Sunday in Portland

August 16, 2010 Neighborhood Happenings

After working Snday morning, we decided to just head off downtown to do…whatever, and headed for the Alberta Arts District.  It’s one of our many up and coming neighborhoods–young, vibrant, arty, laid back with none of the introspection you sense in, say, the Pearl.
We ended up at the Amnesia Bewery, where we had a grilled [...]

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Of Homes, Clothing and Thirty-year Treasuries

August 10, 2010 Commentary

After having lunch with my wife today at Washington Square, we wandered into Eddie Bauer.  I didn’t really want anything, but she needed to replace a couple of summer polo shirts the spaniel had toe nailed.
Once inside, a couple of things caught my eye–a shirt, some trousers, a sweater.  But then it dawned on me [...]

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Idea Box: Home of the Future?

August 9, 2010 Sustainability

Okay, I know–you don’t always have to do what you’re supposed to do. 
 One of the things I’m supposed to do is go to the Portland Street of Dreams.  You know, the garish display of monster homes builders erect to showcase their talents? Which usually means important stuff like creeks running under the glass floor in [...]

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Cheap Food–Peal District

August 5, 2010 Neighborhood Happenings

This is the second in an occasional series on Portland restaurants.  Today’s is a couple of recommendations on cheap eats in the Pearl.
1.  Pearl Bakery–It’s hard to pick the best bread maker in Portland, but this place is among the top three. What’s less known is their lunch fare light, tasty, varied and reasonable.  I [...]

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Help Wanted: Sustainable Living for Modest Incomes

July 29, 2010 Commentary

A group of interested people are forming a not-for-profit company which will rehabilitate homes–probably foreclosures–using environmentally sustainable materials and practices. We need help.
These elements are out there:

Health and other benefits of sustainablity are less available for modest income people because of an entry cost threshold.  If you can only afford to pay $5000 for a [...]

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Good Food, Better Food and Best Food in Portland

July 27, 2010 Uncategorized

Portland Metro indeed has some great restaurants, from world class to brewpubs, from divey coffee shops to elegant prixe fix joints.  Someday, I want to do some restaurant reviews, but today, I want to talk about a category of good, better and best food, where Portland beats maybe the whole country: Food carts.
This story on [...]

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Seven Fabulous and Free Things to Do in Portland

July 26, 2010 Neighborhood Happenings

1. Forest Park.  Hike, bike, picnic or whatever.  Thirty miles of the 40-mile Wildwood Trail. Like Portland, a little bit wild, lot of wildlife, a lot free.
2. Saturday Market.  Little bit of funk, little bit of junk, little bit of punk.  Arts and handicrafts for sale, good food from creative cart cooks, and a long, [...]

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Accountability, Construction Defects and Costa Pacific

July 21, 2010 Commentary

I just discovered a mis-allocation of payments to the IRS, resulting in some additional tax due.   If I tell my friendly IRS rep of my oversight, do you think she’ll care?  Nope. I have to pay, along with penalties and interest.  I’m accountable.
Unlike, say, Costa Pacific Homes, who ducked for cover when construction defects hit [...]

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Sustainable Homes for Moderate Neighborhoods

July 17, 2010 Sustainability

At a Beyond 2020 conference I attended a couple of months ago, one of the other attendees alluded to a problem often mentioned but never solved: the barrier beween environmentally sustanable products and moderate to low income people.  Beyond 2020 is a loosely organized group of local, independent business and non-profit people who discuss ways of [...]

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Shadow Inventory: Oh Yes There Is!

July 14, 2010 Commentary

I just heard through the grapevine that lenders don’t think there’s a “shadow inventory.”  This term first referred to lenders holding properties they’d taken back in foreclosure off the market because there were  so many of them. That claim sounded good, but on examination was as bogus as most conspiracy theories.
Here’s what’s out there:  Some [...]

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