Black History
FROM THE
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v
L OST N EIGHBORHOODS
Williams
continued from page 13
The First AME Episcopal Zion Church. It was torn down during the Urban
Renewal programs of the 1960s-70s.
signed by the hospital, the
PDC and the Housing
Authority of Portland man-
dated they would use
“maximum energy and
enthusiasm” in replacing
the lost housing within the
Eliot neighborhood – none
of which happened, accord-
ing to “History.”
Mrs. Warren is quoted in
the history document from
an interview with the Po
rtland Observer:
“Didn’t they have a long-
range plan? After all, if your
life’s
investment
was
smashed to splinters by a
bulldozer to make room for
a hospital, you could at least
feel decent and perhaps tol-
erable about it; but to have it
all done for nothing? Well,
what is there to feel?”
Urban Planning Now
Albina resident Lisa Man-
ning was also quoted in
“Bleeding Albina.”
“It used to be that living
‘far out’ was 15th and Fre-
mont. Now it’s 185th and
Fremont. A lot of people
leave the neighborhood
because they feel they’re
leaving something that’s not
theirs anymore anyway. It
will never be that way
again. There’s a lot of sad-
ness. For a lot of us, it’s just
too hard to stay and watch
North Williams and Russell in 1988
your history erased progres-
sively over time. There are
just too many ghosts,” Man-
ning said.
Gibson says anyone
weighing in on the current
citizens’ advisory process
for North Williams Avenue
transportation safety should
take a moment and look at
past plans. She singled out
the 1993 Albina Communi-
ty Plan drafted under the
leadership of then-Portland
Planning Bureau Commis-
sioner-in-charge Charlie
Hales, who is now running
for mayor.
“African Americans were
heavily involved in the
Albina plan,” she said. “The
Planning Bureau should
probably provide us with an
update.
“There have been other
plans, but for me the key for
any of the plans is how well
are they carried out? We
should evaluate how well
some of those plans play out
in the end.”
For more about your neighborhood
go online to TheSkanner.com
February 22, 2012 The Portland and Seattle Skanner v BLACK HISTORY EDITION v Page 15