Trader Joes in NE = protest, New Seasons in St Johns = crickets (Portland: 2014, rent)

[freemkt]

What's up with that? If it is wrong to gentrify a black neighborhood, why is it okay to gentrify an economically comparable white neigborhood?

[urbanlife78]

Cause white people love New Seasons. Actually that is cool that St Johns is getting a New Seasons, I have some friends that own up their that will be happy about that.

My issues with the Trader Joes on MLK had less to do with the store and more to do with the suburban style development in an area that should have an urban development on it.

I honestly don't think anyone can consider MLK north of Alberta a black neighborhood anymore seeing they only make up at most 30% of that area.

[bler144]

It's a fair question - there has been a community divide on gentrification in SJ for years. Possible the media views it as old hat, or it's possible the nature of this particular development is just less outside the normal discontent. As urban says, part of the reaction to TJs wasn't so much about the store per se as the details of the deal on the table.

I'm a bit suspicious this development is a good move for NS. There's an existing store in Arbor Lodge that's maybe 12-15 minutes away off-peak, and you're river-locked to the north/south, and Forest Park to the west, while wealthy, isn't exactly high density.

Relatively speaking the TJs at least made more sense as a spot for expansion.

[Nell Plotts]

There is no reason why non-whites shouldn't like New Seasons. Everyone deserves the opportunity to purchase high quality fruits and vegetables in their neighborhood. If new Seasons can't make a profit at that site then they will either adjust their offerings or move on. Personally I hope they are well patronized by everyone.

[Deezus]

Originally Posted by freemkt

What's up with that? If it is wrong to gentrify a black neighborhood, why is it okay to gentrify an economically comparable white neigborhood?

Actually St. Johns is as "white" as the King neighborhood these days. St. Johns is about 57% non-Hispanic white and about 21% Hispanic(and about 10 percent black) while the King neighborhoods is about about 56% non-Hispanic white--and over 25% black. It's just anything that happens in the historically black areas of N/NE Portland is a touchier subject due to well, the history of the area.

https://www.portlandoregon.gov/oni/article/376027

https://www.portlandoregon.gov/oni/article/375918

There's also the fact though that there was a push in St. Johns to actually get a Trader Joes and TJs passed them up(my friend who is in management there said that it was due to the neighborhood's location and not being ready). There's a lot of residents that have wanted an alternative to the Safeways or Fred Meyers up there. New Seasons is basically overexpanding though as a way to corner the market--they're looking to box out Whole Foods of neighborhoods before they gentrify basically.

[bler144]

Originally Posted by Nell Plotts

There is no reason why non-whites shouldn't like New Seasons. Everyone deserves the opportunity to purchase high quality fruits and vegetables in their neighborhood. If new Seasons can't make a profit at that site then they will either adjust their offerings or move on. Personally I hope they are well patronized by everyone.

I wasn't making a racial comment on who would/wouldn't patronize NS, only noting that they're binding themselves into a corner of the city with a fairly small population in their income demographic. Anyone east of Univ. Park is likely to be closer to the existing store, and Portsmouth is still the poorest district up there.

So for the sake of argument, the districts the new store would serve would be UPark/SJ/FPark, roughly 18,000 pop. total, and a significant portion of SJ is still quite poor. Deezus is probably right that it's a pre-emptive move against Whole Foods, but still, it seems a gamble with pretty slim margins for success if the area doesn't grow and gentrify both.

I haven't seen the plans, but I'd wager that like the Raleigh Hills store they're planning for this one to have a slight smaller footprint, but the RH store pulls from Bridlemile/West Slope/etc. Also small districts but with much higher incomes in the present.

TJs would have made more sense since it could have pulled from all of NoPo (plus Forest Park), since the nearest existing stores are downtown or Hollywood.

[pdxMIKEpdx]

Originally Posted by urbanlife78

Cause white people love New Seasons. Actually that is cool that St Johns is getting a New Seasons, I have some friends that own up their that will be happy about that.

My issues with the Trader Joes on MLK had less to do with the store and more to do with the suburban style development in an area that should have an urban development on it.

I honestly don't think anyone can consider MLK north of Alberta a black neighborhood anymore seeing they only make up at most 30% of that area.

It was all over the news that most of the black people in that neighborhood said that the group that was opposed to Trader Joe's (PAALF) did not speak for them at all, and they would have loved to see a Trader Joe's go in.

IMHO, PAALF really screwed up what could have been a good thing for the neighborhood.


http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/i...to_pull_o.html

[almostjay]

Speaking as a guy still getting used to the whole socio-economic climate here, is Trader Joe's really considered an upscale sign of gentrification in the same breath as New Seasons?

In my experience, Trader Joe's is a store aimed squarely at the middle class - cheap to reasonably priced packaged goods and prepared foods to go along with cheap but not so great quality produce. New Seasons is on an entirely different level with respect to price and, more debatably, quality. That place is just downright expensive by any standard, and I know a lot of people here prefer to spend their money on good quality food than other things, but the disconnect between that store's popularity and the general sense that rent here is too expensive has been hard for me to wrap my head around.

[urbanlife78]

Originally Posted by pdxMIKEpdx

It was all over the news that most of the black people in that neighborhood said that the group that was opposed to Trader Joe's (PAALF) did not speak for them at all, and they would have loved to see a Trader Joe's go in.

IMHO, PAALF really screwed up what could have been a good thing for the neighborhood.


Trader Joe's decision to pull out of NE Portland leaves neighbors, opposition dissatisfied | OregonLive.com

I agree, Trader Joes would have actually been a good thing for that neighborhood. I was just opposed to the building that the developer wanted to build. It seemed like a huge waste of space for a location that could have an opportunity for something bigger, especially if we one day run a streetcar up MLK.

Unfortunately it looks like there hasn't been any chance of the design with New Seasons, so I am hoping this misguided group, PAALF, also tries to shoot down New Seasons being built on this location for the same reason.

[karlsch]

Non-whites know that when a SWPL grocery store – Whole Foods, Trader Joes, or any of the others - with a Mission Statement rather than a simple motto like “Always Low Prices, Always” moves into their neighborhood, progressive white people with their expensive bicycles, “Free Tibet” bumper stickers, craft beers, pure-bred dogs, fondness for soccer, and other SWPL stuff will soon follow – which means that rents will go up and the non-whites will be forced to move.