But WHERE Do We Put Them? 1/15/03

Janet Christ reported in today's Oregonian, Affordable housing added to city's goal* 01/15/03, that "The Portland Development Commission has raised the city's goal for building affordable housing from 10,000 to 13,550." What the Oregonian did NOT report and what the PDC did NOT address is WHERE THEY PLAN TO PUT ALL THIS ADDITIONAL LOW-INCOME HOUSING?

How about North Portland? It boasts a former city dump, the city's sewage treatment plant, a good size jail, a parole office, Oregon's largest low-income government run housing compound, a super fund clean up site, a noisy racetrack, schools of less than stellar achievement, a state senator with lackluster interest, low voter turnout and virtually no member of the city's power elite living there. Sound like an easy target? You bet.

Without public fanfare or debate the Portland City Council appears to have quietly adopted an economic class-based segregationist public housing policy. It is best exemplified by the city council's stealth public housing policy that supports the proposition that increasing the number of tax-supported low-income housing clients in a neighborhood that already has the highest number of low-income housing clients in the City of Portland, Multnomah County and the state of Oregon is Good Not Bad Public Policy.

The Portland City Council will righteously and loudly wave the laudable banner of progressive leadership supporting more low-incoming housing and then following the path of least resistance they will quietly stuff their good intentions into the neighborhoods which offer minimal negative response that already have very high concentrations of low-income housing.

Is there anyone in the state of Oregon who believes that improving the quality of life in their neighborhood is achieved by OVERLOADING their own neighborhood with low-income housing? We know that there are plenty of citizens and publicly elected officials whose quality of life is improved by filling up somebody else's neighborhood with HAP clients, sewage and prisons.

There is a map which shows the number of low-income Housing Authority of Portland clients by neighborhood throughout Multnomah County**. With an ostrich like response to danger the Portland City Council, the Portland Development Commission and HAP have refused to acknowledged its existence. But this map reflects the truth. Look at it. Decide for yourself. Then ask, WHERE do you suppose the Portland City Council and HAP will dump their next load of "affordable" housing? Portsmouth, St. Johns, Kenton, Centennial, Lents OR Healy Heights, Northwest Heights, Sunderland, Ardenwald, Woodland Park?

Do Oregonians want to support a public policy that creates ghetto concentrations of low-income housing zones or is it better to distribute those who need and should get public assistance throughout our community. Our public conversation on public housing must shift from what kind and how many to WHERE Do We Put Them?

* http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/oregonian/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/portland_news/1042635584125500.xml
** http://www.goodgrowthnw.org