SoWhat North
The new "mixed-use development" planned for the Con-Way property in northwest Portland is going to be quite the skyscraper jungle:
While buildings along streets such as Northwest 21st and 23rd avenues are subject to height limits of about eight stories, those placed closer to I-405 will have permission to be taller.
And the traffic over there, already pretty sticky, is likely to descend to the hellacious:
When finished, the new development is expected to have as many as 1,500 new residential units, which will add more traffic to the neighborhood. In addition, people working and shopping in the area also are expected to add to traffic congestion.The intersection at Northwest 23rd Avenue and Vaughn Street has been a particular concern. A proposed "jug handle" solution will require drivers exiting Interstate 405 to make a series of right turns before entering the neighborhood.
Our forays over into that neck of the woods certainly won't be getting any more frequent. Ah well, another part of Portland lost. We must wreck it to save it for the millions of people who are moving here, any decade now. (And where they're supposed to work is anyone's guess.)
| Posted at 9:44 AM | Permalink |
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Comments (11)
Before I-405 was finally connected up to Vaughn and Yeon about 20 years ago, it used to be all effed up over there. I guess CoP doesn't like the resulting improvement to traffic flow and has come up with a plan to "fix" that.
Posted by Mr. Grumpy | August 28, 2012 10:36 AM
I am SO old that I remember when that area was a neighborhood of single family houses. It was all torn down to make room for the freeway and what ever else was "planned" at the time, now long since abandoned.
Posted by Portland Native | August 28, 2012 12:14 PM
I find it odd that nearly all of Portland's past attempts at urban renewal/redevelopment are failures. Isn't the definition of insanity to repeat the same action over and over, expecting a different result that will not occur?
Posted by Erik H. | August 28, 2012 12:37 PM
Oh c'mon. People want to live in NW and this extends the area a few blocks further north. Yours is the classic complaint about how people wont go there, it's just too popular.
Posted by Andrew S | August 28, 2012 2:40 PM
Oh sure! Sign me up to live under the I-405 freeway in some cement box, with a "small park" somewhere in the area.
No schools, no grocery, no nothin', and part of the area on top of a Brownfield that everyone has forgotten about. Except there is Good Samaritan Hospital close by.
So-What NW describes this area perfectly! The developers that build this crap are not going to live there. They are safely ensconced in Dunthorpe or King's Heights.
Posted by Portland Native | August 28, 2012 3:30 PM
I think you give South Waterfront way too much credit. It's a strange zombie wasteland where the water features are perfectly manicured and not a soul is to be seen.
That section of NW Portland is already dominated by old apartment buildings with no parking and a mess of traffic. It's not for everyone, but for those that like a dense urban environment they'll like this new development too, I suspect.
The striking thing for me about this recent apartment trend is the fact that it isn't occurring in the places the planners wanted. Granted the streetcar goes through there, but compared to South Waterfront or Interstate the apartment builders are picking places that haven't seen massive PDC/city investment. A lesson, yet again, that planners don't really know what they're talking about.
Posted by Andrew S | August 28, 2012 3:44 PM
The sad thing is, there used to be industry there. Portland no longer wants industry. It wants short-term construction jobs slapping up particle board. Some future that is.
Posted by Jack Bog | August 28, 2012 5:39 PM
Industry is icky and smelly, why would the current creative class what to do that sort of work ?
And you get your hands dirty too !
Posted by tankfixer | August 28, 2012 5:55 PM
"Portland no longer wants industry". How true.
The Conway deal gets rid of Conway. Then along goes Esco, Gunderson, Freemans, Wacker, etc. Then why have the Guild's Lake Industrial Sanctuary. Industry is bad. Move it to Vancouver or Longview. And they will.
Posted by lw | August 28, 2012 7:39 PM
http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/news/2012/04/17/report-portland-industrial-land-supply.html?page=all
A new study commissioned by the state and two key Portland business groups reveals that the Portland region’s supply of readily developable industrial land is “limited.”
The analysis particularly applies to potential developments that require at least 50 acres, according to the study “Land Availability: Limited Options.” The study will be presented Wednesday morning by the Value of Jobs Coalition at a Portland Business Alliance breakfast.
The PBA is part of the group, along with Business Oregon, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association’s Oregon Chapter, Metro and the Port of Portland.
All told, just nine 25-plus acre industrial sites could be "shovel-ready" within 180 days inside the area's urban growth boundary and certain areas designated as urban reserves.
..........
Posted by clinamen | August 28, 2012 9:11 PM
Good point about Esco... they'll have big trouble with another 1500 people breathing their burnt plastic fumes every day. Subjectively speaking, that interchange has worse air than Mexico City.
Posted by zach | August 29, 2012 7:36 PM