Good grief a post before 7 am, when do you sleep?

Are you sure the move isn't just making way and "cleaning up" the neighborhood for the next supercondo project.

Today's Trib, shows that all the money the City invested in low income housing (now the Harrison) in the 60's has given a good return on investment to someone after kicking out the elderly fixed income renters at the old Portland Center Apartments.

It would be interesting to do an ROI on City or Public UR investment on that one.

OK, they are closing 9 offices at a savings of "roughly $1 million".
And the Portland office alone is a savings of $800k?
That sound fishy to anyone else?

Gotta make room for Rich Uncle Teddy's Free Soup Kitchens.

Shutting down the downtown office will make the services of the state employment department far less accessible to those who rely on public transportation. You'd think they could find another office to close rather than that one. It seems that the state has not been very supportive of downtown Portland for quite a few years as shown by the move of their downtown offices to the new building on NE Oregon Street near Loyd Center. Next thing you know they'll move the courthouse to the South Waterfront District and folks can enjoy the view of a revitalized transit mall as they transfer from one bus to another while making their journeys elsewhere.

The rent was too high... and the parking limited.
JK: If a few more move out, the rents will have to go down and the congestion and parking will get better. Perhaps the best thing that can happen, congestion wise, is for all of the government offices to clear out of downtown and into the neighborhoods where people actually live. (Notice that on government holidays, traffic congestion is greatly reduced.)

We might not need to spend millions rebuilding the transit mall either.

High density downtowns have been obsolete since the automobile conquered distance. No longer do people have to work in one concentrated area, so why do we pump tax money into downtown to support an obsolete urban form? Why not just let it become a little less dense and less congested and less financially dependent on welfare from the rest of the city?

Thanks
JK

"High density downtowns have been obsolete since the automobile conquered distance."

Anyone still making big bets on the automobile's continuing to conquer distance?

John Schneider

High density downtowns have been obsolete since the automobile conquered distance. No longer do people have to work in one concentrated area, so why do we pump tax money into downtown to support an obsolete urban form? Why not just let it become a little less dense and less congested and less financially dependent on welfare from the rest of the city?

You dont understand, its not obsolete. Its been revived here in Portland. That is what the "planners" here are trying to build. They want everyone living and working in one concentrated area. Unfortunately, not everyone can afford one of those trendy condos at $500/sq ft (and up).

John Schneider: (quoting JK) “High density downtowns have been obsolete since the automobile conquered distance."

Anyone still making big bets on the automobile's continuing to conquer distance?
JK: Until something better comes along. Something that is even more useful or economical. If gas prices double or triple, we will just start buying more efficient cars. A sixty MPG car costs the same to operate as toay’s 20 MPG car if gas hits $9 per gallon (a very unlikely event because such prices will bring massive new supply to market)

If you are referring to the peak oil myth, forget it. We have had a 20 year supply of oil for the last 100 years. We just discovered oil 5 (or 6) miles deep in the Gulf of Mexico, lending even more credibility to the theory that oil is not a fossil. Instead oil may be essentially unlimited. Even if it were limited, we can still make it out of coal, like Hitler did, or from other carbon sources, maybe even from atmospheric CO2. Oh, did I mention that Russia just produced more oil than the Saudis in one recent month? And that find in the Gulf reportedly increases the US reserves by 50%. Then there is tar sands and shale. Forget the scenario of peak oil producing the new society that some dream of. It ain’t gonna happen.

Terrorism is more likely to reshape our society.

Thanks
JK