August 25. 2004
JJnrtlanò (Observer
New Allstate
Agency Opens
Vernon Norris
A fric a n -
American busi- |
nessm an and
church leader)
Vernon Norris
has opened an |
Allstate Insur
ance agency at
2435
N.
Lom bard St
ju s t fo u r b lo c k s ea st o f the
W algreens drug store.
“My staff and I are excited about
opening for business,” N orris
says. “This will be a full service
insurance agency, offering a com
plete line o f insurance products
and services.”
Norris comes to Allstate with
several years o f insurance agency
ownership and business experi
ence. A resident o f north and north
east Portland for the past 40 plus
years, he has the advantage of
knowing the area and makes it a
point to get to know his clients so
that they get the coverage they
need.
Norris is an assistant pastor and
director of a teen outreach ministry
that focuses on giving youth posi
tive guidance and direction as they
seek to find themselves.
His agency will sell auto, prop
erty, commercial and life insurance
Free School
Supplies for
Local Kids
With a new school year under
way, local companies and commu
nity groups are pooling efforts to
keep kids in pencils and crayons.
The Back to the Future School
Supplies Give-a-W ay is from I to
5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 29 at the Chev
ron Gas Station parking lot at 3435
N.E. Martin Luther King Blvd.
Free school supplies are avail
able to kids from grades one
through eight, w hile supplies
last. F or more inform ation, call
event organizer D aniel Binns at
503-890-0070.
Page A3
\ IIX E D blessings
:
Earl’s Barbershop
proprietor Earl
Clark operates one
the few long-time
community-owned
businesses on
Northeast Alberta
Street.
/a
photo bv M ark W ashington /
T he P ortland O bserver
..j
continued
from Front
that picture.”
Comparing this phenomenon on
Alberta to that on Boise-Elliot is
not a stretch.
Between hipster coffee shops
and upscale boutiques, only a few
o f Alberta’s long-time community
ow ned and operated businesses
remain. Earl ’ s Barbershop on North
east 17lh and Alberta is one o f them.
Earl Clark, the barbershop’s pro
prietor, has been lucky. H e's been
in business on Alberta Street for 10
years, long enough to see most of
the other businesses that were
around when he set up shop go out
o f business altogether.
The exit o f old businesses is
often blamed on the skyrocketing
rental prices. The good side, ac
cording to Clark, is that the new
developm ent has d riven aw ay
gangs and brought more business
¿2333
and neighborhood activities to the owned businesses off Alberta, but A c c o rd in g to s ta tis tic s on
area.
also residents, many of whom have www.movingtoportland.net, hous
"They enjoy it," Clark says of moved due to rising rents, while ing costs in north and northeast
area residents. “T here’s stuff go more middle class people move in Portland have risen 18 percent from
ing on.”
to enjoy the rising commerce.
200 1 to 2003 alone - faster than any
However, the disproportionate
One area resident, Nicole Hess, other part of the city. The rising
number of white business owners was happy with the new develop- costs o f housing force renters out
I go to the video store, the coffee shop, the
bar, the breakfast place, and / see no black
people working in these establishments.
There’s something wrong with that picture.
- Charles Santos, an organizer with Reclaiming Our Origins Through Struggle {ROOTS)
flooding the area disappoints Clark,
who complains that there’s “not
enough black businesses around
here.”
The rising value of the neighbor-
hood is not only pushing locally-
ments at first, but now she isn’t so of the area, and renters make up a
sure.
large percentage o f households in
“Ithinkitispushingallthepeople these inner-city neighborhoods.
who used to live here out," Hess
In the Boise neighborhood, for
said.
example, 59 percent o f households
The numbers agree with her. are renters according to the 2000
census. And because in Portland,
as in the rest o f the United States,
minority home ownership still lags
behind, it is primarily ethnic minori
ties that are being pushed out, and
disproportionately whites benefit.
But the development o f Alberta
is just a small part o f a much larger
picture.
Since the 1948 H ooding o f
V anport, a small community o f ship
yard workers near what is now North
Portland, displaced about 5, (XX)
African-American working poor,
the city of Portland has repeatedly
red-lined and segregated poorcom-
munities and communities o f color.
Until the 1990s, many people
were segregated in certain areas
based on race or class alone, creat
ing ghettoized sections o f town.
Meanwhile, projects such as 1-5,
th e M e m o rial C o lise u m and
Emanuel Hospital displaced cen
ters of African-American commerce
within areas of town, taking power
away from this community and
pushing it farther towards the out
skirts o f town.
Clearly, Alberta Street develop
ment has not occurred in a vacuum.
Although the changes on Alberta
h av e been d u b b e d " g e n tle
gentrification” for its positive at
tributes, there are less gentle pat
terns that threaten to repeat them
selves.
NEW
Gourmet- Grillinä
MADE EASY
»
It may be the end of summer, but it’s not the end of the barbecue season. In
fact, the barbecue season at New Seasons Market lasts all year. That’s
because ou! meat departments are always loaded with prepared items that can
turn an every day barbecue into something extraordinary. Our meat cases are
filled with a large assortment of ready-to-grill meats, perfect for your
outdoor summer barbecue, or even your winter electric grill meals.
Rib aficionados will appreciate our Hawaiian style beef ribs. Beef lovers
w on’t want to pass up our stuffed skirt steak. If you’re into kabobs you can
choose from garlic balsamic lamb, Thai peanut chicken, spicy Thai pork,
rosemary garlic beef, lemon herb turkey, and more. And don't forget about
our hand crafted sausages. W e make them right here in our meat departments.
Choose from a variety of turkey, pork, lamb, and chicken varieties. Try them
on our own Hefe Buns made with Hefeweizen beef < they’re available in our
bakery.
You Shouldn't have to spend all day preparing for a barbecue. New Seasons
Market is here to help. Stop in this weekend as w e’ll be grilling up a
variety of marinated and read-to-grill meats. Find out which ones you, and
your family, can’t live without!
The, friendliest sfare, in fatati.
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