New resident - Unpaved roads

[neguy99]

I was around Portland at the time of the annexations east of the old city line on 82nd, which mostly happened in the 1980s.

Note that Gresham also did the same thing at the same time, expanding west from ~221st(? 238th?) to the current boundary on 162nd.

-- the annexations did not require or even allow a vote city-wide, it was up to the neighborhoods to be annexed.

-- however, if I recall correctly there was a 'triple-majority' rule under which annexation could happen if *any* of three conditions were met for a given area, one of which was a vote by majority of persons or maybe it was signing a formal petition, but also something like it would happen if property owners representing a majority of the total assessed value of the area signed a formal petition, or maybe also majority of owners by number.

-- the process was mostly driven by the City, rather than a grass-roots effort from teh affected neighborhoods -- certainly it wasn't forced upon on City Hall.

-- One reason the city wanted to expand east was to develop the river flood plain into industrial / commercial land. As late as 1985, Airport Way did not even exist and there was nothing between the airport and Blue Lake but dairy farms. Obviously, that changed!

-- a key driver was sewers. Most of the neighborhoods east of Rocky Butte / I-205 were built with septic tanks, not sewers. That was about 150,000 people pooping into their backyards, the largest urban area in the country that wasn't on a sewer system. By the 80s that just wasn't acceptable, not just in principle but they could measure nitrates and such creeping down towards the river. Mult Co. was clear that they wanted no part of that expense and pretty much told the area to figure out a way to join a municipality.

-- One alternative that failed was an effort to incorporate a new city -- "Columbia Ridge" was the proposed name, that would have run from I-205 to Gresham. Many people in the area had moved there to get 'out of the city' and so there was significant support, but the economics just didn't make any sense and Portland was promising lots of benfits to the area. There was an actual referendum on it, and it failed (not a landslide, but not _that_ close either).

-- Portland made a LOT of promises to East County about road improvements, parks, and other amenities. Other than the sewers, most never got carried out. There is a lot of bitterness among old-time East County residents about this. The Oregonian did a good series on the issue a year or two ago.

-- that said, the paving issue is city wide. I know there are several unpaved blocks in the Cully and Roseway neighborhoods, and likewise in SW Portland it happens and I don't think it was an annexation issue.

[Nell Plotts]

If the city promised paved streets then a hungry lawyer should start a class action suit. There should be a record of that somewhere. Don't whine, act!

[neguy99]

Promise as in "city leaders said so". You can't sue a politician who doesn't live up to his campaign promises.