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INSIDE:
Southwest Portland’s Independent Neighborhood Newspaper
Volume No. 17, Issue No. 6
www.multnomahpost.com
Portland, Oregon
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April 2009
TriMet proposed service cuts include
lines 39 Lewis & Clark, 43 Taylors Ferry
By Lee Perlman
The Southwest Portland Post
In our lean times, TriMet is tighten-
ing its belt. Bus riders and community
advocates protest that the exercise is
sacrificing the wrong things, or is just
plain misguided.
As TriMet’s Jon Joseph and Dan
Marchand told the Hillsdale Neighbor-
hood Association (HNA) last month,
the agency is facing a double whammy:
not only is fare box revenue decreasing,
but so is the payroll tax that accounts for
55 percent of its budget, and is affected
by a regional reduction in business
income. TriMet is facing a $13.5 million
shortfall, Joseph said, and has already
instituted a hiring freeze.
Asked to examine their services
in January, the transit agency has
proposed to eliminate several “low-
performing” lines and reduce service
on a number of others.
Here in Southwest, there will be
service reductions on either weekdays
or weekends on Line #1 Vermont, #39
Lewis and Clark, #43 Taylors Ferry, #51
Vista, and #63 Washington Park. There
will also be a reduction in frequency
of MAX light rail service, and perhaps
some modification of the Fareless
Square free ride system offered for
the Downtown, Old Town and Lloyd
Center areas.
In addition to low ridership, March-
and said, TriMet wanted to avoid
eliminating service essential to a large
number of commuters, essential to
“transit-dependent” people who don’t
own cars, or lines where there is no oth-
er transit service available to the people
who use them. The agency recently
raised its fares and considered doing
so again, “but we realize this would
be a hardship for our most vulnerable
customers,” he said.
The TriMet board will consider the
reductions at three hearings in April:
April 6 at Wilson High School, April
7 at the Portland Building at 1120 S.W.
Fifth Ave., and April 8 in Clackamas
County. All will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Any
changes approved will take effect on
September 20.
Several Hillsdale residents protested
the elimination of Line #55 Hamilton
(Photo courtesy of pdxpipeline.com)
(Editor’s Note: TriMet has since revised its
list of cutbacks with Line #55 Hamilton re-
taining service hourly). Rick Seifert noted
that it serves Lincoln High School, and
that without it, “Kids from Bridlemile
will have to walk all the way to Bea-
verton-Hillsdale Highway, on streets
with no sidewalks,” to find alternative
transportation.
Others, such as Hillsdale Business
and Professional Association chair
Mike Roach, said it would exacerbate
an existing problem of people using
Hillsdale Town Center as a Park-and-
Ride lot while they board buses for
downtown. “They drive to Hillsdale,
park, hope no one notices, and hop on
a (Bus) #44 or #45,” he said. Reiterating
Seifert’s point he said, “It’s one thing
to talk about ‘alternative routes’ on the
east side, another to do it here where
there’s no safe place to walk.”
HNA chair Don Baack said he thought
Tri-Met had contributed to the problem
because they had “screwed up the
(Continued on Page 6)
Hillsdale Terrace to apply for HOPE VI redevelopment funds
other properties and maintenance costs
75 percent greater.
Constructed in 1968, the building at
6775 SW 26th Ave. suffers from inad-
After a March 17 meeting of its board
equate insulation because of its concrete
of directors, the Housing Authority of
masonry and a living atmosphere that
Portland (HAP) has decided to pursue
HAP determined “harsh” and “insti-
a complete redevelopment of Hillsdale
tutional” in its February report on site
Terrace, an ailing low-income apart-
conditions.
ment complex in Southwest Portland.
Furthermore, poor soil conditions
The 63-unit building has become
have led to dangerous erosion, and the
HAP’s most expensive to run, with
current layout of the eight buildings
utility costs for each unit double that of
allows few open, recreational spaces
for individual or commu-
nity use.
“It’s a very challenging
property from a topographi-
cal perspective,” said Katie
Such, the deputy executive
director at HAP.
The board has consid-
ered a variety of options to
improve the condition of
Hillsdale Terrace since 2000,
including selling the site and
extensive improvements on
the existing structure.
But because of the lack of
available land or replace-
ment apartment units, and
the lack of funding for com-
prehensive improvements
on the existing structure,
tearing down the sickly
green building and starting
from scratch became the
solution.
To achieve this, HAP will
need more than $30 mil-
The Housing Authority of Portland is putting together an lion, double what Oregon
application for a federal HOPE VI grant to completely re- received from the recent
develop its Hillsdale Terrace site in Southwest Portland. federal stimulus bill for
The 63-unit apartment complex houses 237 low-income public housing.
residents. (Photo courtesy of HAP)
For this reason they’ll be
By Allison Rupp
The Southwest Portland Post
returning to the successful strategy
used for their New Columbia and Hum-
boldt Gardens properties—applying
for a HOPE VI grant (a program that
recently received $120 million) from the
federal government.
Such said the agency’s track record in
earning the grants makes it a competi-
tive candidate the third time around.
HAP will be asking for $20 million
from HOPE VI, with an additional $25
million needed from local government
funding for the remaining construction
and operating costs.
HAP has already begun collecting
application materials and approaching
the community for support, having
detailed the plan at the Multnomah
Neighborhood Association’s meeting
in March. Application materials will
be submitted to the U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Development this
fall, with a response expected in 2010.
If successful, HAP will begin con-
struction in 2011 with an estimated
completion date in the spring of 2013.
During that time, current residents
would be relocated to other HAP prop-
erties appropriate for their needs, and
offered a chance to move back in when
construction is completed.
Hillsdale Terrace presently houses
237 low-income residents, over half
of them children. The site’s redesign
would include improved play areas
for the younger residents, whose play-
ground often sits in a pond of water
because of the poor soil.
Only three percent of the residents are
seniors, a figure that HAP would like to
change. Preliminary design plans in-
clude 30 units of senior housing within
an expanded complex of 115 units.
As one of the only low-income hous-
ing complexes in Southwest Portland,
Hillsdale Terrace offers the advantage
of proximity to the area’s high-quality
schools, parks, services, and public
transit.
Such said she hopes redeveloping the
property will enhance residents’ rela-
tionships with the surrounding com-
munity and lead to future partnerships
between the agency and Southwest
Portland neighborhoods. “This is an
opportunity to make Hillsdale Terrace
a property we can all be proud of.”
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