Interesting story in The O this morning about the continuing uglification of Portland. In addition to tax-subsidized condo skyscrapers, we have "infill," which is another word for building oversized particle-board cheese boxes on every available lot -- even moving grand old houses to make room for them -- and calling them "townhouses."

The majority of Portlanders don't seem to want these, but that does not appear to matter. Metro wants them. Developers want them. People moving here from the San Fernando Valley want them. Commissioner Sten wants them. So we get them. All the 200 sheep down in the Planning Bureau say baaaaaaaa. They act like it's a force of nature. No, it's a force of bad government.

No mention of the fact that the population within the city limits is actually declining. I wish the libertarians had a petition about this one.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the story is that it was written by somebody other than Randy Gragg, whose word processor has a limiter installed that does not allow the word "ugly" ever to be typed. He must be packing for Harvard.