6
street roots
April 1, 2013
Green acres,
East Portland
East Portland is the place to be, hard living
is the life for me
Strip malls and dirt roads far and wide
Discount cigarettes, sex shops, liquor
and wine
Keep downtown Portland, give me that
good ole’ corner dive
The Pearl is where I’d rather stay
I get allergic smelling blue-collar workers
anyway
I just adore my downtown view
Dah-ling I love you, but give me Park
Avenue
“The poor.”
“The high end stores.”
“Dirty air.”
“Pioneer Square.”
You are my life, poor now
Goodbye downtown Portland life
East Portland, this is where we long to be
Above, E ast Portland, lagely a souless collection o f highways and signs, is on the chopping block to cut costs in the city budget.
Local officials look to give back East Portland
Fiscal cliff? Try
homelessness.
Downtown is blighted. Have you seen the
latest Urban Renewal Districts?”
ortland policy-makers are working on
“To be honest, I think walking to school
a new plan to give East Portland back
on dirt roads builds character,” says one
to whomever it belonged to before
political strategist. “Our grandparents did it.
being annexed into the City of Portland I just don’t see the need for sidewalks. Bike
some 20 years ago.
lanes? Forget about it. These are hard times
Insiders say that with more than 26
and hard times call for desperate measures.
percent of the population taking up 10
Do you know how desperate those people
percent of the city’s budget, “it’s just too
actually are out there? It’s hurting tourism
much to ask. It’s been a nightmare,”
for all of us.”
according to one source, who declined to
With the city facing a $25 million deficit,
look us in the eye.
it’s smart fiscal policy, says one staffer
“Let’s face it,” says a lobbyist for
inside City Hall who declined to speak on
downtown businesses. “East Portland is
the record.
costing us too much. We honestly don’t care
Mayor Charlie Hales says that if people
how diverse the district is, or if their
are concerned about the proposal, they can
schools are performing above average.
STAFF RETORTS
P
www.sovethetlarkcenter.or
Answers to puzzles on page 15
call one of his four staff members and that
they would might eventually reach someone.
Metro officials said little on the matter
other than, “We don’t want East Portland.”
Multnomah County officials say that while
there’s a lot of opportunity in East Portland,
the sustainability of the area might not fit
into their sustainable plans.
State officials say they are too busy
working on the “Bridge to Nowhere” project
(See page 5) to help East Portland.
Residents west of 82nd Avenue contacted
for this story didn’t know Portland actually
extended past 60th Avenue. “I mean, we
drive through there I guess on our way to
Mount Hood. We sometimes buy gas there.”
CORRECTIONS
Street Roots strives for accuracy, but we're
human. So we also strive to correct errors in our
oaper whenever possible. Please report any errors
:o our managing editor, Joanne Zuhl, at 503-228-
5657, or write to joanne@streetroots.org.
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