Diversity in city of Portland: Newspaper article published 5/1/11

[TheBletch-PortlandOR]

Originally Posted by puerco

It sounds like the city of Portland needs to step in where the state doesn't. Portland needs some rent control laws to protect long-time residents against the encroachment of gentrification. Here in SF the city council decides each year how much a tenant's rent can be raised. Usually it's in the 1-1.5% range. They haven't raised it now for 2 years because of the economy. I think that at least renters could remain in the neighborhoods they've called home for decades. Once a renter leaves we're able to raise the rent to market value.
That's really disturbing to learn about NE Portland. When I was growing up there in the 60s Albina was already going into decline. Now I understand why. But it was still a vital African American neighborhood. Portlanders don't know what they've lost. I was too young to know about the great clubs but there were lots of restaurants, grocery stores, drugstores, furniture stores, CANDY stores, etc... I'm glad I was able to visit Bop City Records on Williams Ave. and buy some of the soul music I couldn't find at M&F's. The thought of young white couples strolling Alberta blows me away!
All cities change as the years pass. I hope it's not too late to save what's left of Portland's historic N/NE African American neighborhoods.

It is too late. Majority of people here are "with the program".

[Minervah]

Originally Posted by puerco

It sounds like the city of Portland needs to step in where the state doesn't. Portland needs some rent control laws to protect long-time residents against the encroachment of gentrification. Here in SF the city council decides each year how much a tenant's rent can be raised. Usually it's in the 1-1.5% range. They haven't raised it now for 2 years because of the economy. I think that at least renters could remain in the neighborhoods they've called home for decades. Once a renter leaves we're able to raise the rent to market value.
That's really disturbing to learn about NE Portland. When I was growing up there in the 60s Albina was already going into decline. Now I understand why. But it was still a vital African American neighborhood. Portlanders don't know what they've lost. I was too young to know about the great clubs but there were lots of restaurants, grocery stores, drugstores, furniture stores, CANDY stores, etc... I'm glad I was able to visit Bop City Records on Williams Ave. and buy some of the soul music I couldn't find at M&F's. The thought of young white couples strolling Alberta blows me away!
All cities change as the years pass. I hope it's not too late to save what's left of Portland's historic N/NE African American neighborhoods.

I saw renters of 20 years have to move when the Hawthorne neighborhood became gentrified. They were mostly elderly. Not only residental tenants were forced to move but many business owners as well.

All neighborhoods have changed. Most landlords want those who can pay the maximum amount they can charge. So you are bound to get one type of people living in a neighborhood who can pay the price while others are forced to leave. They City of Porland doesn't give a hoot about changing this.

[Nell Plotts]

Rent control isn't going to happen for a number of reasons.

Gentrification has been happening for at least 20 years in NW Portland (where I grew up and raised a family). It is an economic, not a racial, process. One of the reasons why home ownership is particularly valued in Portland is that home owners aren't subject to the vagaries of the rental market.

[imphouse]

It's the free market at work. Just like with anything, there are pros and cons to all of this. Taking old houses and neighborhoods and refreshing them is a good thing for the city, which is why they allow it to take place. Unfortunately, that comes with higher rents, pushing some people out, which is definitely sad. I'm in the process of buying a home in the Mississippi Ave. neighborhood, and one of the reasons I chose that area is because it's still more diverse than NW, SW, or even Hawthorne. I hope we can help keep it that way, while still allowing growth and change to take place.

I came here from the Los Angeles area (but I was born and raised in Texas, so please don't call me a Southern Californian! - I was only there for 7 years), and, while I enjoyed the government controlled rental rates (they couldn't raise the rent each year more than 1% or something) as a tenant, I definitely could see how it was stagnating many of the neighborhoods. It's not ideal to "force" people out, but money does (sometimes very unfortunately) make the world go round, and I think some of the California laws like rent control are contributing to keeping that state in disarray.

[carolinajack]

Originally Posted by TheBletch-PortlandOR

You are absolutely correct.

portland isnt less diverse than Vermont-yet people are very open and friendly there. in Portland, there are many asians, hispanics and africans and black americas and native americans. there are virtually none in VT

portland is hardly ultra white