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| In Québec, new construction (right) matched in size, setbacks, and volume to older construction shows how easily the two can co-exist. Note how established trees are allowed to remain as well. Portland can learn from this! |
Fox News is contacting local activists for a coming exposé focusing on the ironies of our "green" city—tossing old-growth homes full of character and craftsmanship in the landfill, mowing down mature trees, and unleashing plumes of hazardous materials across neighborhoods. Why?
What's even harder to believe are the recommendations coming out of the Residential Infill Project (actually, more the city staff's, but the group was capably led to the foregone conclusions—something astute observers picked up on right away). After wonking out in an office building downtown for months, the developer-heavy group (surprise!) went beyond the mission of the project and decided to propose opening up much of the city to even more demolition; start reading from Page 12 here. Modest homes don't stand a chance in the face of a radical rezoning that allows a free-for-all of use. They will be plowed under in a second by those who speak "affordable housing" but really only want to mine real estate gold.
If "affordable housing" was what these developers crave to create, then let's see some already. It is difficult to give a nod to more construction when what is being built brings such outsize impacts and so little benefit to the neighborhoods. Antidemolition activists can point to a litany of code violations large and small; add to them the fallout of hazardous materials from mechanical demolition, unpaid fines (some are just factored into the pro forma, or never paid at all), lax oversight, noncompliance with code, and lack of accountability and there's reason for skepticism.
Opportunities exist to build better
The Urban Growth Boundary is not to blame. Again, there's that city study showing we have enough vacant land to meet density goals twice over until 2035. Even television news stations are tuning in to the fallacy that we need to demolish to make room, showing that there's plenty of vacant, buildable land within the UGB. It's just that developers would rather trash the lower-hanging fruit of smaller well-built homes in established and well-functioning neighborhoods. How about creating new exciting neighborhoods to live in and visit?! Let's bring quality and creativity back to our built landscape.
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| Another Québécois trick for new construction: Save a historic, handsome facade, and build behind it (and another old- growth tree). |
It's hard to imagine that a group inspired by Tom McCall would embrace recommendations to further raze quality housing made of old-growth materials. What happened?!
McCall's not here to speak for himself, unfortunately, but a staunch preservationist as he was likely would be appalled that thousands of Portland homes were painted with bull's-eyes, just waiting to go to the landfill to make way for another MDF manse or plex. This was a guy who would have smirked at the projected influx of people moving to Portland and questioned the necessity of killing ourselves to put out the welcome mat.
Sunny-sounding group makes awkward start
Another group working PR for the developer-led recommendations out of the Residential Infill Project is the newly launched Portland for Everyone. Their first event is Wednesday and sold out. Apparently, Portland is for everyone but only the first 45 people. Why not show up anyway to show you care about your neighborhood?
Under the utopia envisioned by the recommendations (which by the way are making the open-house rounds and everyone should go to as many as possible; more background and details here) most everyone becomes an apartment renter, even when 80 percent of respondents in a Metro study said they wanted to live in a detached house.
One of the first things that Portland for Everyone did was swipe a local photographer's image to paste all over its website and other materials, without asking permission or god forbid paying to use it. For artists increasingly pinched by the cost of housing, that's gotta hurt. First, they lose their studios and places to live in a building bonanza; now they suffer theft of their artwork and livelihood.
Credibility and inclusion will play a large part in these coming conversations. Anyone undecided should weigh what the proponents and opponents have to gain or lose, and why they're involved in the first place.
