On stalks of clover
While Portland's planning army makes a nice living (and pension) drawing pictures of it, the area around the Rose Garden arena doesn't seem likely to be improved any time soon. The mayor's asinine discussion of a Costco store near there has been officially pronounced dead, as it was from the get-go, and now the Blazers are ready to turn their backs on their Junktown Drunktown Jumptown proposal. In other words, nothing's happening.
The city's dropping hints that Nike is interested in developing the area. That sounds about as likely as the big box store idea. Successful business people are smart enough to run away when they see someone like the mayor on the other side of the table.
Meanwhile, they're talking about blowing "urban renewal" money (a.k.a. property taxes) to shore up the Memorial Coliseum before it falls down. They've spent dough on worse things.
| Posted at 10:23 AM | Permalink |
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Comments (8)
Nike getting involved might not be entirely a bad thing.
Posted by John Rettig | April 23, 2011 11:21 AM
They really need the CC Hotel and then to expand the CC until it takes over the whole area.
We just haven't spent enough - To paraphrase every pol and planner in this town.
Posted by Steve | April 23, 2011 11:40 AM
Denny Doyle (current Beaverton mayor)hasn't been all that and a bag of chips. He'd as soon lie down with developer weasels than serve the average Beaverton citizen. He's no better than his predecessor except he may have learned to be more tactful.
Posted by LucsAdvo | April 23, 2011 4:20 PM
Beaverton has been about developer weasels since 1965. You expect it there. It is part of the definition of the town itself.
Portland, however, proclaims itself one thing and then does quite another.
Posted by LL | April 23, 2011 4:26 PM
No no no Beaverton, Gresham and Portland are models for the nation and Milwaukie Lakw Oswego and Vancouver can't wait to get there Rail and Homertopia.
The Convention Center/Rose Quarter area has every so called livability element cooked up by the planning deluders and still it can't spur the "rest of the story"?
Remember this Trammel Crow tower right in the middle of it all?
http://www.themerrickapts.com/
"A Savvy East-Sider With A-List Amenities
It just doesn't stop. Every year Portland garners more acclaim and attention for it's groundbreaking urban planning projects, showing the rest of the country how the future of city life is going to be green, progressive, efficient and easy." "The Merrick is in a picture perfect walkable neighborhood."
It's the kind of mixed use transit oriented development the peddlers of MLR and LO streetcar are telling people was spurred spontaneously by eager developers following rail transit around.
But Trammel Crow didn't make the Merrick happen without a huge subsidy even with every planner's picture perfect element already in place.
The Merrick is between the Convention Center and Rose Garden, next to multiple MAX lines and near the Lloyd Center shopping mall.
They were handed a 10 year property tax abatement and the ground floor commercial has struggled ever since.
see here:
http://portlandmaps.com/detail.cfm?action=Assessor&propertyid=R182186&state_id=1N1E34AA%20%202300&address_id=624767&intersection_id=&dynamic_point=0&x=7648083.516&y=687414.468&place=1239%20NE%20MARTIN%20LUTHER%20KING%20JR%20BLVD&city=PORTLAND&neighborhood=LLOYD%20DISTRICT&seg_id=136618
These transit oriented developments are working out so well former Metro councilor, now legislator, Rod Monroe tried to get a bill passe this session to give 10 year tax abatements all of the commercial parts of TODs.
Posted by Ben | April 23, 2011 6:16 PM
Geez.
Milwaukie, Lake Oswego and Vancouver can't wait to get their Rail and Homertopia.
And maybe put the whole CC/RC area under a biosphere/eco dome.
Posted by Ben | April 23, 2011 6:25 PM
Mixed use development, will we ever get enough?
Probably not until they have taken over our "once livable neighborhoods" - get the feeling the neighborhoods are considered an old fashioned mode, and must all be redone to the latest mixed use development.
Who do you think started pushing all this here?
Posted by clinamen | April 23, 2011 7:20 PM
Regarding Memorial Coliseum - the new ownership of the Portland Winterhawks have said they are willing to spend some of their money (they're new to town) to gut and upgrade MC to be the sole home for the Winterhawks. Would save the constant tango of court-to-ice-to-court that goes on at the Rose Garden, including this weekend with four alternating games in four days.
Posted by umpire | April 24, 2011 10:38 AM