I'm convinced it's only becuase somebody's making money.... compare to Winchester House in San Jose, CA.

Maybe this will slow down the "creative class" people without jobs that move to Portland.

Maybe this will encourage the "creative class" people without jobs who are here to move back to where they came from.

. . . especially since there is now less room available on the downtown sidewalks.

And up to 250 more unemployed in P-town, thanks Port of P-town

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2010/05/port_may_outsource_terminal.html

Build all the toys, then the jobs will come. That's what the planners are betting.

I don't think it will stop the "creatives" from coming. It'll stop the "productives" from coming, though.

Phil - I don't think the terminal leasing thing will cost any real jobs. The Port won't be handling the day to day operations at the terminal - somebody who can do it better will. There will still be people working down there. The container volume in Portland is not very significant anyway.

People may continue to come as long as the PR invitation of "Curtain Open" continues.
Wait till they find out what happens behind "Curtain Closed" that so many of us carry on about!!

Who is going to pay for all this debt?

Recently, talked to newcomers transferred by job here, they were quite concerned about property taxes here.

People move to Portland because it is a pleasant place to live - no one has ever moved here to get a job - that's why people move to places like Houston.
Also how can anyone be concerned with the property taxes in Oregon?

"Maybe this will slow down the "creative class" people without jobs that move to Portland.

Not likely, because they're coming from LA (one spot below Portland) and Riverside, CA (two spots below).

It's an upgrade for them!

The "millions of new residents" goal is the governments hope of getting out from under all the debt. The way to keep the Ponzi scheme viable for another decade is netting more sheep to fleece. Or so say the developers.

Forget that Devil line, the greatest lie is the developers convincing people they are symbiotes and not parasites. OK, not all of 'em.

no one has ever moved here to get a job

I did. Portland was a modest job magnet for Californians during the early '90s recession, which was relatively mild in most parts of the country but hit that state hard (largely due to post-cold war defense cutbacks). I certainly wouldn't make such a move today, though.

Here's how bad it is:

I'm a graduate student in Urban Planning. Please don't throw things at me, yet. :) I need to get an internship in order to graduate, and the logical time to do that is this summer.

It used to be that people in my shoes could expect to find an internship that at least paid enough to pay rent in a cheap apartment. Nowadays, with budget cuts and bad economies, paid internships -- especially in the public sector -- are becoming quite rare.

So, I suck it up. I can live with family for free, and go cheap for the summer, in the name of getting this critical degree requirement out of the way. I started sending resumes and work samples out over two months ago, to just about every government in Northwest Oregon and Southwest Washington: cities, counties, Metro, ports, transit agencies, you name it, from Kelso to Eugene, Hood River to Seaside.

I've gotten a lot of replies, and they've all been nice, but they all say the same thing: we can't afford you, even if you're working for free. After hearing that three or four times, I began to wonder if I missed something in basic math class.

I understand that it takes some staff time to oversee us lowly grad students, but I am offering myself up for free. In a year, assuming that I can find a job (which is a huge assumption, I know), whatever firm I'm working for will be billing that time out at $150/hr (or $300/hr in the case of planes, trains, and green things).

It doesn't make any sense. I could understand not being able to get a paid internship in this economy. But SOMETHING IS WRONG when people can't even give it away.

End of rant. Sorry. And if you need a planning intern, lemme know. I'll be the one standing outside PDC HQ or the Planning & Sustainability bldg on 4th Ave with the sign: "will work for free and pay for the credit".