Your tax dollars at work, cont'd (Jack Bog's Blog)

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This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on November 8, 2010 3:44 PM. The previous post in this blog was Is Brandon Roy's body giving out?. The next post in this blog is A multi-modal clustertrek. Many more can be found on the main index page or by looking through the archives.

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« Is Brandon Roy's body giving out? | Main | A multi-modal clustertrek »

Monday, November 8, 2010

Your tax dollars at work, cont'd

I don't know what to think about this one: a "historic" survey of '50s ranch houses in east Portland? Doesn't exactly sound like an essential government service in these tight times.

Posted at 3:44 PM | Permalink

Comments (10)

Hey, if it can somehow help the good folks in "the numbers" fend off ugly infill cr*pshacks (i.e., form the basis of a historical preservation designation), then I'm all for it.

Posted by Eric | November 8, 2010 4:16 PM

Point well taken. But somehow I suspect this will have the opposite effect. The weasels can't be stopped.

Posted by Jack Bog | November 8, 2010 4:18 PM

The real reason behind this reddish herring is that your are going to be taxed on your non green home. Yep by the age of your domicile you will be taxed. It has nothing to do with historical pleasures. When the city does a study it is always how they are going to screw us next.

Posted by Johnny Homes | November 8, 2010 5:17 PM

This sounds like a perfect thesis project for the Architectural History department at U of O or PSU. Students would get real world experience and the city might get a low cost or no cost alternative to a full priced consultant. No one is thinking about alternatives in the city of alternative thinking.

Posted by SKA | November 8, 2010 7:15 PM

What a waste - useless crap like that leads to "historic" designations like this:

http://tinyurl.com/2bb25qs

Posted by none | November 8, 2010 8:35 PM

The results will give the city data for preservation planning and policy work.

Like what? And like whatever it is isn't obvious so the state has to pay for "a survey"? Maybe they should change the name to the Portland Bureau of Plodding and Gullibility.

East Portland is considered a complex part of the city because its history, landscapes and development differ in many ways from the urban core and close-in communities.

Really? Thank goodne$$ there'll finally be a $urvey to compile "data" on that.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch on SE 63rd....

Posted by Mojo | November 8, 2010 10:03 PM

If you want to build anything in these neighborhoods it'll be one more gauntlet to run / approval to get.

If this had existed when these mid-centurys were built they would've never been built probably since they were out of character for their neighborhoods back then.

Amazing what kind of garbage they can find money for.

Posted by Steve | November 9, 2010 5:53 AM

If you want to build anything in these neighborhoods it'll be one more gauntlet to run / approval to get.

And that's bad because . . .?

Having to pay a bit extra and jump through some extra hoops to build or renovate is a small price to pay to forestall the particle-board shotgun houses and condo fortresses the planners want to cram into our residential neighborhoods. Unfortunately, pursuing historic designations may be the only tool homeowners in our established neighborhoods have left to resist the relentless planning/densification juggernaut.

Posted by Eric | November 9, 2010 9:44 AM

Eric, it is not "a bit extra" to jump.

I had a client in the NW Portland ABC Historic District who wanted to do a $250K renovation on a 1924 bungalow. We began the process of meeting with CoP several times, paying the initial fees just to have the exploratory meeting. The owner came away with over a $55,000 dollar additional cost to go "through some extra hoops". They carefully considered all the extra downtime, actual historic costs and fees. They dropped the project. The house still sits there as it did 6 years ago with it's asbestos siding.

Posted by Lee | November 9, 2010 11:09 AM

I am w/Lee on this , I have customers quit on projects all the time when I tell them the cost and time of permit review [TAX] in PDX , they ask what to do and I say clack/wash co. are not like this , move on. Say goodbye to construction jobs and tax revenue . way to go BDS

Posted by billb | November 9, 2010 3:25 PM

In Vino Veritas

Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2009
Mauro Molino, Barbera d'Alba 2009
Garda Chiaretto Rose
Columbia Crest, Two Vines Vineyard 10 White
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Pinot Gris, Columbia Valley 2009
L'Hortus, Rose de Saignee 2010
Maculan, Pino & Toi 2008
McKinley Springs, Bombing Range Red 2008
Trader Joe's Pinot Gris 2009
Montes Alpha, Cabernet 2007
Gran Sasso, Sangiovese, Terre di Chieti 2009
Garda, Classico Chiaretto Rose
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 1999
Picos del Montgo, Tempranillo 2008
Chateau de Montmirail, Vacqueyras 2008
La Granja 360, Syrah 2009
Montgras, Carmenere Reserva 2009
Lange, Pinot Gris 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Cabernet 2008
Kirkland, Pinot Grigio 2010
Trader Joe's Coastal Syrah 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Merlot 2008
Trader Joe's Coastal Chardonnay 2009
Vieux Papes Red
Domaine de l'Aujardiere, Chardonnay 2009
Santa Rita, Cabernet, Medalla Real 2007
Penfold's, Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet 2008
Guild, Red, Lot #02 2008
Dievole, Dievolino Sangiovese 2008
Laforet, Burgogne Chardonnay 2009
Columbia Winery, Merlot 2007
Bonterra, Cabernet 2008
Elk Cove, Pinot Gris 2009
Maquis Lien 2006
Scott Paul, Pinot Noir, Le Paulee 2007
Cameron, Chardonnay
B.R. Cohn, Cabernet, Silver Label 2006
Graffigna, Cabernet 2005
Palo Alto, Reserve Red 2008
Menguante, Garnacha 2008
Lange, Pinot Gris 2009
Felsina Berardenga, Vin Santo 1997
Anne Amie, Pinot Gris 2009
McKinley Springs, Bombing Ramge Red 2007
Vieux Papes Red
Dionysius Chardonnay 2009
Haden Fig, Pinot Noir 2009
Vega Montan, Mencia 2008
Chateau la Vernede, Coteaux du Languedoc 2007
Mount Defiance, Hellfire (White) 2008
Root: 1, Cabernet 2008
Columbia Crest, Two Vines Pinot Grigio 2009
Columbia Crest, Two Vines, Vineyard 10 White, 2008
Columbia Crest, Two Vines, Vineyard 10 Rose, 2007
Abacela, Grenache Rose 2009
Avia Cabernet 2004
Lemelson Pinot Noir, Thea's Selection 2007
Chateau de la Roulerie, Rose d'Anjou 2009
Casal Garcia, Vinho Verde Rose
La Ferme Julien, Rose 2008
Cana's Feast, Bricco Red, 2006
Hogue, Genesis Merlot, 2008
Owen Roe, Sharecropper's Cabernet, 2008
Kim Crawford, Unoaked Chardonnay 2008
J. Scott, Pinot Noir 2008
Edmunds St. John, White, Heart of Gold 2008
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2006
Stevenot, Cabernet, Sierra Foothills, "Stanford" 2000
Portuga, Vinho Rose 2009
Taylor Fladgate, First Estate Reserve Porto
Franciscan, Cabernet, Napa 2006
Chaparral de Vega Sindoa, Garnacha 2008
Quinta da Aveleda, Vinho Verde 2008
St. Francis, Chardonnay Sonoma 2008
E. Guigal, Cotes du Rhone Blanc, 2007
Edmunds St. John, Bone-Jolly, Gamay Noir 2008
St. Innocent, Pinot Noir 2006
Jigsaw, Pinot Noir 2007
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Merlot, Indian Wells 2007
Charles Shaw, Chardonnay 2008
Edmunds St. John, Bone-Jolly, Gamay Rosé 2009
Cameron, Willamette Valley Chardonnay
Il Valore, Sangiovese, Giovane, Puglia 2008
Duck Pond, Chardonnay, Wahluke Slope 2007
Kim Crawford, Marlborough Pinot Noir 2008
Domaine du Pesquier, Cotes du Rhone 2005
Cantina Zaccagnini, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2006
Domaine Matrot, Chardonnay, Bourgogne 2007
David Hill, Oregon Sparkling Wine, Brut
Chandler Reach, Monte Regalo 2006
Elk Cove, Pinot Gris 2008
Kirkland, Columbia Valley Merlot 2008
D'Aragon, Old Vine Garnacha 2008
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2005
Pavin & Riley, Merlot 2006
David Hill, Estate Pinot Noir, Barrel Select 2006
Castle Rock, Paso Robles Cabernet 2006
Magnificent, Cabernet, Steak House 2008
Conundrum 2008
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 1998
Saint Cosme, Cotes-du-Rhone 2007
La Granja, Tempranillo 360, 2008
Santa Rita, Mendalla Real Cabernet 2006
Columbia Crest, Grand Estates Merlot 2006
Andezon, Cotes-du-Rhone 2007
Collegiata, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
Troon, Druid's Fluid 2008
La Granja, Tempranillo 2008
Monte Antico, Toscana 2006
Vieux Papes, Blanc de Blancs

The Occasional Book

Jack London - The House of Pride, and Other Tales of Hawaii
Jack Walker - The Extraordinary Rendition of Vincent Dellamaria
Colum McCann - Let the Great World Spin
Niccolò Machiavelli - The Prince
Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird
Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus - The Nanny Diaries
Brian Selznick - The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Sharon Creech - Walk Two Moons
Keith Richards - Life
F. Sionil Jose - Dusk
Natalie Babbitt - Tuck Everlasting
Justin Halpern - S#*t My Dad Says
Mark Herrmann - The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law
Barry Glassner - The Gospel of Food
Phil Stanford - The Peyton-Allan Files
Jesse Katz - The Opposite Field
Evelyn Waugh - Brideshead Revisited
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
David Sedaris - Holidays on Ice
Donald Miller - A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
Mitch Albom - Have a Little Faith
C.S. Lewis - The Magician's Nephew
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
William Shakespeare - A Midsummer Night's Dream
Ivan Doig - Bucking the Sun
Penda Diakité - I Lost My Tooth in Africa
Grace Lin - The Year of the Rat
Oscar Hijuelos - Mr. Ives' Christmas
Madeline L'Engle - A Wrinkle in Time
Steven Hart - The Last Three Miles
David Sedaris - Me Talk Pretty One Day
Karen Armstrong - The Spiral Staircase
Charles Larson - The Portland Murders
Adrian Wojnarowski - The Miracle of St. Anthony
William H. Colby - Long Goodbye
Steven D. Stark - Meet the Beatles
Phil Stanford - Portland Confidential
Rick Moody - Garden State
Jonathan Schwartz - All in Good Time
David Sedaris - Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
Anthony Holden - Big Deal
Robert J. Spitzer - The Spirit of Leadership
James McManus - Positively Fifth Street
Jeff Noon - Vurt

Road Work

Miles run year to date: 54
At this date last year: 50
Total run in 2011: 113
In 2010: 125
In 2009: 67
In 2008: 28
In 2007: 113
In 2006: 100
In 2005: 149
In 2004: 204
In 2003: 269