I once was a river pristine
'till Portlanders came on the scene
they killed off fish species
with garbage and feces
and now you don't dare fish midstream.
Open streams once flowed across downtown Portland and the NW industrial area. Tanner Creek once flowed into a low, swampy area called Couch Lake, which once extended from just south of the Steel
Tanner Creek sewer construction about 1916
Bridge to the Fremont Bridge but was filled between 1896 and 1919.
Most of the streams were diverted into the sewer system and their streambeds filled to make room for development in the late 1800s. An old cut-off meander of the Willamette River called Guilds Lake, an important feature of the 1905 Lewis and Clark Exposition, was filled for industrial expansion. Marquam Gulch and an unnamed lake were located near the west end of the Marquam Bridge, but are now buried under I-5.
At least the City of Portland is being honest in that downtown and N.W. Portland is an environmental disaster of filled in wildlife habitat and natural drainage. But of course it's OK, because it's in Portland. When another town like Vancouver does it, it's urban sprawl and all sorts of bad things.
Fort Vancouver was set there because it was the most desirable location for a settlement - Lewis & Clark, nor the Hudson's Bay Company, nor the U.S. Army, saw any value in what is now Portland. Downtown, Rivergate, even the Airport - is all fill. Swan Island is fill. We dredged up Ross Island so we'd have fill. The Airport's foundation is actually designed to float in a flood; a massive dike protects the low-lying airport grounds. If a massive earthquake destroys the Columbia River dams sending billions of gallons of water - Portland will be devastated. Vancouver will largely be high and dry. As will Gresham and most of Washington County built about 200 feet above sea level. And the suburbs will get the last laugh while Portland's streetcar system will become nothing more than a derelict submarine transport system april fool's joke.
It would say pull this layer of slime off of me that you created. Why would you think that soaking wood poles in non-organic metals that cause cancer would be a good idea for me to be pooped on.
Why do you have such a pretty elegant urban forest that you brag about cutting down [Stumptown] but literally keep shitting on me collectively as a city. Especially when God cries [rain] He hasn't been crying as much lately, but you never wanted to fight that anyway [Big Pipe].
Why do you keep making all the poor Laotian/Cambodian/Russian/Moldavian immigrants keep fishing from right next to where you keep pooping on me?
Can't we just get along, I have gotten better, remember when McCall dumped the demonstration trout fingerlings into me and they all pretty much died within seconds? Thanks for public beaches and recyclable cans, those f'ers just had more territory to destroy other than me, come on 96'!
Charamba, Douro 2008
Horse Heaven Hills, Cabernet 2010
Lorelle, Horse Heaven Hills Pinot Grigio 2011
Avignonesi, Montepulciano 2004
Lorelle, Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2011
Villa Antinori, Toscana 2007
Mercedes Eguren, Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Lorelle, Columbia Valley Cabernet 2011
Purple Moon, Merlot 2011
Purple Moon, Chardonnnay 2011
Abacela, Vintner's Blend No. 12
Opula Red Blend 2010
Liberte, Pinot Noir 2010
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Indian Wells Red Blend 2010
Woodbridge, Chardonnay 2011
King Estate, Pinot Noir 2011
Famille Perrin, Cotes du Rhone Villages 2010
Columbia Crest, Les Chevaux Red 2010
14 Hands, Hot to Trot White Blend
Familia Bianchi, Malbec 2009
Terrapin Cellars, Pinot Gris 2011
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2009
Campo Viejo, Rioja, Termpranillo 2010
Ravenswood, Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2010
Waterbrook, Reserve Merlot 2009
Lorelle, Horse Heaven Hills, Pinot Grigio 2011
Tarantas, Rose
Chateau Lajarre, Bordeaux 2009
La Vielle Ferme, Rose 2011
Benvolio, Pinot Grigio 2011
Nobilo Icon, Pinot Noir 2009
Lello, Douro Tinto 2009
Quinson Fils, Cotes de Provence Rose 2011
Anindor, Pinot Gris 2010
Buenas Ondas, Syrah Rose 2010
Les Fiefs d'Anglars, Malbec 2009
14 Hands, Pinot Gris 2011
Conundrum 2012
Condes de Albarei, Albariño 2011
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2007
Penelope Sanchez, Garnacha Syrah 2010
Canoe Ridge, Merlot 2007
Atalaya do Mar, Godello 2010
Vega Montan, Mencia
Benvolio, Pinot Grigio
Nobilo Icon, Pinot Noir, Marlborough 2009
Portuga, Rose 2011
Revelation, Chardonnay, Pays d'Oc 2010
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 2005
Monte Alto, Tinto Reserva 2005
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Cabernet, Indian Wells 2009
Espiral, Vinho Rose
Vin-Koru, Pinot Gris 2011
14 Hands, Hot to Trot Red 2009
Rodney Strong, Cabernet, Sonoma 2009
Abacela, Vintner's Blend #11
Portuga, White 2010
La Bourgeoisie, Red 2009
Januik, Red 2009
Three Rivers, River's Red 2008
Kirkland, Alexander Valley Merlot 2008
Muga, Rioja Rose 2010
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
The Occasional Book
Neil Young - Waging Heavy Peace
Mark Bego - Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul (2012 ed.)
Jenny Lawson - Let's Pretend This Never Happened
J.D. Salinger - Franny and Zooey
Charles Dickens - A Christmas Carol
Timothy Egan - The Big Burn
Deborah Eisenberg - Transactions in a Foreign Currency
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. - Slaughterhouse Five
Kathryn Lance - Pandora's Genes
Cheryl Strayed - Wild
Fyodor Dostoyevsky - The Brothers Karamazov
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: 21
At this date last year: 52
Total run in 2012: 129
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
Comments (10)
I bet that the river would say "Vote Scott Hernandez for Mayor."
Or, anyway:
Yes, The River Knows
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i27t5txCrwg
Posted by Mojo | April 5, 2012 1:29 PM
"Scott Fernandez for Mayor."
Posted by Mojo | April 5, 2012 1:31 PM
If the river could talk, it would probably say:
I once was a river pristine
'till Portlanders came on the scene
they killed off fish species
with garbage and feces
and now you don't dare fish midstream.
Posted by Expensive to Maintain | April 5, 2012 1:49 PM
“What do me and water bureau commissioner have in common? We are both full of %#@$.”
Posted by Gil Slater | April 5, 2012 2:51 PM
http://www.portlandonline.com/bes/index.cfm?a=231478&c=30938
Buried Streams and Lakes
Open streams once flowed across downtown Portland and the NW industrial area. Tanner Creek once flowed into a low, swampy area called Couch Lake, which once extended from just south of the Steel
Tanner Creek sewer construction about 1916
Bridge to the Fremont Bridge but was filled between 1896 and 1919.
Most of the streams were diverted into the sewer system and their streambeds filled to make room for development in the late 1800s. An old cut-off meander of the Willamette River called Guilds Lake, an important feature of the 1905 Lewis and Clark Exposition, was filled for industrial expansion. Marquam Gulch and an unnamed lake were located near the west end of the Marquam Bridge, but are now buried under I-5.
Posted by History | April 5, 2012 5:56 PM
At least the City of Portland is being honest in that downtown and N.W. Portland is an environmental disaster of filled in wildlife habitat and natural drainage. But of course it's OK, because it's in Portland. When another town like Vancouver does it, it's urban sprawl and all sorts of bad things.
Fort Vancouver was set there because it was the most desirable location for a settlement - Lewis & Clark, nor the Hudson's Bay Company, nor the U.S. Army, saw any value in what is now Portland. Downtown, Rivergate, even the Airport - is all fill. Swan Island is fill. We dredged up Ross Island so we'd have fill. The Airport's foundation is actually designed to float in a flood; a massive dike protects the low-lying airport grounds. If a massive earthquake destroys the Columbia River dams sending billions of gallons of water - Portland will be devastated. Vancouver will largely be high and dry. As will Gresham and most of Washington County built about 200 feet above sea level. And the suburbs will get the last laugh while Portland's streetcar system will become nothing more than a derelict submarine transport system april fool's joke.
Posted by Erik H. | April 5, 2012 8:38 PM
You owe me a keyboard, Jack. What a great line!
Posted by talea | April 5, 2012 8:47 PM
It would say pull this layer of slime off of me that you created. Why would you think that soaking wood poles in non-organic metals that cause cancer would be a good idea for me to be pooped on.
Why do you have such a pretty elegant urban forest that you brag about cutting down [Stumptown] but literally keep shitting on me collectively as a city. Especially when God cries [rain] He hasn't been crying as much lately, but you never wanted to fight that anyway [Big Pipe].
Why do you keep making all the poor Laotian/Cambodian/Russian/Moldavian immigrants keep fishing from right next to where you keep pooping on me?
Can't we just get along, I have gotten better, remember when McCall dumped the demonstration trout fingerlings into me and they all pretty much died within seconds? Thanks for public beaches and recyclable cans, those f'ers just had more territory to destroy other than me, come on 96'!
Posted by Jubei | April 5, 2012 10:18 PM
Scott Fernandez for Mayor and Ole Ersson for chief conservation officer. Keep the nitrogen and phosphorus on the land, thank you very much.
Posted by JadeQueen | April 5, 2012 11:15 PM
"oregon experts"????? WTF?
and all of the above comments!
Posted by portland native | April 6, 2012 12:14 PM