My Portsmouth neighborhood, which already has the highest number of low-income HAP clients of all 117 neighborhoods in Multnomah county is about to get another development of thirty-two more low-income rental units. And money from the Interstate Light Rail Corridor Urban Renewal District may help pay for it.*

A member of the Portland Planning Commission recently told me, "that up to half of the Portsmouth neighborhood is platted in the 25' x 100' skinny lots.  If so, that puts the homes there at risk for teardown and redevelopment."

Portland city government is apparently determined to make Portsmouth not only the most densely populated low-income neighborhood but also the ugliest.

The Portsmouth neighborhood does NOT need any more low-income, "affordable" or rental housing.

Stop It! Stop It! Stop It!

Earl Blumenauer has been asking people around town what they want for their neighborhoods and their city. Well, here is some advice for Portland's next mayor. Put a conversation about population growth and public housing on the agenda. Then make sure that the city and its handmaiden's HAP and PDC stop crowding all the low-income housing into the same few neighborhoods.

* TCAP Newsletter, July & August 2003