Œl’e^ o rtla n ô COb semer
February 8. 2006
Page A 7
BLACK HISTORY MONTH and theAmerican Experience
Redlining to
Gentrification
continued
from Front
nian ran a series of stories, titled
“Blueprint for a Slum,” uncovering
redlining practices in north Port­
land. One article suggested a con­
nection between certain real estate
practices and the economic decline
of the area.
By the following year the Port­
land Housing Center, joined with
the City of Portland, was formed to
o ffer services to low -incom e
homebuyers.
W hile redlining practices were
dism antled only a few years ago,
years o f disinvestm ent in north
and northeast Portland neighbor­
hoods led to a disproportionately
low black hom e-ow nership rate.
Removing the barriers of com­
munity investment signaled the be­
ginning of gentrification, the prac­
tice where one population moves
into an area and pushes out exist­
ing residents.
Gentrification began across the
United States in the 1970s and
1980s, but really gained m om en­
tum in Portland around 10 years
ago.
N eglected inner-city neigh­
borhoods were filled with rela­
tively inexpensive homes, and
storefronts along M ississippi and
Alberta were quickly filled with
shops and restaurants to accom ­
modate the new faces.
1990 Census data shows that the
population o f north Portland’s
Boise neighborhood located in the
Albina area was 68 percent black
and 26 percent white. In 2000, 41
percent of the residents were black
and 34 percent were white. The
displacement of long-term residents
created a new set of problems as
low-income residents are being
pushed into outer communities like
B e av erto n ,
G resham
and
Clackamas.
Gentrification is still in the early
stages o f transform ing Portland
neighborhoods. As a social trend
photo hy I saiah
B ohif / T he P ortland O bserver
A sign on a street pole at North Albina Avenue and Sumner Street is a history lesson in the racist past when people o f color were excluded
from buying homes in many Portland neighborhoods. Although outlawed in 194 7, some people think redlining continues today.
i t ’s e a sy to d e fin e by th e
dictionary’s standards, but hard
to label when lives are affected,
There are a number o f local orga-
nizations that play key roles in tack-
ling race, housing and neighbor-
hood issues, including the Bureau
of Housing and Community Devel-
opment. Office of Neighborhood
Forced Out by
Urban Renewal
Emanuel has
While Emanuel Hospital's capacity was
expanded by a 1970s urban renewal project,
clearing land for the hospital displaced many
African Americans. In that decade, the black
population in nearby neighborhoods fell from
5,000 to 3.400. Successive postwar con­
struction projects — Memorial Coliseum in
the 1950s, 1-5 in the 1960s and Emanuel
Hospital in the 1970s—pushed the heart o f
the city's African American community
steadily northward.
Involvement, Community Alliance
of Tenants and Community Devel-
opment Network.
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