Q: What's white and sleeps three?

A: A City of Portland truck.

That one has been around for quite some time and it still has merit.

The sign on the little barricade says "City of Portland Public Works"...
The Leprechauns must be in down in that now not so little hole, just digging away, looking for their pot 'o gold today.
Can we just bury Sam, head first, there?

2 months is way too long for a hole like that to be left agape, for sure, but I bet that when they finally get around to fixing the problem, it isn't going to be a matter of simply filling the hole with gravel. It will probably amount to a more major undertaking involving cutting out and replacing a section of the pavement, which is likely the source of the hold up.

Aah, so this is why Commissioner Leonard ordered Water Bureau Employees to cover up the slogan on their vehicles, "The City That Works," with decals saying "From Forest to Faucet." He doesn't want workers in his bailiwick to be blamed for the inaction of employees of other bureaus.

Nick Fish is officially "Commissioner of Public Works" but I think another city bureau might be responsible, maybe Bureau of Maintenance, which is under Mayor Adams.

When I first saw that headline I thought it read, "The city that stinks."

No this is clearly the entrance to one of our "Shanghi Tunnels". I have it on good authority that the PDC has optioned the hole for $1.5 million and is going to develop it as a tourist attraction.

It's interesting that the barricades were in place long enough to get tagged.

A kid or a dog could fall in? Borrrrrrrring. If a bicyclist fell in, though, Sam would be holding a press conference in front of that thing--shovel in hand- within 10 minutes.

Send Chlapowski out there with a shovel to make his personal contribution to civic happiness.

Get used to it. THere is a whole bunch of infrastructure close-in (especially the East side) that is pushing 100 years old. Of course, CoP has been totally ignoring it for 30+ years so they can build condos and downtown malls. Now it's a question of when not if with these sinkholes.

Throw an old bike in and call Sam up. Tell him some young man in spandex fell in that hole. He'll be there in minutes.

Sam has fixed the problem with poor streets a couple years ago, its the tram - no need for expensive roads.

Poor roads? who cares? we get MLS!!!!!

A kid or a dog could fall in? Borrrrrrrring.

Thanks Dave J. I'll be laughing all day on that one!

I have never understood why we dont get those things cleared up immediately, those can become very very expensive if it starts undermining the strength of the road next to it.

Yet another reason why, in my mind, we need to elect the city council by district rather than at large. This is the kind of thing that gets taken care of pretty quickly when a member of the council (a) lives nearby, and (b) gets yelled at by angry constituents who say they won't vote for him/her if that pothole stays around.

But as it is now the crew running the city listens to the folks in the west hills, and everyone else can go pound sand.

Jack, FYI:

http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2009/03/judge-rules-vallejo-can-void-union.html

Lets call it subterranean renewal instead of sinkholes. It sounds more sustainable that way. About that light rail inspired maintenance backlog is there room for another fee ? Soccer ball sales maybe ? Or a new slogan ? The city that sinks.

Whoopsee you already got that one...I thought it said stinks too.

Free public toilet for the homeless! $300K, my ass.

This looks amazingly similar to a sinkhole that appeared in my neighborhood - parking strip just started caving in, and got worse and worse over time. The city workers eventually came and repaired the broken sewer pipe that was causing the problem, and backfilled the hole. Seems like a lot of neighborhoods are at a critical age, where the 100 year-old sewer pipes are failing.

Sort of makes me wonder whether the the new condos are putting greater stress on the aging sewer pipes, causing even faster decay and possibly larger failures? We've seen sink holes swallowing up city trucks. How long till a building disappears into the earth??

Looks like the start of a fine bioswale. You know, water seeking it's own level and all...

If we can create an URD, why not a SRD? What's an SRD? Why Subterranean Renewal District, thilly gooth.

Imagine how property values will rise in neighborhoods with new water/sewer pipes safely ensconced beneath freshly paved streets and new sidewalks, smooth as Beaulita's ass.

I recently walked into NW with a friend . . . from Montgomery Park to Powells Books and we paused at every block, heaving deep sighs and saying, "BLIGHTED! Oh, how blighted!"

It's simply heart-wrenching to view the many condo towers filled with tenants who are enjoying tax abatements and those who cannot attract tenants as well as others in the works despite evidence to the contrary that there's no market of overpriced boxes with monthly rental fees on top of the purchase price.

Then we hove into view of a Starbucks, the streetcar, Jamison Park and Little Urbanites and were saved! I tell you, SAVED!

Even though the downtown area is obviously a slum in need of massive investment of tax dollars there are still small comforts. And soon we can wipe such useless presences as Hippo Hardware and Old Wives Tale from the near eastside to make way for . . . MORE CONDOS! More condos are always the answer . . .

try driving down NW 23rd..you feel like your in a FLINTSTONES episode. What a ho-dunk town this is.

From my understanding, the problems on NW 23rd haven't been dealt with because the retailers make too much of a stink about the required road closures. Go by Streetcar!

How long till a building disappears into the earth??

Like maybe a soccer stadium??

heh

Maybe this accounts for the story about the "leaning tower of Portland". I refer to the pathetic "green" John Ross tower. Also known as a giant cigarette lighter.

On second thought they could hire some nerdy consultant to come up with some report attributing these pits to the dreaded boogey man GLOBAL WARMING. That could acheive a greater consensus about additional tax breaks for more of the cherished green condos.