A pril 2011
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Portland Planning Fair
(Continued from Page 5)
helped shepherd the Southwest Com-
munity Plan through City Council,
simply told those present, “We’ve done
a lot of talking in previous phases of this
plan. Now we want to hear from you.”
An exception, at the Oregon Zoo, was
a table full of southwest residents who
had enough critical mass to have an
independent discussion. One of these,
West Portland Park neighborhood
activist Jim McLaughlin, later told The
Post he found the strategies vague.
“I’m an educated man and when I
read these things I understood each
word, but together they’re all mushy,”
McLaughlin said. While they are
“wonderful aspirational statements,”
he did not see how they would be
implemented.
Worse, McLaughlin said, there seems
to be a lack of understanding that much
of Southwest Portland, with its lack of
infrastructure and steep topography,
poses special challenges for accessing
resources without a car.
Another participant, Roger Averback,
said that while some staff people pres-
ent such as Johnson were quite knowl-
edgeable about Southwest, a staffer
who sat in on the discussion proved
so ignorant of the area that 15 minutes
were spent explaining the location of
significant destinations to him.
Averback was intrigued by the con-
cept of creating new neighborhood
“hubs,” small centers of retail services
at locations such as Southwest 45th Ave-
nue at Multnomah Boulevard, and 45th
Avenue and Vermont Street. However,
he added, “A cause of concern which
residents might have to pay attention
to, is changing zoning and increasing
the density” near the hubs to make
them viable.
Averback also noted, “Just doing that,
without creating multi-modal facilities
on the streets, isn’t adequate. People
would be willing to walk further for
services if they could do it safely.”
The “equity” component would
appear to favor Southwest, which is
acknowledged by the City to have
less than its share of sidewalks and
other basic infrastructure. However,
McLaughlin said, although the area
has significant pockets of poverty, it is
perceived by many as the domain of the
rich, neither needing nor deserving of
City resources.
About 80 people attended the Or-
egon Zoo event, which was held on a
Sunday. Some participants felt it was a
good event that respected the needs of
working families. Others complained
that it had a high cost, in terms of staff
time and resources, in relation to the
input received.
Averback said he found the main hall
“too crowded, too noisy, too festive.
Perhaps this was aimed at people who
don’t normally go to these types of
meetings, but I wanted to get past that
and into the discussion.”
Staff members said they can also
The Southwest Portland Post • 7
send speakers to interested organized
groups, and that they will take online
input into May. They can be reached
online at www.portlandplan.com.
South Waterfront
Transportation
(Continued from Page 1)
retary of Transportation.” Through his
help Portland will “turn unproductive
land into an oasis of innovation.”
Congressman Kurt Schrader, whose
district includes Clackamas County,
said that by tying the region together
the pending projects would mean “not
just jobs for now but jobs for the future,
jobs that wouldn’t otherwise have hap-
pened.”
Congressman David Wu spoke of
“the innovation this project will en-
able, tying together OHSU, PSU and
OMSI. Their scientists will be working
to translate research into technology.
The old ways of doing things are just
not adequate anymore.”
Portland Mayor Sam Adams and Southwest Trails chairman Don Baack at the city
budget forum at Wilson High School on March 1. (Post photo by Lee Perlman)
The Southwest Portland Post
4207 SE Woodstock Blvd #509
Portland, OR 97206
Fax: (866) 727-5336
email: news@multnomahpost.com
Effects of bullying at any age
can last a lifetime
(Continued from Page 2)
through Impact NW. This program
helps educate students with puppetry,
an effective form of communication
with young children.
Bullying prevention shows are our
most frequently requested among
Portland-metro schools. Our shows
have helped open the eyes of kids to this
topic and given them an opportunity to
talk about how to respond to bullying
in a healthy way.
All children deserve a secure, healthy
setting for personal growth. Many chil-
dren who are being bullied don’t tell
others out of humiliation or fear.
Please, give children a chance to
discuss these issues by talking to them
honestly and by supporting the local
programs they need.
Visit http://stopbullying.gov to search
for tips on how to talk to your child. As
President Obama said, parents have “a
responsibility to teach all children the
Golden Rule: We should treat others the
way we want to be treated.”
Lynette Jelinek
Program Director
Kids on the Block, Impact NW
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