one thing, gentrification is a "complicated issue" only to those who like it but feel guilty about getting perhaps more than their fair share out of it. Calling it "complicated" sustains gentrification by telling the rest of us we can't make any assertions about it that won't be routinely disarmed with equivocation (e.g., "yes but the crackhouses are gone" etc.) And this is a poor use of the words "powerful" and "results," in my opinion. However, certain facts remain: Should newer white residents of N/NE be aware of their neighbors' names? Should they understand the concept behind the dog issue? Yes. Should they keep their mouths shut about shit that the folks who lived there before them do in the course of their normal everyday life that yuppies can't hang with, like church services or cookouts you can hear from across the street? Well, yes also. If we talk about working to recognize and bridge the white/black disconnect, if we talk about cooling it with the dog-walking, and if we talk about how people should stop lodging complaints with the city about the neighbors that were there first, have we really done much? I think not. The Oregonian seems to disagree, or else has printed a story meant for their April Fool's edition:

Some question how storytelling can make a difference after housing prices already have forced out so many. Yet similar projects that grappled with much weightier issues -- the horrors of apartheid, the Holocaust and World War II -- show how the fundamental acts of telling and listening can heal.

Wow. Let me get this straight:  Storytelling is so powerful it healed the victims of apartheid and the Holocaust, so how can it fail to make things hunky dory in North Portland. Even though it's too late because housing prices "have forced out so many." Gosh that's sure too bad. But there appears to be some of you left -- would you like to tell us your story and make us feel better? Thanks oodles. And gee, sorry about Rover, I don't know why he's acting this way -- maybe if you keep your voices down he'll stop barking?

Another meeting is this Monday, April 21st at 4304 N. Vancouver. Talking Drum Cafe and Bookstore has been having "debrief" meetings for these sessions, the date is TBA but more information in any case is found here: http://www.portlandonline.com/ONI/index.cfm?a=192295&c=29385

************************************************************************************************************************

And if that isn't depressing enough I'd like to share this little tidbit about rent hikes. This is from the enemy publication, Landlord Times, from the Q&A of their so-called "blogger" Marcia Gohman (of National Tenant Network screen-out moguls), charmingly titled,

Raise the Rent!

It seems that at this time, every year, I get calls from Landlords wondering what is wrong with their property...After talking with these landlords I find that in their rush to rent, they have lowered their fees and the overall rent itself. When you lower the rent, you lower the expectations of the applicants and you start attracting the wrong kind of applicant. Think about it.

Apparently there's no such thing as a market rate, then. It seems that the prices of apartments reflect more what the landlord wants to charge than any figure occurring in the self-regulating Adam Smith wild. Unless this "marketplace" can give you a reason to raise it, of course:

If you aren’t getting the right kind of applicant for your property, there are several things you can do.
1. Check similar rentals in your area on either Craig’s List or local papers. See what other rentals are going for and consider your rent, should you raise it a bit?

And here's the down low on the "application fee" thing. You thought that's really how much it costs a landlord to check out your paperwork or something? Nope. It's just to make sure they don't rent to anyone who's not the kind of person to whom forty bucks is laundry lint:

4. Do charge an application fee. If the applicant passes you can always credit that amount back out of their first month’s rent. But an applicant who can’t come up with $35-45 to apply will not be able to come up with rent money.
http://www.thelandlordtimes.com/?q=blog/investment-blogs/raise-rent%21

What's a prospective tenant to do, when the landlord has raised the rent so as to repel "the wrong kind of applicant"? Well, do as the North Portlanders do, and heal him with the powers of storytelling!


Oregonian story:
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1208402718146010.xml&coll=7&thispage=1
Restorative Listening Project on the city's ONI site:
http://www.portlandonline.com/oni/index.cfm?c=45627&
The Landlord Times homepage, you're a serious businessman with a duplex, so check it out:
http://www.thelandlordtimes.com/

No Poor People Please: More Abuse of the Word "Affordability"

More news about Portland's ownership-obsessed affordable-housing scene in the latest Portland Tribune, wherein a half a mil charity donation to HOST Development Inc. is touted as the latest good news in our city's ongoing critical loss of affordable housing. This comes from legendary Oregonian the late, great Fred Meyer's philanthropic trust. (Isn't it a drag that his stores are run by crooks now? I bet Fred's looking down from Heaven and wondering why an eighty-nine cent spatula has to have a big fat rubber handle, the word "Kitchenaid" and a $4.99 price tag on it. Oh well.)

“By partnering with HOST, we’re keeping Portland at the forefront of the fight against losing affordable housing,” the trust’s chief executive officer, Doug Stamm, said.
HOST builds and sells energy-efficient homes to first-time homeowners. It currently is selling homes in three developments for $190,000 to $250,000, depending on the home’s size.
http://www.portlandtrib...158100

"The fight against losing affordable housing" sounds nice. As is often the case, the fight is in fact for raising the home-ownership statistics, though. Then again, compared with typical prices, $190K for a place in, say, St. Johns doesn't sound too bad, does it? Or can you find places for around $200,000 anyway, if you aren't that picky about area? Is HOST really doing any good? Let's see what they have to say for themselves:

Our partners and supporters have made it possible for HOST to continue to provide affordable housing opportunities for individuals and families earning between 80% and 100% of Median Family Income.
http://www.hostdevelopment.com/about_HOST/partners.htm

And some more detail from a 2004 profile in Builders News:

HOST began with rehabs of abandoned homes before moving into new home construction. "We raise the money ourselves, and do it without government help," he says. Nonetheless, getting a few bankers on the board of directors helped the developer secure funds as project sizes grew.
HOST aims to serve those at 75%-100% of area median income (Habitat for Humanity, by contrast, aims at less than 30% of median income, and must heavily subsidize the costs.)
http://www.buildernewsmag.com/viewnews.pl?id=37

oh, jeez. Again with the 80-100% of MFI. To use the term "affordable housing" when it refers to housing that someone making less than forty or fifty thousand dollars a year* can't afford is patently dishonest, in my opinion. It really should be called something else. Apparently Northwest Pilot Project agrees with me, if I'm reading this snippet from the Portland Daily Journal of Commerce correctly:

The nonprofit Northwest Pilot Project estimates there are only 3,000 units of affordable housing in the city. PDC says the number is closer to 10,000.

That's a pretty big disagreement. PDC obviously has a generous definition of affordability. (Generous to developers asking breaks for "providing" it, at least). This DJC article is an interview with HOST's chairman of the board, Ted Gilbert (of commercial investment firm Gilbert Bros.) He also enjoys muddying the waters of what affordability means:

DJC: Median family income aside, what does affordable housing really mean?

Ted Gilbert: It’s a large spectrum. Affordable housing ranges all the way from homeless to very low-income rental and special-needs populations to work-force housing on a rental basis to affordable homeownership and trying to reverse the family flight that’s going on in this community right now.
(DJC story archived on)  http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/archive/index.php/t-134705.html

And yet "affordable housing," which always sounds wonderful in a press-release, headline, or Pearl District boast, rarely means anything but exactly what HOST is wasting poor Fred's charity money on: home-ownership help for people who already have enough money to buy a home. Here are some examples. I bet you've never seen anything like this before! Call your loan officer! Click the pic! Click it!! You're gonna be a homeowner!!

Crystal Springs Eleven - NEW PRICES!
SE 80th Place and
SE Crystal Springs Blvd
$216,000 - $219,00

Not into that neighborhood? How about

Raymond Park Place Homes
SE 118th and SE Schiller
Home prices range from $240,000 - $250,000

Or maybe

HOST Homes at New Columbia
One home left !
3 BR homes
From $220,000
http://www.hostdevelopment.com/available_homes/index.htm

(Now, where's that "$190K" place again? In the future? Or just in your mouth?)

I suppose people might say I'm nuts, that that's a good deal any way you look at it, given the price run-up of the last several years. But I fail to understand what net-gain, society-wise, HOST is creating if they're buying up already cheap houses, rehabbing them, and just selling them for a little "less-more" than a wholly for-profit enterprise might do. Is it simply that for-profit development ignores all but the high-end, and public-private arrangements such as this are the only way re- or new development happens that doesn't target upper-middle class incomes and above? Either way, it seems likely that they are in fact helping take cheap ("abandoned" yet perfectly rehab-able - right) houses out of the mix, even as they are claiming to be helping affordability. Regarding existing housing, Gilbert has this to say:

We’ve bought 525 units to date. It’s not a ton, I grant you. But the model works. We buy an existing unit. My guess is, of the 525 units, our average price per unit of purchase is under $30,000 a unit.

As for building new,

You have to compete with the private sector to buy land, you have to finance it, get an architect, the cost per unit goes up, and most of the new affordable housing that gets built is for around 60 percent median family income. Why? Because that’s the lowest you can go for the amount you paid to build the housing.
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/archive/index.php/t-134705.html

The MFI thing is driving me insane. Going from "very low-income rental" to "60% MFI" to "80-100% MFI" all within the context of "we're doing something about affordable housing" is in my view completely nuts. I think that aside from Northwest Pilot Project, there's very little honest evaluation of the situation, and a lot of public-private "partnering" that not only is benefiting commercial developers but might even be, in a case like this, sucking up philanthropy that could be better applied otherwise.

But there really is another problem, and that is that "nobody" (meaning, the usual vocal minority of existing homewners and business-owners that constitute the voice of any Neighborhood Association) actually will stand for anything that smells like a bunch of poor people are going to be brought in who will drive down property values.

Few undertakings manifest both the promise and perils of affordable housing better than Charleston Place, a 99-home infill project finishing up this spring in the St. John's neighborhood of North Portland
***
The neighborhood's association was initially enthusiastic, recognizing that an influx of homeowners and children would shore up struggling area, with its high percentage of Section 8 units, a school decimated by dropouts, and poor city services.
But the term "affordable" soon raised alarm bells. "People heard the word and thought of government subsidies, unemployed or poor, even derelicts," says Nolte. "We said ‘no, this is for people with jobs. They have to qualify for a mortgage, they have to be employed.'"
http://www.buildernewsmag.com/viewnews.pl?id=37

So in this sense an enterprise like HOST seems to be doing all they can. Claiming that it's making a difference in this city's affordability, though, isn't helping. HOST is typical of a program benefiting no one except people for whom owning a home is already entirely within the realm of possibility, along of course with those whose business it is to make and sell them.

Today's Tribune story:
http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=120785933075158100
HOST's available homes page:
http://www.hostdevelopment.com/available_homes/index.htm
Daily Journal of Commerce Ted Gilbert interview, archived at:
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/archive/index.php/t-134705.html
former HOST director Howard Nolte interviewed:
http://www.buildernewsmag.com/viewnews.pl?id=37

*Extra Credit:
PDC's nobody-matters-who-earns-less-than-this page:

# in
household            @80%    @100%
    2                    43,450     54,000
    3                    48,900     60,750
    4                    54,300     67,500

From the first of the pdf's linked on:
http://www.pdc.us/housing_services/inside_housing_services/asset_management/default.asp

Women, Race, Gentrification: Local Film Shows Thursday 4/10

I meant to put a post on this for anyone reading between now and Thursday evening. A reader sent in the following information about a free screening of a locally made short documentary:

Hello.

I'm a NE Portland resident and I just made a documentary short about In Other Words Books and Resources and their move into the space formerly occupied by the Albina Arts Center, an African-American arts program that closed down in the 80s.  The video is really looking at the issue of gentrification through this very specific lens and questions whether or not a non-profit gentrifies.

You are invited.  See details attached. 

The following is the press release in its entirety:

Moving In:  A Non-Profit Feminist Bookstore and the Politics of Place.   In January 2006, In Other Words Women's Books and Resources moved into 8b NE Killingsworth, a space previously occupied by the Albina Arts Center and still owned by the Albina Women's League.

Learn about the rich history of this space and the bookstore as this ten-minute video examines how a feminist bookstore both contributes to and challenges racial tensions and gentrification in NE Portland.

WHEN:    Thursday, April 10, 2008; 6:30PM - 8:00PM

WHO:    A panel discussion will following, featuring:
·    Annie Allen, Albina Women's League
·    Amara Pérez and Sue Burns, In Other Words Books and Resources
·    Allyson Spencer, Resident of NE Portland/Attended Albina Arts Center
·    Jeana Woolley, Development Consultant to Albina Women's League.

Roslyn Farrington of All About Community will facilitate this conversation

WHERE:    Portland Community College Cascade Campus
Moriarty Auditorium
705 N. Killingsworth
Portland, OR.

COST:    This screening is free and open to the public.

"seven hot trends shaping how and where you live!"

Portland Monthly probably reached its self-parody phase long ago, but the words screaming out from the new cover story, "Buy Here Now," available at an overpriced grocery-store magazine stand near you, have sealed the deal for me. "Seven hot trends shaping how and where you live"?? I'm well aware of what is shaping how and where I live, and it sure is a trend, but I don't find it all that "hot." Click to enlarge and view the rah-rah.

Or click left to view PM as it ought to appear. Sent in by a reader - hey, we're getting there!

There Oughta Be A Law

Hey! There's some people living at SE 54th & Powell who're getting too good a deal on their rent - somebody buy the building and jack it up, willya?!

The current owners have owned the apartment for roughly 15 years and have not been raising rents to market levels. As a result, rents are significantly lower than any comparable properties in the area. This presents a new owner an outstanding opportunity to raise rents and significantly benefit from the solid rental market and excellent location. Most rents fall $50-$150 below market.

This is a great opportunity for an investor to acquire a property with significant rental upside http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/rfs/628944261.html

Got to get it up to market rate, now! Just raise their rents a hundred bucks or so. What are they going to do, find someplace cheaper somewhere?

 

Lents...The Final Frontier... ("We're Thinking Condos")

Lest anyone think that places like Lents are beyond the reach of the PDC's unrelenting effort to up-value  every single square inch of Portland, the East PDX News tantalizes with the prospect that we might read a little about the process behind the proclamations:

While Lents has been an Urban Renewal District for years – many folks in the area are wondering when they'll actually see some tangible results.

The most visible changes thus far have been the addition of lighting in Lents Park, the now-fading storefront improvements along SE Foster Road and SE 92nd Avenue, and the new Assurity building.

A lot of residents say they pinned their hopes for a major grocery or large retail store – there isn't one for miles around – on the 3.5-acre lot now occupied by the Lents Little League field on SE 92nd Avenue at SE Harold Street.
http://www.eastpdxnews.com/index.php?mod=article_detail&id_art=706

What residents wanted was apparently made plain during an "open house" meeting with PDC's Justin Douglas, the project manager for the "SE 92nd and Harold Redevelopment Project." (Click picture at left to see an aerial view.)
"We're looking at this site, owned by the PDC, and trying to figure what can be done," Douglas is quoted as saying. "We're trying to figure out what will be complimentary to the Lents Town Center and the surrounding neighborhood."

Trying to figure it out. Well, that's what PDC's website claims, that they're trying to figure something out. They just don't know what would be best! They have to ask the neighbors' opinions and then figure something out! Whatever it might be! Gee, it could be anything!

There is no current plan for redevelopment. PDC will be exploring ideas for a variety of uses that could go on this site, including office, retail, and housing and analyzing whether a change in zoning might be appropriate
http://www.pdc.us/ura/lents_town_center/projects/se-92nd-harold.asp

A paragraph or two into the East PDX News story, Project Manager Douglas spills the beans, though, reminding us that PDC has a funny idea about what the word "possibility" means. At least when they're talking to the public:

"At this point we have a consultant who has been doing a market study. There is definitely a possibility for residential use. The market for retail and commercial uses is not as strong."
"Our intention...is to see what private development would like to do with this site. The PDC doesn't want to hold it forever. We'd like to dispose of it to a private developer."

The PDC's consultant, Jerry Johnson of Johnson Gardner LLC is quoted as well. This "possibility for residential use" starts to take on a more recognizable form. We begin to apprehend that Johnson Gardner is PDC's go-to when they want a certain conclusion:

"We're thinking 'condos'. It may be a short term before we see a demand for condominium development. We're still seeing pretty good strength in town homes, as far as ownership for sale."

Perhaps realizing he's scaring the natives by blurting out the unsurprising truth that the only plan, the real plan, is condos condos condos, Johnson pseudo-backpedals. (Please dial your bullshit-detector sensitivity level down to "medium" for the following):

"It could be a mix of uses; we anticipate a mix of uses...That's why they're doing these efforts to reach out to the community to see what they're looking for. I'm not advocating any development type. My role in this is to make sure that the numbers we come up with in the development type is something we can interest a developer in.

This, from a highly paid and well-credentialed planning consultant, is to me a perfect example of bullshitting. Of the four sentences above, all but the fourth are basically lies. #1:Johnson Gardner does in fact not anticipate a mix of uses - they anticipate dense condo development. #2: They are not "reaching out the the community to see what they're looking for"; they in fact couldn't care less what the existing residents want -- they and PDC are simply going through the motions. And #3: Johnson Gardner is certainly in the habit of advocating exactly this development type. Let's visit their website:

Johnson Gardner has been actively involved in the development of many of the largest and most complex developments in the Pacific Northwest, and is regularly retained by the region's most prominent developers to complete market and financial feasibility studies in the Northwest
http://www.johnson-gardner.com/

We heard from Johnson, how about Gardner? What's his angle?

Matthew [Gardner] is particularly passionate about urban residential development and is currently advising a number of firms with their planned and proposed urban development policies.

OK. So "we're thinking condos" is probably their default position, and PDC probably knows perfectly well how predictable these consultants' analyses are. Here and there, phrases gleaned from their "Selected Projects" list reveal that their focus probably isn't exactly egghead:

...developing market savvy solutions...
...the firm has been retained by major property owners...
...be working with the property owners to evaluate redevelopment options for these properties...

My favorite deserves quotation in its entirety though:

PORTLAND BUSINESS ALLIANCE AND THE PORTLAND DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION: CORE AREA HOUSING DEMAND ANALYSIS
JOHNSON GARDNER produced a series of demand analyses for residential development in Portland's Core Area housing markets. The analysis included a detailed profile of demand by income and age cohort, and evaluated demand using both a demographically-driven as well as a supply-function model.

As a non-economist, I should hesitate to imagine how something called a "supply-function model" might be implemented to contradict demographics and provide a justification for more high-end development. I have no doubts about why, though. High-end makes money. Developers correctly assume that by controlling the character of the supply, people will be induced to borrow and spend whether they can "afford" it or not.
As I observe and have documented in this blog how Portland housing is more high-end than it ought to be, I have to wonder as well about this "profile of demand by income" jazz, coming from a consultant who can take a fairly blue-collar neighborhood open house from "no current plan" on through "possibility for residential" right to the meat of the matter: "We're thinking condos."

For all the talk about sustainable this and that, and all the new urbanist theory dumbing down the discussion, East Portland's variety of problems, whatever they may be, are not likely to be solved by people to whom every problem has to do with the need for more homeowners. Elsewhere in the East PDX News, City economic development planner Alma Flores is talking a little more realistically, it sounds like:

"We've completed an economic survey among people living and operating businesses in southern portion of outer East Portland."
Asked what stood in the way of these stores coming into the area, Flores commented, "We have lost a lot of commercial zoning to residential."
In addition to providing goods and services to local residents, Flores concluded by saying, "Our corridors need to be looked at for employee growth. We're getting residents, but not jobs in this area."
http://www.eastpdxnews.com/index.php?mod=article_detail&id_art=789

To imagine an absence of bias on the part of these consultants and their clients the PDC, in the above-quoted PBA report or any other, is ludicrous for the most obvious of reasons:

Income levels in this region are stagnant. The insufficiency of inexpensive housing is at a critical point. The ongoing building of market-rate housing and the amassing of housing well above that market rate -- which in turn raises the average -- is crystal clear to anyone paying attention. Any reasonable person can tell you that a very real demand is for cheaper housing, but that condo development is almost entirely geared toward the upper-middle class and above simply because it's very profitable to force people to pay more than they can afford for things. And in any case, the PDC's consideration for what existing residents prefer be done with their communities seems generally faked. These last of the working-class-affordable areas, such as Lents and Outer SE, should be prevented from being priced up, and such an effort should be seen as having a profoundly positive impact on the quality of life for Portland's workforces.  PDC's fiction that anyone matters except the developers is better maintained elsewhere. In East Portland it looks like they figure they can do their thing right in front of the local yokels' faces.

PDC on Lents Urban Renewal, 92nd & Harold
http://www.pdc.us/ura/lents_town_center/projects/se-92nd-harold.asp
East PDX News on Lents:
http://www.eastpdxnews.com/index.php?mod=article_detail&id_art=706
And on Midway, 122nd area:
http://www.eastpdxnews.com/index.php?mod=article_detail&id_art=789
Gentrify-It-All Beratungsstelle Johnson u. Gardner:
http://www.johnson-gardner.com/experience

Psycho Heating Up With "Skinny Houses"

NE "LivingSmart" developer/stupid hard-ass Randy Palazzo's game-plan of intimidating and terrorizing neighbors of his "skinny house" projects gets the gory-details treatment in the new Hollywood Star. Palazzo's stint as WW's "Rogue of the Week" earlier this month was indeed a treat to behold, and more of the story has finally seen the light.

Hurling obscenities at people's kids, getting people busted, screaming about lawsuits, ravaging adjacent lots, ripping off employees, renaming his business again and again -- the story is simply amazing. And, frankly, pretty easy to expect when a program makes infill development such a sweet deal -- a no-brainer, really. 50% off development fees, a pre-approved design, gratis, a fast-tracked permit process...no surprise that the Living Smart program might bring a few wannabe Sopranos to town...

The April issue of the Hollywood News, unavailable online, has some good stuff about various extremely ugly confrontations between developer and neighborhood.

At a special meeting of the Concordia Neighborhood association last month, more than 20 residents complained that the developer has abused the rights of his immediate neighbors while constructing new homes. Complaints about these practices, or even simple inquiries about what is going on, have been met with profane outbursts, threats of legal action and, in one case, a formal complaint that caused a neighbor to be arrested.

Neighbor "Christine" (the story gives no last names; these people are afraid of the guy) phoned Palazzo up after witnessing a confrontation with another neighbor.

"When I said I was a neighbor, he switched to extreme vulgarity. He said, 'You'll get whatever you'll get, and you'll have to live with it!' I said, 'Not necessarily. This is a city that values involvement.' He threatened to sue me."

She then received a return call from Palazzo's attorney Charles Stone, who informed her that she was harassing his client and threatened to call the police. Next she received a call from Aubrey Robinson of the Portland School Police; he had received a complaint that Christine had called Palazzo four times and threatened to vandalize his property. "I was really freaked out that this was happening at my place of work where I work with young children," she said.

Neighbor "Bob" got it worse, though:

When he complained, the foreman responded, "By the time you can do anything about it, we'll be gone. Live with it." Finally, on Valentines Day, Bob threw some construction debris back onto Palazzo's property and angrily told his workers to stop. "Four hours later I was arrested at my place of work," he said. Palazzo had accused him of threatening his workers with a gun. "I had complained to the police and been told, 'This is a civil matter; there's nothing we can do about it,'" Bob said. "But when Palazzo calls..."
***
Reached by the Star later and informed briefly of the allegations (Palazzo) said, "That is absolutely untrue!" and said that he was contemplating a restraining order against some of those involved.
(all the above from The Hollywood Star News, April 2008 issue)

Palazzo as "Rogue of the Week" is an absolute must read, especially online with the comments: in addition to dozens of people (sample name, "Verbally Abused Neighbor") weighing in on what an asshole he indeed has been, the comments are packed with suspiciously similar-sounding testimonials to his super-awesomeness, all of which are busted for being sockpuppets -- they were all coming from the same computer. Some choice examples from Mr. Palazzo, who clearly has yet to learn what an IP address is...

(as "tomyar") I have personally met Mr. Palazzo, and he is the nicest man you could meet, and a handsome devil at that. Keep doing what you do best Mr. Palazzo, and thank you for building such a beautiful home.
(as "Donnia") You have just started a war. Palazzo own 100's of lots in these areas, and has a lot of control as to what goes up. Piss him off and you may find the ugliest house you could ever imagine right next to your own home. I suggest you stay off the property, keep your abusive comments to yourselves, and let the masters of building infill do their thing.
(as "Jeff") Like me, Palazzo does not MAKE the rules, they just follow them. Maybe the neighbors should not only read the zoning code, but also brush up on what is considered against the law.......trespass, brandishing a weapon, etc., or what is something you will get sued over...tortious interference, intentional interference with a contractual obligation, defamation, slander, etc.
Keep it up and one of these days, some big bad developer will sue you and end up with YOUR house.
(as "Josh") NO ONE BELIEVES THAT THIS WAS STARTED BY THE BUILDER YOU IDIOT! I HOPE HE SUES ALL OF YOU!
(as "Josh" again) By the way Christine, this guy is a multi- multi millionaire and does not take shit from anyone that starts it...HE owns 100's of lots, and at least 30 in Concordia. You cannot win against this guy because he has the coins to take you down if you start something.
http://wweek.com/editorial/3418/10512/#comments_view

This Living Smart program is one of the many ways our city is insistently working to promote "denser" (i.e., more crowded) neighborhoods. It produces two skinny houses on one lot, basically. (Are they half the price? Forget that. They've gone for 300K+, these places.) A critical view of the program and its consequences, with which I agree, was made in Portland Architecture a while back:

this approach has the City essentially marketing a “turn-key” dwelling design - providing certainty for speculative builders, property developers and lenders – while preempting the interests of other community stakeholders including current neighbors, prospective owners, architects/designers, and design-builders/contractors amongst others.
http://chatterbox.typepad.com/portlandarchitecture/2006/12/...#comment-27563850

To provide certainty to speculators. We see this again and again. It's a 21st Century classic from Enron on down -- this is when governance functions to encourage parasites and predators to work the angles at others' expense. In this case it seems like the city has given Palazzo a green light, and he's just running it. He is obviously using various fronts (names I've come across include Palazzo Custom Homes, Blueberry Investments, RP and Associates, Metro American Homebuyers, in addition to his own). He's switched to uglier and cheaper building designs mid-project with no consequences. He's ignored "6 AM Start" complaints routinely. He's even been fined 23K for not paying his employees.

From this city I'd say we can expect nothing more than a "please be nice" letter, though: fast-fast infill development and "skinny houses" are vitally important, no matter what happens in the community as a result.

The BDS is excited to announce the completion of the first Living Smart homes. These architect designed narrow-lot homes were built by local builders Jack Wagnon of Prairie View Homes and Randall Palazzo of Palazzo Custom Homes.
[comment]
Posted by: skinney hater - March 15, 2008 01:05 PM
I talked to the 'lucky' owner of the new eco-friendly skinny house on NE 34th, asking him if he knew a monster two+ story house taller than his was going to be built right next to his, blocking any view, light, passive solar his house would get and he said he was told this ON THE DAY HIS HOUSE CLOSED!
http://www.portlandonline.com/BDS/index.cfm?a=bgeedc&c=eehea

(The Hollywood Star News isn't on the internet.)
Willamette Week story and comments real & fake:
http://wweek.com/editorial/3418/10512/
"Palazzo Custom Homes" on the Living Smart website":
http://www.livingsmartpdx.com/home/projects.asp
What the architecture types say about  LivingSmart:
http://chatterbox.typepad.com/portlandarchitecture/2006/12/jacobs_on_portl.h