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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 21, 2022)
Page 4 December 21, 2022 New Lawsuit Claims Redesigning Our Streets for Safety Racist Destruction and Displacement Continued from Front dents and are suing Portland, the city’s economic and ur- ban development agency and Legacy Emanuel Hospital, accusing them of the “racist” destruction of the homes and forced displacement. The lawsuit, filed Thursday in federal court in Portland, shines a light on how urban improvement projects and con- struction of the nation’s high- ways often came at the cost of neighborhoods that aren’t pre- dominantly white. “In many cases, city and state planners purposely built through Black neighborhoods to clear so-called slums and blighted areas,” according to a 2020 report by Pew Charitable Trusts, a Pennsylvania-based nonprofit public policy group. People who were part of ra- cial minorities were often obli- gated to live in those neighbor- hoods because of “redlining” — banks discriminating against home loan applicants based on race — and even due to laws that maintained all- white neighborhoods. In 1934, Fouther’s great- aunt and her husband bought a house, which he and his sister visited almost daily, in the Al- bina neighborhood of Portland, according to the lawsuit. But even after buying homes and building lives in Albina, residents were forced to move by so-called urban renewal and highway building. Albina had already been par- tially destroyed and carved up in the 1950s and ’60s by the build- ing of Interstate 5 and Veterans Memorial Coliseum, the origi- nal home of the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers. But then a hospital expansion was announced. Between 1971 and 1973, the Portland Development Com- mission demolished an estimat- ed 188 properties, 158 of which were residential and inhabited by 88 families and 83 individ- uals. A total of 32 business and four church or community orga- nizations were also destroyed, according to the lawsuit. Of the forcibly displaced households, 74% were Black. A first phase, in the 1950s and ’60s, involved city officials secretly agreeing to compensate the hospital for the full cost of the purchases and demolitions, the lawsuit said. The homeown- ers were intimidated by hospital representatives and told that if they didn’t leave, the city would take their homes. They were not fairly compensated and in some cases not compensated at all, according to the lawsuit. “This case is about the inten- tional destruction of a thriving Black neighborhood in Central Albina under the pretense of facilitating a hospital expan- sion that never happened,” the lawsuit says, adding that the loss of homes “has meant the deprivation of inheritance, intergenerational wealth, com- munity, and opportunity.” Much of the land that used to be a thriving neighborhood, where Black families felt safe and had social and spiritual connections, became parking lots or stood vacant. “I was taken out of my safe and loving community. I was moved into a neighborhood that saw me as a nuisance and to a school where I was one of three Black children,” said Connie Mack, one of the plaintiffs. The lawsuit said the defen- dants are benefiting from “un- just enrichment” from “this horribly racist chapter from Portland’s past.” Legacy Health, which owns Legacy Emanuel Medical Cen- ter, declined to comment on the lawsuit, saying it is evaluating it. Prosper Portland, former- ly the Portland Development Commission, also said it is evaluating the complaint and had no additional comment. City officials didn’t respond to a request for comment. Albina is now called the El- iot neighborhood, which boasts trendy shops, cafes and eateries. “Our neighborhood, in the heart of the former city of Albi- na, is a great place to live, work and play,” the Eliot Neighbor- hood Association proclaims on its website. Many of the plaintiffs’ homes, if they had not been de- stroyed, would have been worth more than $500,000 today, the lawsuit says. The plaintiffs are seeking compensatory damages from defendants in amounts to be de- termined at trial. Map shows extent of Killingworth’s redesign project. Photo Courtesy of Portland.gov Improvements coming to NE Killingsworth in the Cully Neighborhood Following extensive communi- ty outreach, the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) and Commissioner Jo Ann Hardes- ty are excited to announce that a variety of safety improvements are coming to NE Killingsworth St, from NE 53rd Avenue to Cul- ly Boulevard - including parking protected bike lanes. NE Killingsworth Street is an important connector for North- east Portland and runs through the heart of the Cully neighborhood. In 2019, Killingsworth Street was identified as a maintenance and safety project to be completed by Fixing Our Streets, the program funded by Portland's 10-cent gas tax. PBOT staff now start the work to design the project, with con- struction expected in 2024. In February, the advocacy or- ganization Andando en Bicicletas y Caminando (ABC) wrote a joint letter with the Community Cycling Center to Commissioner Hardesty and PBOT Director Chris Warner. The letter asked us to “slow down the Killingsworth paint and pave project and meaningfully en- gage with the community on how our street can be reconfigured to make it safer for all of us, especial- ly our most vulnerable community members.” The letter added, “Safe bicycling would improve our mo- bility options and give more of us a way to get around with less stress every day. We are particularly in- terested in how a protected bike lane would advance transportation equity in our community by mak- ing more people feel safe to ride a bike on Killingsworth; it is our opinion that protected bike lanes slow down fast-moving traffic and shorten pedestrian crossings.” In response to the letter and additional feedback, Commis- sioner Hardesty requested PBOT perform more community en- gagement that examined addi- tional design options. “I am proud that we took a step back to deepen our outreach – part of which was to include more res- idents who don’t speak English as a first language.” said Commis- sioner Hardesty. “Our final survey showed 75% of all area respon- dents were supportive of PBOT’s final design. I am excited to see the Cully community engaged around a vision for a greener, saf- er, multi-modal future that bene- fits everyone no matter how they share the road.” The project will now enter the design phase. During the design phase, PBOT engineers devel- op the detailed plans for the im- provements and enhancements coming to the street. These in- clude civil elements like con- crete pedestrian crossing islands and ADA standard curb ramps, electrical elements such as speed Advertise with diversity in The Portland Observer Call 503-288-0033 or email ads@portlandobserver.com reader boards and lighting en- hancements, and traffic elements that identify the specific place- ment of street markings along the corridor. As part of the design process, PBOT staff will engage with property owners and resi- dents along the corridor and of- fer opportunities for feedback on various aspects of the project’s design. Microsurfacing of NE Killingsworth is anticipated to begin in 2024. Once the resurfac- ing is complete the corridor will be freshly striped with the final- ized street design and additional safety elements and signage will be installed. This month PBOT is installing a new, high visibility crossing on NE Killingsworth, in the middle of the block between NE Cully Boulevard and Lombard Street. The crosswalk will include con- crete pedestrian islands and new lighting enhancements to in- crease safety for pedestrians in the neighborhood. Speed reader boards are also being installed in both directions on this block to emphasize the need to for people driving to slow down and yield to people crossing the street. This project coincides with the opening of Hacienda CDC’s new Las Adelitas 141-unit affordable housing development. Fixing Our Streets is also fund- ing a separate project to add street lighting to the north side of NE Killingsworth Street from 42nd Avenue to Lombard Street. This work will improve safety for all people who travel along the street. It is expected to be built by 2024.
