Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Asian reporter. (Portland, Or.) 1991-current | View Entire Issue (June 19, 2017)
OPINION Page 6 n THE ASIAN REPORTER June 19, 2017 Volume 27 Number 12 June 19, 2017 ISSN: 1094-9453 The Asian Reporter is published on the first and third Monday each month. Please send all correspondence to: The Asian Reporter 922 N Killingsworth Street, Suite 2D, Portland, OR 97217 Phone: (503) 283-4440, Fax: (503) 283-4445 News Department e-mail: news@asianreporter.com Advertising Department e-mail: ads@asianreporter.com General e-mail: info@asianreporter.com Website: www.asianreporter.com Please send reader feedback, Asian-related press releases, and community interest ideas/stories to the addresses listed above. Please include a contact phone number. Advertising information available upon request. Publisher Jaime Lim Contributing Editors Ronault L.S. Catalani (Polo), Jeff Wenger Correspondents Ian Blazina, Josephine Bridges, Pamela Ellgen, Maileen Hamto, Edward J. Han, A.P. Kryza, Marie Lo, Simeon Mamaril, Julie Stegeman, Toni Tabora-Roberts, Allison Voigts Illustrator Jonathan Hill News Service Associated Press/Newsfinder Copyright 2017. Opinions expressed in this newspaper are those of the authors and not necessarily those of this publication. Member Associated Press/Newsfinder Asian American Journalists Association Better Business Bureau Pacific Northwest Minority Publishers (PNMP) Philippine American Chamber of Commerce of Oregon Correspondence: The Asian Reporter welcomes reader response and participation. Please send all correspondence to: Mail: 922 N Killingsworth Street, Suite 2D, Portland, OR 97217-2220 Phone: (503) 283-4440 ** Fax: (503) 283-4445 News Department e-mail: news@asianreporter.com General e-mail: info@asianreporter.com SUBSCRIPTION RATES (U.S. rates only) Individual subscription (sent bulk rate): q Half year: $14 q Full year: $24 q Two years: $40 Individual subscription (sent first class mail): q Half year: $24 q Full year: $40 q Two years: $72 Office subscription (5 copies to one address): q Half year: $40 q Full year: $75 q Two years: $145 Institutional subscription (25 copies to one address): q Half year: $100 q Full year: $180 q Two years: $280 NEW SUBSCRIBER / ADDRESS CORRECTION INFORMATION FORM: Subscriber’s name: Company name: Address: City, State, ZIP: Phone: Fax: E-mail: Mail with payment or Fax with credit card information to: The Asian Reporter, Attn: Subscription Dept., 922 N Killingsworth Street, Suite 2D, Portland, OR 97217-2220 Phone: (503) 283-4440 * Fax: (503) 283-4445 q q q For VISA, Mastercard, or American Express payment only: Name (as it appears on the card): Type of card (circle): VISA Mastercard Card number: American Express Security code: Expiration date: Address of card: The last four issues of The Asian Reporter are available for pick up free at our office 24 hours a day at 922 N Killingsworth Street, Suite 2D, Portland, Oregon. Back issues of The Asian Reporter may be ordered by mail at the following rates: First copy: $1.50 Additional copies ordered at the same time: $1.00 each Send orders to: Asian Reporter Back Issues, 922 N. Killingsworth St., Portland, OR 97217-2220 The Asian Reporter welcomes reader response and participation. If you have a comment on a story we have printed, or have an Asian-related personal or community focus idea, please contact us. Please include a contact name, address, and phone number on all correspondence. Thank you. MY TURN n Dmae Roberts Changing neighborhoods, changing city knew something was up when Richard, my husband, spotted two people taking photos of my next-door neighbor’s house. “I think they’re realtors,” he said. The next day, a “For Sale” sign went up in the front yard. Over the past few years, we’ve become accustomed to realtors canvassing our southeast Portland neighborhood trying to locate people open to selling their home. We receive several fake personalized letters and postcards in cursive print each week from “independent” citizens who claim to have “passed by” and fell in love with our house. I bought my home in 1991 when I was single. It cost $45,000. It was a struggle to get the down payment together, but I did it. Even though a 30-year mortgage freaked me out, I was tired of spending money on rent, so I found the perfect small home I could afford. At least this way, I reasoned, I’d have something called “equity.” Richard and I didn’t marry until the latter part of the ’90s. He too was a homeowner when we merged our lives and incomes. Years later we paid off our mortgages. Before marrying Richard, I didn’t get along with my next-door neighbors. I was a single woman living next to a traditional Greek family. Our cultures and my single status didn’t mix. But that changed after I got married. We became amicable and respectful to each other, reaching a détente of sorts over past misunderstandings. Even though we may have had difficulties, I loved having a diverse neighborhood. When I spoke with my neighbor, she confirmed what I’ve heard from many people. Now that they’re older and their kids have families of their own, they want to downsize and simplify their lives by moving into a smaller place closer to their children. I hugged her and told her I understood. Yet I still felt some grief, not just about losing my neighbors, but also about how my neighborhood — and my city I — has changed during the last 10 years. So much so I don’t recognize much of Portland’s cityscape nowadays. Portland had a few tall buildings when I moved here. Now when I drive over the Marquam Bridge, I see dozens of high-rise buildings and more of them are being built throughout the downtown and south waterfront areas. Neighborhoods, including mine, are becoming lined with three-story row houses. It feels like just about every block in Portland is undergoing some type of construction. Anytime someone sells a home or a precious vacant lot, row houses go up, or four- to five-story condominiums, without parking. In an effort to encourage residents to use public transportation, neighborhoods like mine have turned into bumper-to-bumper cars because now there are few driveways or garages for them. I have little doubt when my Greek neighbor’s house sells, it will be bought by one of the more affluent white people moving into neighborhoods, who frequently displace people of color. One only has to walk to north Portland — in particular the Mississippi and Alberta areas — to see the dramatic impact gentrification has had on the once vibrant African-American community. When people of color have moved out of my neighborhood, usually a wealthier white resident has replaced them. It took years for me and my neighbors to navigate our proximity to become good and respectful neighbors. I watched their children grow up and saw them visit with their own children. I can’t help but feel I’m losing a family member, perhaps not a close one emotionally, but certainly close in location. I hope we get along well with our new neighbors. But lately, Richard and I too have been thinking about leaving, not just this neighborhood, but Portland itself, as it becomes more crowded, less diverse, and increasingly unrecognizable each day. Opinions expressed in this newspaper are those of the authors and not necessarily those of this publication.
