The same voters who returned Sten, with all of his manifest incompetence, turned out Diane Linn by epic proportions for essentially being incompetent. Disconnect.

Jack...with posts like that you are going to be on Lars' "props and kudos" every day.
On the other side, Opie sqeaked in so his collar has been jerked, Linn was ejected big time, the PDC got its policies regarding minorities spotlighted by Renee Mitchell in the O today....so there is a small ton of people still on the case .

That's all you got to cheer us up? Pitiful. Portland's golden age is long over. We are in the bronze age and heading swiftly toward the stone age.

The fire and brimstone... at least we have a choice in bridges if it becomes too much to bear.

Just wondering, but since no one here seems to like Portland, what is the city that strikes your fancy? What city should we be looking at as a guide?

I'm crossing my fingers for Phoenix...

TK: Just wondering, but since no one here seems to like Portland,
JK: That is your false conclusion. What we don't like is Portland wasting taxpayer money on grand schemes, most of which will reduce our livability. IE: make the city less able to afford schools, fire and police, increase congestion, pollution and commute times, reduce affordability of everything including housing, increase un-employment.

TK: what is the city that strikes your fancy? What city should we be looking at as a guide?
JK: A well managed Portland. However we could look to Houston for how they stopped, then reduced congestion by (oh my God!!) building their way out of congestion. Look at Atlanta for affordable housing and Portland, pre Metro/Hales/Katz density mandates for general livability.

Oh, and fire 90% of the planners - they need to get honest work in the private sector so that we can repeat the building of fine neighborhoods like Ladds, which were built without government planning, instead of the trash that the city pushes on us today.

Thanks
JK

Jack, I think this just underscores that you're in the minority. I respect your position, but most Portland residents don't agree with your take on Portland and the City Council.

They like the condo towers, light rail and the SoWhat District. It's hard to take, but true.

"Opie sqeaked in so his collar has been jerked"

Come on, the hubris this guy has by taking on one project after another and still screwing up? The vote was mandate for him.

As far as city models, how about a place where we don't subsidize the same developers (small developers are getting killed by government and insurance) and we actully put some money fixing up streets outside of downtown and the schools teach children to some basic level of competency.

TK - I don't think the issue is anti-development (at least from my perspective) as much as city council deciding what it should be.

It's fascinating that we have 5 people with no training or job history in urban planning or finance calling the shots on a $2B budget every year and playing kingmakers. I think we deserve better.

Jack, I think this just underscores that you're in the minority. I respect your position, but most Portland residents don't agree with your take on Portland and the City Council.

They like the condo towers, light rail and the SoWhat District. It's hard to take, but true.

I think most Portlanders feel they can't do anything about it anyway, so just roll on with what the likes of Opie tell them to.
I can't believe that most people here can afford the condos & such. Especially families, which the condos are not designed for in the first place.
On top of that, the median home cost here is about $275k now, and last I checked that wont get you a small condo in the Pearl. Oh, but lets not forget the "affordable" housing (studios) in SoWhat for $800/month. I bet families are lining up for those.

Portland's movers' & shakers' city model is Washington, D.C.

The only industry is politics. The city is aswarm with lobbyists because everthing is for sale, overseen by a dysfunctional local gov't; with all the neat arrangements protected by a dominant daily newspaper.

And of course, there's the license plate slogan: "Taxation Without Representation".

I agree with you on the Housing costs. But that's not the fault of the City Council, that's The Housing Bubble. I really think home prices are going to drop and they're going to drop significantly, which is what makes funding the SoWa district through Condo prices such a ridiculous idea.

That said, a lot of Portland Residents really love Light Rail and don't mind the increase in condos.

I think Homer's done with Portland. He's built his condos, his lap-Katz is gone, and he's worn out his welcome. Q: What's he going to do now?

A: Sell sunshine to Angelenos!

When Dan Saltzman flipped on the tram vote he said OHSU and the city were heading for a messy divorce and he had seen how children get hurt in divorces as someone who has tried to help them during his career. It was campaign season, and you never miss an opportunity to stress your credentials, but it spoke of a sense of social justice that I believe we all are responsible to maintain.
So tell me this: We have an institution here that is protected in the event of negligence, as with the case of the brain-damaged boy who can't be compensated for OHSU's mistake. Are these politicians fighting that with every cell in their bodies - are they protecting the least amongst us from the powerful? No, they are working overtime to try and get OHSU a better financial deal paid for by the citizens of Portland. What about this kid? Where's our vaunted sense of social justice with him?

Hey Garage Wine... Why wouldn't LA want folks living downtown for a change? A downtown core shouldn't go dead after work hours... Shouldn't be just office buildings and parking garages. Sounds like the condos there sold pretty quickly too...

JK-

I realize that me declaring that a lot of folks in here hate Portland is overgeneralizing, but what you're arguing against is essentially the DNA of this city. I'd say that the use of 'planning' as a dirty word around these parts classifies as overgeneralization too though. Most folks don't even understand what it takes to plan a city, from the mundane to the splashy (No, attending a public hearing now and then does not an expert make). There are planners of all shades who dedicate their lives to understanding what most folks don't care to do. Most of it IS the mundane.

Instead, planners are swept up with teachers, professors, judges and public servants in a cry to 'get REAL jobs, like the rest of us in the private sector', as if their professions deemed them subhuman and not to be taken seriously. If Dubya has shown us anything about governing and managing, it's that we need people in positions of power who actually know what the hell they're doing.

Portland has always done things differently and residents are OK with that, just so long as we don't end up like Phoenix or Vegas. The point is, it seems to have served us pretty well and dire end-of-the-world proclaimations don't seem to mesh with reality. You shouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater because some decisions haven't panned out... most decisions have served us well and the evidence is all around us. Please don't mistake this as a blank check from oblivious Portland, either. This town is more engaged in politics and public works than most, so don't discount the electorate.

This is really funny. Houston and Atlanta are held out as examples for Portland to emulate and it passes without comment while everyone wonders why Erik Sten won the election. Am I the only one who sees the humor here?

Yeah, I'll reserve the fire and brimstone prophecies for the day Houston and Atlanta are used as templates.

I'm a long-time Portland resident. I know the city well, and I'm very fond of it. I think it has improved in many ways over the past 40 years: better mass transit, richer cultural life, more vital downtown, increasingly vital neigbborhoods, greater entrepreneurial spirit, larger proportion of people who really want to be living here rather than just happen to be living here.

More specifically, I think that many of the things that Jack and most of his commentators rail against are on balance positive for the city: the development of South Waterfront; the expansion of light rail; the Pearl district; condominiums (many of which are quite handsome and few of which replace good historic structures) that increase density and bring with them the cultural and economic benefits of more people living within the city.

The "Golden Age" of Portland that existed some 20, 30 or 40 years ago is a lie or a nostalgic dream. Maybe what the anti-change, anti-Californian, anti-Sten, anti-Homer, anti-planning crowd really misses is their own youth, or the feeling that Portland was somehow "my town" before it caught on with other people across the country.

Like all big cities, Portland faces big challenges and has to deal with a wide variety of problems. But all in all, it's a pretty great place. I hope that those who support the main theme of this blog--"Portland is going to hell because its leaders are corrupt and incompetent"--will at least pause and consider the possibility that there might be some informed and intelligent people within this city who actually approve of its general direction; those who disagree with the Bojack and Lars Larson line aren't necessarily ignoramuses or dupes.

And by the way, I'd like to express my appreciation for TK and Libertas, who so tirelessly offer intelligent comments that challenge the prevailing opinions on this blog.

(And no, I do not work for the city.)

Richard,

Please see my comment under the thread on the Willamette Week. I support planning; heck I have a master's degree in planning from PSU. And no question there have been some changes for the better. A vibrant downtown is indeed a good thing. But the city also has a responsibility to the outlying neighborhoods and individual citizens to provide basic services. I think there are some real questions about whether we are engaged in actual comprehensive planning rather than simply transforming the landscape to cater to the dreams and visions of a few rather than for the greater public good. And Portland has it all over Houston and Atlanta in that it is far less humid. But last I checked, human nature is the same in all three cities.

Thanks for the kind words. For the record, I don't work for the city either. :)

Jack, Portland is about 45% left and another 20% far-left ideologically. There was no-way Dave Lister would get elected with those kind of odds.

Opie was voted in mainly because he's really far left. Period. The liberal majority doesn't seem to mind that Sten has wasted millions of tax dollars and lined the pockets of developers. Just as long as he's a good, 'smart-growth' liberal, he should represent them.

It's really sad how partisanship in this city/state/country has allowed incompetence to reign.

More specifically, I think that many of the things that Jack and most of his commentators rail against are on balance positive for the city: the development of South Waterfront; the expansion of light rail; the Pearl district; condominiums (many of which are quite handsome and few of which replace good historic structures) that increase density and bring with them the cultural and economic benefits of more people living within the city.

But what people? All the rich or very well off ones? Then then rest of us middle-class folks and the poorer folks get to live out in the slums (read: not downtown) that the city wont take care of. Or we are forced to the suburbs, which I think is what the Portland liberal elite want. Then they dont have to worry about it. It becomes someone else's problem. And they get their perfect little utopia.

Oh, and dont forget that we get to cover all the bills for those "condo" folks for 10 years.
Must be nice to buy a $1 million condo and pay less than $200/yr for property taxes, eh?

I will comment on Houston and Atlanta being held out as examples. I think a better example of what has been going on in Portland might be Providence Rhode Island where the city fathers redevelped a downtown, kicking contracts to favored developers. The FBI investigated and caught the mayor-I think it was-on tape taking a bribe. Beyond the smart growth mantra, there is a history of Oregon land scams that is ongoing. It's like we draw a circle around the urban area and within that space anything and everything is tolerated. People know something is wrong so they react by voting for property rights measures that may-or may not -solve the problems. Our local FBI office is too "connected" to investigate. But I sometimes fantisize "players" who have crossed the criminal line being removed from their law offices and government or newspaper places of businesss, handcuffed together ,and marched down the interstate to the big house in Salem. If Clackamas County is anything like it was 10 years ago, the march would double in size when it reached the I-205 junction. During the 90s, it seemed there was a large migration coming to Portland from places like Houston and Atlanta,at least I had several clients from those places who remarked on the dearth of common sense in Portland.

Portland is a beautiful city and her citizens live and let live. I have been all over this city and there is a vibrancy that is hard to deny. Areas that in my youth were run down and seedy have young people who care and are building their dreams. Having energized young people is a good thing.

QUESTION: How high can taxes go before something (maybe SoWhat or something else) becomes the straw that breaks the camel's back?

Will there come a time when disillusionment from the Middle-class causes a course correction because a new block of voters come out and vote on primary day?

Socialism? come on.

TK: Houston is fat. So is Fatlanta. There's only one way to 'Build' your way out of congestion: up (and reduce auto trips).

The Pre-Metro/Katz/Hales-Ladd's Addition Portland you speak of was also pre mass In-migration of people who figured out where they lived couldn't compare to Portland (which is I guess how you came here too). Now the true oregonians (4th gen Multnomah Co. myself) are stuck with the problem of how to educate you to think progressively about urban life in the 21st cent.

Kevin and others-

Please note that my pen name of "TK" does not equal "JK", which stands for Jim Karlock. It seems like folks are getting our comments mixed up lately, so I'm going by "TKrueg" from now on.

Kevin, if you look back through the thread, I think you were referencing JK's comments in your last post.

Please kevin, there's no proof that driving cars equals obesity. I swear, 'smart-growthers' will glom on to any half-baked study to bolster their beliefs.

Obesity is much more a condition of socio-economic status than the propensity to drive cars.

I keep waiting for an answer to a question I've asked a myriad of times: "If density and smart-growth are so desirable, why does it need to be subsidized?"

"Having energized young people is a good thing."

No question. But having youth in positions that require wisdom and experience is not always such a good thing. You can talk to some of the younger editorialists at the O and get dead silence when you try to engage them. Then they go to their managers who fill them in on their agenda. Because they haven't developed the capacity for critical thought, we get propaganda masquerading as youthful energy. Then people who try to engage in critical analysis are called "bitter old farts".

Live and let live?

Chris-

No one has answered your question because the answer is patently obvious: Money flows like water, through the path of least resistance. If Lars, Sizemore and their 'sheeple' had their way with Metro and local governments, we wouldn't have building codes, zoning restrictions, density requirements, etc. People would just build whatever, whereever... to hell with the city or its people. These are the same people who would prefer to just build new a new industrial park on an old Wash. Co. farm than to occupy one of the many vacant ones already available in the area.

When you're an investor, builder or developer, sometimes it takes a little incentive not to take the path of least resistance. On that note, not everything you deem to be 'smart growth'-centric requires subsidies...

Cynthia-

Whoa. Young people are less likely to have critical thinking capacities?? I'd like to see the age breakdown of folks who voted for Bush in the last election. I'm guessing the younger voters were able to see through the bullsh*t better than the rest of society. Or was it dumb luck that they foretold what was to come from the administration? Whatever the case, middle-agers are responsible for the apathy of their own generation, which has left a grave political legacy my generation will have to deal with.

The ageism on these boards astounds me. Anyone over the age of 40 seems to have a serious inferiority complex, laying all of Portland's ills at the feet of young wippersnappers. There is a big difference between the young people in Portland who are of college age and those who are bright, overachieving professionals. They just all appear to be the same because they're all a threat, apparently. Or wear 'trendy' clothes.

Age isn't a qualifier for the validity of an opinion. You won't get arguments from 'the youth' about how important experience is, but recognize that it can also drag you down into lazy thinking. So far, the only thing coming from the elder statesmen/women of this blog is complaints rather than ideas.

After a quick scan of the Sten bashing going on here I feel compelled to disagree. There is a lot to like about a guy who pays more than lip service to the homeless problem, is willing to fight the unholy contagion that is PGE, eschews corporate sponsorship of his policies and decisions and supports a concrete(if slightly imperfect step) towards taking the big money(with all the attached,ugly backroom promises) out of campaigning. I don't work fo the city, I don't support the tram and I'm not looking forward to an extra 15 minutes on my commute when the light rail work starts. But I am happy to be living in a city where a free thinking, intelligent, thoughtful and gap-toothed individual who essentially relies on grass roots campaigning can beat back a challenge from a well financed corporate shill and return to City Council to do some more good work.

GG

TK, it sounds like the PDC and CoP are Lar's 'sheeple' as well. Every SoWa variance asked for has been granted: building heights to 350 feet, reduced set backs from the river, reduced distances between buildings, additional parking structures and surface lots...

It's obvious developers there said "to hell with the people of Lair Hill."

Chris, the difference is in nuance. While it's all or nothing with you, I find it's OK to generally agree with the project without agreeing with some of the details. Like you, I don't agree with those variances.

Re: "The "Golden Age" of Portland that existed some 20, 30 or 40 years ago is a lie or a nostalgic dream."

I thought someone else would jump on this, so I let it go. Portland 30 years ago was much better in a lot of ways, than it is now. That isn't a lie or a dream. It was a cozy, authentic working-class tavern that got turned into a McMenamins.
I still love Portland but anyone who thinks this is better doesn't know the difference between Darius Miles and Bill Walton.

"Age isn't a qualifier for the validity of an opinion."

Agreed TK. I work with "millenials" and there is lots of really great energy as well as good ideas. But I don't think your point about middle aged people here not proposing solutions is accurate. Steve Schoop said the O wouldn't print his opinion piece. I have had that problem as well. There is definite suppression of certain opinions and then ad hominum attacks on the messengers as "do nothing" complainers etc. ad naseum. Those of us who have stayed politically engaged since we were young have nothing to be ashamed of; I never voted for Bush. Not once.

If middle aged people have "inferiority complexes" as you say, it is because a cultural fixation on youth is turning some of them into individuals chasing after youth like Southpark characters on Viagra and injuring themselves in the pursuit. It's kind of pathetic and I don't see that as much in other countries I have visited where there seems to be respect for the value of people at each age.

"It was a cozy, authentic working-class tavern that got turned into a McMenamins."

BTW. good line, Bill McD.

I was trying to explain to a friend why I feel so strange at the Kennedy School where people can seem so self-consciously "liberated".

Re: "[Portland] was a cozy, authentic working-class tavern that got turned into a McMenamins."

There are still plenty of those Olde-Portland taverns around where you see plenty of fat middle-aged guys in shorts drinking Henry's Private Reserve. Don't begrudge the tatooed young people their martinis or PBR. There's room in this town for both the Goose Hollow Inn and Doug Fir, for the old hippies and the young hipsters, the "authentic" things of the past and the "phony" things of the present.

That said, I also miss Bill Walton and also spend much time lamenting that the Dodgers ever left Brooklyn.

Seriously, if you don't feel comfortable at a McMennimins (sp?), then you don't feel comfortable in your own skin.

"Steve Schoop said the O wouldn't print his opinion piece. I have had that problem as well. There is definite suppression of certain opinions and then ad hominum attacks on the messengers."

It's also possible that the Oregonian just didn't think that what you or Steve Schopp wrote was good enough to put in the paper. IMHO. I mean, I realize they print a lot of dumb stuff, but every rejection of an unsolicited opinion piece can't be construed as "suppression" of opinions.

Yeah, you're right Richard. The people in the Oregonian are so much smarter than the rest of us and know so much more about our fields of endeavor than we do. How could I be so blind as to not recognize that?

And McMenamins as the conscience of the individual?

Yeah, that's right too.

Gee Whiz, touche you guys.

One more thing, Richard: Pulitzer winner Doug Bates liked a piece I submitted and it got snagged higher up-probably by Bob Caldwell. Caldwell-whose wife, Lora Cuykendall, is chief PR hack for OHSU. A former friend of mine was in the running for that job last fall-an hispanic guy who had worked at Harvard. This guy-whose wife had been a friend of mine since high school-started spreading garbage about me among my friends and family. I complained to the search committee and on this blog. For all the hype about diversity and the Ivy League, Mrs. Caldwell got the job. Where were the contenders? Why y'all want to make excuses for these people has been beyond me for a long, long time. But, then you know how it is with us slow types.

Chris McMullan:

"If density and smart-growth are so desirable, why does it need to be subsidized?"

The questions that should be asked is "Why do we allow density and smart-growth to be subsidized based on a lie to city council?" AND

"Why do we allow it to go unpunished?"

Is this the "new normal" for the conduct of public/private business at city hall at the public's expense? Lie to get what you want?

I hear nothing about seeking the return, or even an investigation, of federal taxpayer funds obtained by this fraud previously reported in the Oregonian.

Too bad.

TK: There are planners of all shades who dedicate their lives to understanding what most folks don't care to do.
JK: The problem with modern planners is that they are planning for how THEY WANT US TO LIVE instead of HOW WE WANT TO LIVE. Forcing people into an unwanted lifestyle has been the mark of tyrants throughout history and the current crop of planning tyrants will fail too. The only question is how much damage will be done to Portland.

Most of the planners that I talk to don't even have the basics right: They believe that high density is cheaper than sprawl, that mass transit saves money and that high density will reduce traffic congestion. Some planners even believe that sprawl causes obesity and that European cities do not sprawl. In the meantime they promote things that increase crime and get people killed. What idiots.

TK: Portland has always done things differently and residents are OK with that...
JK: Up until now, the damage planners have been doing has been below most people's radar. Now we have a new poster child - the SoWhat that will probably cost a BILLION while we cut back on schools, police and fire. People are starting to notice that the city is slowly going broke. The city council still seems to believe that ten years of tax giveaways will somehow be made up later.

TK: just so long as we don't end up like Phoenix or Vegas.
JK: Do you have something against cities that have affordable housing, low unemployment, low traffic congestion and good schools? (All things that planners have screwed up here.) What is your criteria for wanting to not "end up like Phoenix or Vegas"?

Thanks
JK

Portland has excellent schools...just look at Grant, Lincoln and Jefferson.

Or maybe that was 30-40 yrs ago....maybe you should look to the burbs LO and Beaverton for more recent examples.

The Shadow: You are right, there needs to be an investigation into North Macadam URA and the tram concerning possible fraud. The allocation of taxdollars in the NM Agreement, especially Amendments 7 and 8 are suspect, besides all the smoke from the tram. The Council was more than "mislead" by PDC, PATI, City Staff, OHSU, and Homer/Dames. I wonder if that is one reason that the FBI is sniffing around city hall?

Portland's voters, like the rest of the nation's, were too busy voting for American Idol contestants to be bothered with local politics.

I hear rumors about the FBI sniffing around. If it is a legitimate contingent of non-local agents, they need to smell out every major institution in this good ole state imho. My guess is what they will find is that the problem is centered in downtown Portland with tentacles running to salem as well as to the court system and regulatory bodies-both public and quasi-public.

The Council was more than "mislead" by PDC, PATI, City Staff, OHSU, and Homer/Dames. I wonder if that is one reason that the FBI is sniffing around city hall?

I dunno, I find it hard to believe that the Council was "mislead" by any one of those...
Particularly the PDC & Homer. They have been in bed with the likes of them too long. I think the Council had their hands in all this crap from the beginning, and like a good little mafia family, think they cant be touched.
And like someone said before, they do the things they think we want/need, not what we (the taxpayers) actually want or need. And just dont care...

Jon: I was being "polite". Several members of the city council are in bed with the PDC, PATI, City Staff, OHSU, Homer/Dames, etc. in the deceptions that have/are occurring in the misuse of Urban Renewal throughout our city, particularily NM. Are these deceptions criminal?-I think we need outside help in exploring these deceptions. We certainly need the media in at least making the "connections" of all the deceit.

Our upcoming elections should make the misuse of urban renewal a major issue. Voters need to ask the pointed questions and not let the politicians dance.

Maybe it is incomplete socialism, Jack, or that vast majority of Portlanders who "don't understand, or don't care," (us being idiots, and all), which makes it the incompetent socialism you keenly observe.

Seems to me obligated civil cooperation by dint of our socialistic sense, as one method "to promote the general Welfare," and of a form in that, to "establish Justice," beats gestapo or occupying oppression -- bang! you're in Gitmo, or ... where was it they detention-camp'ed Mayfield? ... uh, I guess they didn't say, it was top secret.

Just saying, is democracy for socialism worse than democracy for totalitarianism?

And could the problem, dear Jack, lie not in our starring methodologies but in our uncivic-ed, all TVcircus-ed, selves?

A thesis which I am developing considers that humankind's evolution is intrinsically socialistic. (Of course, it fairly much presumes a reader is on-board with evolution.) The non-socialist branchoff experiments in humanlike evolution -- all and only competition, all jungle homicide all the time -- are or become extinct.

Hence: samaritanism, human pathos, sociobiological self-sacrifice, whatever in our genes.

See (try the library if search engines don't start, gentlemen, this from my stacks): "Humanity? Maybe It's in the Wiring," NYTimes Science Times (section D), Dec. 9, 2003.

See also, Steven Pinker, "The Blank Slate, The Modern Denial of Human Nature," [Viking Penguin, 2002]; also his earlier "How the Mind Works."

Intrinsically inherently socialistically mutual-cooperative, Jack, definitional of humankind. We are born socialist to a human degree in sharing's beneficence ... the "incompetent" part is, as you imply, a matter of personal preference.

In a main aspect, I see it as self-defeating to blame 'Portland planning executed in wanton waste.'

City-scale waste is such small potatoes. As what's-his-name McCovey advises, ('Seven Habits of Effective People,' or something like that), Put the big things in first

Here is the BIG waste thing illustrated, to help us picture it:

Ten billion dollar cookies

And that link comes out of this context:

'Cookies' of an ice cream magnate

Chris: I agree obesity is very much linked to socio-economic status. Driving cars does not 'equal' obesity but neither does parking your hind-end on a the sofa. or does it?

Tenskey: glad to see you're back.

I hadn't seen you post in such a long time, I was afraid they took away your internet privileges or something.