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We finally got fully moved into our new place. It’s great having more space and a basement for storage. We’re very grateful to our friend Kate who own this place for giving us dirt cheap rent for the next 6 months. A few months ago Kate called us up to see if we were looking for a place to live. She’d heard from common friends in l’Arche that we might be looking. Since this is the third residence in Portland that we’ve gotten somewhat miraculously, my sense of agency is completely shot. I’ve decided my best bet is to just sit back and let the Lord do the Lord’s thing.
We’ve moved into the Concordia neighborhood in NE Portland. It’s at the heart of some of the nasty gentrification that most hip, young Portlanders seem to be fairly clueless about. We even got a nod from the national press about our recent escapades (we live 3 blocks off Alberta). How embarrassing.
So it looks like this: There are cute, hip shops moving into our neighborhood. There’s a New Seasons and Hot Lips within walking distance. You will see white women in tutus and leggings riding bikes and white couples with matching mohawks sitting on a sofa in their front yard. At the same time there’s the J Shopping Center with young African American men occupying the stoop and Escalades driving by pumping hip hop. There are still pockets of African American families in our neighborhood but all the families in the immediate vicinity are white. And, noting the “for sale” signs, my guess is that the white, remodel area will get bigger. We’re looking at pockets of gentrification that eventually will link up.
NE is pretty much a huge failure when it comes to sustainable development that honors ethnic minorities who have been the long-time occupiers of these neighborhoods. I’m guessing it’s only a fewer years before the taqueria, Ethiopian grocery store and black hair supplies shop get pushed further to the north. Or they will disappear forever. In their place we’ll get crepes, $3 french press coffee and scowling hipsters. Yeah.
I was sad the NYTimes article doesn’t mention New Columbia, a mixed income housing community in North Portland that has done just about everything right. They have apartments that are rented out based on percentage income so you get a wide span of ages, races and incomes. They also support a locally owned coffee shop started by a female, African American entrepreneur. They run a farm stand. There are great home loan programs available for those who wish to buy and lots of community supports. New Columbia is our city’s big success story.
We’ll be in Concordia for the next 6 months enjoying our super fine house and watching the neighborhood bow to the tattooed and pierced twenty-somethings who work in coffee shops by day and rock out in a Clash cover band by night. Check out our new digs on the flickr link to the left.
I’ve been complaining that summer was NEVER going to come. Shame on me. Tomorrow we roll into a week of heat wave. 95 degrees and we are moving to a new house.
I tried to move a load on my own tonight and just about lost it. I’ve recently been diagnosed with pregnancy-induced hypoglycemia which doesn’t help (BTW – don’t be too elated that your gestational diabetes results came back so stinkin low. You may think you are a sugar processing rockstar but you are not. Sad).
We’re moving just two miles north of our current NE locale. But at 7.5 months pregnant we might as well be moving to another country.
If you happen to be in the Portland metro area around 10 am tomorrow and want to give us a hand, shoot me an email!
