From the perspective of the planner generation, the 1960's is probably considered ancient history.

I remember the last vestiges of that from when I lived in SW in the late Nineties. I was heartbroken to see how all of that was wiped out when I came back to visit in 2009.

You can't make any money if people have their own homes and can travel their own way.

To the extent that planners want to demolish this 162 year old city so that it can be rebuilt, reinvented, and "revisioned", just about anything left standing older than yesterday will eventually qualify as "historic".

I once took a fantastic class at PSU that talked about different urban design theories. We walked along that pathway and talked about what a failure it had been and the hubris of all urban planners. It's almost worth preserving as an exemplar of the folly of modernism-if we weren't going about repeating its mistakes with the South Waterfront and other places.

It is historic even if all you remember is it being the start of Mrs. Neusihin's Kosher Dill Pickles! The same also can be said of the destruction of all the cast iron buildings in SW Portland. At one time PDX had more of them west of Mississippi River and equal to New Orleans. Portland sure has a lot of regrets.

This time around it's not about planning to do something useful, it's about creating a profitable opportunity for the right party. Only a youthful population falls for the mistakes of the past.

The fascinating thing about the Historic District is that the area is being recognized not for the buildings, but for the spaces that Mr. Halprin's team designed. The spaces and plazas are artistic and planning successes. The buildings, unfortunately, are failures as they don't interact with the spaces.

At least with Hanford, there is a lesson to be learned by naming it a "National Historic Site" (not all history is good, after all).

But there are SO MANY planning mistakes and errors in Portland - does the Yellow Line also count as a "historic monument" in its rapid-fire gentrification of what used to be a drugs-and-prostitution corridor, now lined with half-empty buildings but at least there's a New Seasons and a fairly up-to-date Fred Meyer store? Does Rockwood qualify for historic district status? Heck - doesn't that mean I-5 and I-405, as well as the unloved Marquam Bridge, should be historic as well and protected from the wrath of urban planners?

Oh this is rich. Those parks are so brutal, they look like they were designed on Planet Vulcan. And the surrounding buildings are meh, at best, ugly-ugly at worst.

Too bad the previous homeowners and business proprietors couldn't get the same historical status before they were all eminent-domained away.

I now propose that the South Waterfront be designated as a Historic District. Just like the "Sequence", it's less than 50 years old, intentionally hideous, and an embarassing debacle in the City's history. Ought to be a shoo-in.

Maybe they can get the newcomers interested by founding a new type of designation:

o Precious and Unique Snowflake District
o Twee Little Quirky Boutique District
o Soviet Apartment Bloc Memorial District
o Only Toxic Below the Surface District
o Traffic Never Moves So Youse Can't Leave District

To make way for those butt-ugly apartment bunkers -- Portland's first "urban renewal" specimens -- all sorts of history was ripped out of that place and thrown in the trash. A thriving, working-class, immigrants' place is what it was.

+100

I disagree with most of Jack's demonization of "planners" and PDX's approach to planning, but he absolutely correct that those ugly buildings around PSU and the Keller have attempted to replace the vibrant (and truly historic) neighborhood that was there before. If only Portland had an Office of Equity back then...

Fine, call it historic, but restore the original names. It's the CIVIC AUDITORIUM and the FORECOURT FOUNTAIN. Nobody should be able to paste their name on a building, auditorium or stadium in Portland just because they have money.

I remember the old houses and small shops around PSU, the barrels of pickles, the homes, rooming houses and swimming lessons at the Neighborhood House in Lair Hill in the 50s. I also remember driving through the Urban Renewal area amongst abandoned buildings where Gypsy families occupied storefronts and hung blankets in the windows for curtains. Children peeking out looked like a picture of Okies from the Grapes of Wrath. There were parts of the area that were gritty, friendly, and as comfortable as an old shoe, but others that were in pretty sad condition. Targeted demolition or rehab would have been a better approach, but the city wanted a coliseum there to anchor a shaky downtown business district. Sounds like the schemers of today.

But the landscaping within the apartment towers was meant to imitate a walk through an urban woods with undulating hills and openings for people to gather. It was a radical departure from the formal courtyards of apartment complexes of the time, and I think it achieved a bit of the outdoor theme in the concrete jungle, even though I have never seen anyone sit and linger there. Congratulate the artistic daring and enlightened response to the urban environment - not something you see in today's Crap-artments.

For a brief history of the area, see: http://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/entry/view/south_portland_south_auditorium_urban_renewal_project/