We need to produce a Jimi Hendrix. That's my hope for Portland. Seattle had Jimi Hendrix.

having been a professor in new york and new jersey, i see the only future for portland is to strengthen its higher education.

new york has columbia, nyu, and cornell.

new jersey has princeton.

without qualifying graudates, there is nil chance for any industry to move to oregon.

is portland to become the next aspen? santa cruz? or as some fools think---the next paris?

my experience during my brief visit to pdx: it is already as expensive as living in new jersey/new york...

Fewer crybabies.

A citizenry that came to learn that bitching about what they don't have (and victimhood in general) isn't a place one ought to be.

Instead they got in the habit of finding pride for their community and fellow countrymen and chose to bring value only to those efforts that would unselfishly unleash the potential of younger Americans and those among us less fortunate.

After all the controversy over property taxes those taxes were finally abolished and now everyone, including the once tax exempt, gets a monthly bill for services and the cost has been lowered for all.

The Jennie's Jitney service which provides transportation along MLKjr and in that area has had another successful year. Out on 82nd other Jitney services are doing well. Downtown shuttle services are making a profit as well as the ten bus companies running on co-ordinated routes throught the area. Interesting that some of those carriers are fueled by diesel, bio-diesel, gas and someare even electric plug and go.

And Portland's own Bill McDonald has won another Emmy for his late night talk show, which is beamed across the cyberworld.
M.W.

I'm probably dead.

Well,

Emerald City is bustling, Mayor Glinda has just lowered taxes for the third time in her administration.

The Yellow Brick Road has been repaved.

The Tin Man has had a successful heart transplant at OHSU, the Scarecrow has figured out how to pay for the FPD&R Fund's liability using bicycle licensing fees and the Lion is King of Forest Park.

Oh, and the Munchkins have taken over Tri-Met, Metro & PDOT - everyone's doing fine.

Toto too.

The city sank under it's own weight of overburdening the taxpayer and in the second decade has risen from it's ashes and dumped the illogical fantasies that pushed the city into bankrupcy.

So, in 20 years, light rail is long gone, the rails paved over to provide TRUE high speed transit. In addition those lanes (at certain times of the night) help commerce (read that trucks) zip through the city. The tram fell down in 'the big one' and the fallacy that it is has been realized. It was left to rust as a monument to remind us to 'not get fooled again'. The city finally does encourage businesses by totally changing the tax structure, lowering business fees, etc. The joke of high density has been seen for the mess it is and homes with regular yards at reasonable prices are encouraged - this is done because Metro has been disbanded and the UGB is long gone. Government does what it's suppose to do, not like what it's doing now, which means we have good roads, good police and plenty of jail space.

Yeah, THAT would be a nice Portland - 20 years from now.

"The End of Suburbia" documentary comes true.
I'm 70 yrs old, riding my bike on quiet, empty streets - save for other bicyclists, smoking a corncob pipe, waving to my neighbors out working in their vegetable gardens or walking to work, thinking about the death and mayhem that occurred when suburbanites fought over the last affordable drops of petrol, and how it was worth paying the price to live in the city I love while others abandoned it for suburban wasteland.
Then I remember, I have to get back to the house and chop up the rest of the dining room table because it's supposed to get cold tonight and I never did get around to installing solar panels.

The rain drove all the self-absorbed jerks out of town and it is restored to what I would like to think is the quiet, odd, humble town where I was born. Tbat's my Portland. Maybe the Pearl is transformed into a giant skate park or commune. Maybe there is a decent professional sports team in town (and by decent, I mean more than athletic prowess). And if it rains everyday, I'm OK with that because... Portland is my kind of town, Portland is my kind of razzmatazz, and it has all that jazz...

There are at least two major daily newspapers actively competing for stories, plumbing the grassroots where the real substance is found. Public relations is a discredited field and official sources are viewed with skepticism.

Portland is no longer a city of wusses. People speak out about what they know and engage each other. Diversity of opinion and personality is not only tolerated, but welcomed.

Large scale devlopment projects are actually planned and budgeted. And they are not seen as a magic panecea for all urban ills. Real planners with a real interest in hearing from the community and studying impact will be more prominent than urban designers, who will design projectsonly after the unglamorous nuts- and -bolts- planning has taken place.

The Oregon Humane Society is run by animal lovers, ***** having been exposed as the puppet of animal users and manipulative self-interested veterinarians and law firms twenty years ago in a major investigation. Strawmen no longer vie for leadership of the Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon and smaller rescue groups.

And Mr. Tee has become a cat lover.

and Mr. Tee has become a cat.