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Wednesday • April 9, 2014
* n community
n n m iin iiv service
s e r v ir e
Fighting
Skeptics say
housing
investment
will not cure
gentrification
by D onovan
M . S mith
T he P ortland O bserver
A p lan to increase public m onies
for the construction o f m ore affo rd
able housing units in the gentrified
neighborhoods o f north and no rth
east P ortland is draw ing a m ixed
review .
“It d o e sn ’t undo w hat w as p ro m
ised w hen the Interstate C orrid o r
U rban R enew al A rea w as estab
lished [in the y e ar 2 ,000],” says
M axine F itzpatrick, directo r o f the
Portland C om m unity R einvestm ent
Initiative (P C R I)and co-chair o f the
P ortland A frican A m erican L ead er
ship F orum (PA A L F).
Fitzpatrick, says M ay o r C harlie
H a les’ recent proposal o f adding
$20 m illion to affordable housing
stock in the heavily gentrified neigh
b orhoods in north and northeast
Portland, w ould h elp black fam ilies
and o th er disadvantaged p opu la
tions both stay and return to the
area, but says the eventual co n
s tru c tio n o f n e w h o u sin g u n its
w ould not by any m eans act as a
cure to gentrification.
H a les’ proposal cam e last m onth
after he converged w ith “50 leaders
o f the A frican-A m erican co m m u
nity and neighborhood and b u si
ness representatives” , to try to res-
cue a planned d evelopm ent o f a
T rad er J o e ’s grocery on northeast
M artin L u th er K ing Jr. B oulevard
and A lberta S treet that w ould get
support from the Portland D evelop
m ent C om m ission.
H ales called for the additional
housing support after P A A L F m ade
local and national headlines for their
protests o f the T rad e r J o e ’s p ro
posal in w hich they suggested the
site should include construction o f
affordable housing in som e cap ac
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photo by D onovan
M .S mith /T he P ortland O bserver
Portland Community Reinvestment Director Maxine Fitzpatrick works to increase affordable housing choices in the inner city. She
visits a property at 4064 N.E. Grand Ave. where she’s trying to get the green light from the Portland Development Commission to
redevelop the site into a multiple housing unit for seniors. She is hopeful Mayor Charlie Hales’ recent proposal of $20 million in
additional monies for building more affordable housing units in north and northeast Portland will help fight displacement, but says it
by no means is a cure to gentrification.
ity.
T he specialty g ro cer w as alm ost
certain ly going to build on the lot
w hen the PD C deal was announced
in N o v em b er, bu t by Jan u ary a
T ra d e r J o e ’s s p o k e s p e rs o n a n
nounced they w ere pulling ou t o f
the deal citing the com m unity ’ s p ro
test.
T h e city had alread y assured
$34.4 m illion to subsidize housing
construction through 2021 that is
reserved for low and m oderate in
co m e people and fam ilies.
A c c o r d in g to th e r e p o r t
P o rtlan d ’s A frican A m erican C o m
m unity in M ultnom ah C ounty: A n
U nsettling Profile, by the C oalition
o f C om m unities o f C olor and School
o f Social W ork at Portland State
U niversity, black people m ake up 18
percent o f the local hom eless p opu
lation, com pared to ju s t 7 p ercent o f
the g en eral p o p u la tio n . A frican
A m ericans are also overrepresented
in em ergency shelters and transi-
continued
on page 18