For the Roses
by Rev. Peter E. Bauer
This past week, the city of Portland, Oregon celebrated the 110th Rose Festival complete with the Grand Floral parade. I always enjoyed the Rose Festival, when I was growing up in Portland. The weather would normally be sunny. The roses would be in exquisite bloom in Washington Park and in other parks and gardens in Portland. The Navy would dock several ships along the seawall of the Willamette River. There would also be the carnival at Waterfront Park. Rose Festival was always a happy time for the citizens of Portland.
Recently, Portland has weathered some challenging times. After the election of 45 there were several demonstrations in downtown Portland which resulted in some vandalism to cars and storefront windows. Although the protests to the new administration were understandable, it was sad to see violence erupt on the city streets of your birthplace.
Even more egregious and tragic were the recent stabbing deaths of the two men on the Portland Max train at the Hollywood District station. These two heroes (a retired Army veteran and city of Portland employee, and a recent Reed College graduate in economics) came to the aid of two women, who were dressed in traditional Muslim attire and who were being harassed by a white supremacist.
Once again, this was very sad to witness this in a city that I have considered to be home, a place of safety and belonging.
During my lifetime, the economic and social landscape of Portland has changed. In 1960, the population of the city was about 372,676.
The current population is estimated at 2,389,228. Source: http://www.oregonmetro.gov/news/portland-region-nears-24-million-residents-growing-41000-last-year
Over the past fifty years the economic base has developed from timber and tourism to technology, health, human and government services. Around 1970, The James G. Blaine Society marketed a media campaign encouraging visitors to “come visit but don’t stay.” Needless, to say this didn’t work and throughout the decades there was more growth for Portland with people moving from California, the Midwest, from Far East Asia.
Portland has further evolved into a liberal mecca oasis and with that there has been a great increase in homelessness. The biggest concern I have, however, has been with the price of housing. “The median home value in Portland is $415,900. Portland home values have gone up 9.2% over the past year and Zillow predicts they will rise 2.9% within the next year.” Source: https://www.zillow.com/portland-or/home-values/
This is dire situation as it really prices out many people from buying houses, severely limits the amount of affordable housing being available. More and more people will look to buying property in Vancouver, WA; Camas, OR; Battle Ground, WA; maybe even up to Kelso, WA and Longview, WA, thereby increasing more urban sprawl and nightmare traffic going into Portland.
There are no easy answers here. Should there be a repeat of the Great Recession of 2008 regarding the real estate market, it could present with devastating consequences for those who want to maintain housing in Portland and the surrounding area.
I will make my annual visit to the City of Roses in August. I will still appreciate the beautiful view of Mt. Hood towering over the city and seeing Washington Park with the roses in bloom and feel the waves and the breeze at Cannon Beach.
I just pray that Mayor Ted Wheeler and other city planners and community leaders can really focus and address these significant issues in order to keep Portland a live able, viable and enjoyable place for all.
May it be so.
