A Portland eyesore no more...

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Natebishop3 said:
I guess it depends on the quality... are we talkin california 10's?
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Well, it's like the cash for clunkers program - they have to rate a notch or two higher than the ones you currently have, or there isn't any gain.

barfo
 
barfo said:
Well, it's like the cash for clunkers program - they have to rate a notch or two higher than the ones you currently have, or there isn't any gain.

barfo
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That's a good point.... Maybe we should pitch this to Obama....

Moneys for Honeys

I think it will be a big success.
 
Natebishop3 said:
That's a good point.... Maybe we should pitch this to Obama....

Moneys for Honeys

I think it will be a big success.
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You understand, though, that the honeys traded in will be crushed.

barfo
 
julius said:
Or maybe widening 26, so it's not a fucking parking lot?
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image.cfm


Looks plenty wide to me.

Photo is from 1896.

barfo
 
julius said:
As far as making the city look nicer, how about they tear down those grain mills on waterfront. And paint the Fremont and Marquam bridges too, those things are in dire need of cleanin and paintin.

I just did a quick google image search for Marquam bridge, and this page came up
http://www.portlandonline.com/auditor/index.cfm?a=24798&c=27928

check out some of the links on the right.
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I agree with the painting of the Fremont. It's the first thing you see coming into town from I5 and it looks like crap when you drive under it. Probably a huge amount of money to clean it up at it's current stage though.

I kinda' like the grain mills, personally.
 
maxiep said:
I've oscillated between two extremes, only giving to charitable organizations and not giving money directly to people, or just giving them money. I now carry around at least $20 in $1 bills as a matter of habit. If someone asks for money I'll give them a buck. I've decided I never know if they really need it. If I help one times in 500, that's good enough for me.
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Brother, can you spare a dime?
 
julius said:
As far as making the city look nicer, how about they tear down those grain mills on waterfront.
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Paul Allen has been trying to buy that land for years and add it to the Rose Quarter District, but the owner of those mills (who I believe is actually the father of actress Julia Louis Dreyfuss) refuses to sell.

My guess is the city would love to facilitate a development there, but their hands are completely tied.
 
SodaPopinski said:
Paul Allen has been trying to buy that land for years and add it to the Rose Quarter District, but the owner of those mills (who I believe is actually the father of actress Julia Louis Dreyfuss) refuses to sell.

My guess is the city would love to facilitate a development there, but their hands are completely tied.
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If it's they Dreyfus Companies, then they'll redevelop it themselves. I sold them a building back in 1995. They paid top dollar ($33.8MM), but they redeveloped it, released it and turned a profit. That's a sharp outfit.
 
Is there a picture anywhere of the proposed redesign of this building?
 
maxiep said:
If it's they Dreyfus Companies, then they'll redevelop it themselves. I sold them a building back in 1995. They paid top dollar ($33.8MM), but they redeveloped it, released it and turned a profit. That's a sharp outfit.
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To my knowledge, there hasn't been any progress on those negotiations in years. But the last I'd heard, the Dreyfus Companies had zero intention of selling or redeveloping that land. I got the sense that they turn a tidy profit with its current use.

And with the real estate market what it is now, they'd probably be better off continuing to make a profit with their operations there and then reevaluating their options in a few years when the CRE market rebounds.
 
barfo said:
Well, they are widening 26, although it seems to be a 20-year project. I'm not sure it will help.

barfo
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The construction they are doing on that road absolutely cracks me up. I was down to visit my parents (who live in Hillsboro) this past weekend and after working on the stretch from 185th to Glencoe Rd literally all summer, all that I can tell that has been done is re-paving.

I was expecting the stupid empty, grass median to be filled in and a lane in each direction added. However, at least at this point, I was wrong.

The road system in the Portland-Metro area is so incredibly frustrating to me. The government seems to ignore the horrendous traffic problem by not even attempting to fix the problem areas. The speed limits on freeways are laughable, as is how almost immediately crossing the OR/WA border, I-5 is reduced to two lanes in each direction.

I miss the city dearly, but I am so grateful I don't have to deal with that mess daily.
 
barfo said:
I don't mind the fremont design so much as the overwhelming size. The marquam, however, is horrid in every way.



I'd be for that. Especially if they did it this way, which would put some people to work:

image.cfm




Well, they are widening 26, although it seems to be a 20-year project. I'm not sure it will help.

barfo
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Ah, the good old days.
 
MrSelfDestruct said:
The construction they are doing on that road absolutely cracks me up. I was down to visit my parents (who live in Hillsboro) this past weekend and after working on the stretch from 185th to Glencoe Rd literally all summer, all that I can tell that has been done is re-paving.

I was expecting the stupid empty, grass median to be filled in and a lane in each direction added. However, at least at this point, I was wrong.

The road system in the Portland-Metro area is so incredibly frustrating to me. The government seems to ignore the horrendous traffic problem by not even attempting to fix the problem areas. The speed limits on freeways are laughable, as is how almost immediately crossing the OR/WA border, I-5 is reduced to two lanes in each direction.

I miss the city dearly, but I am so grateful I don't have to deal with that mess daily.
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I hear you, but trust me when I say that simply continuing to add lanes to freeways has a quickly diminishing value. More roads and lanes usually increases the amount of cars on the road. I think the regional governments are trying to walk a fine line between building up to necessary capacity without discouraging the use of mass transit. I agree certain freeways need widening to lessen gridlock (Sunset Hwy. west of the Cornell Road exit, I-5 North of the I-405 interchange), but planners should be careful when recommending too many expansions.

I'd honestly like to see some sort of a tolling system where users are charged for use of express lanes or entire freeways are tolled to (a) pay for maintenance or future expansion and (b) discourage overusage.

The Portland area could really use a strong west side bypass freeway that mirrors I-205, going from roughly the Tualatin area at least up to the Sunset Highway. But the amount of homes and businesses that would have to be displaced to make that happen would be astronomical with the build-up that's happened on that side of town.
 
julius said:
Another thing they could do to "beautify" Portland, is move Portlandia to a man-made Island in the middle of the Willamette. Or maybe even at the mouth (although that's a bit far and no one would see it).
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There are already early plans to move Portlandia elsewhere

PPM_Sera.jpg
 
Fez said:
There are already early plans to move Portlandia elsewhere

PPM_Sera.jpg
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Is that the Hawthorne bridge, and the new courthouse? Or something else?

barfo
 
Nope. I'm not sure what that high rise is for but I do know the new Courthouse will go directly in front of the new First and Main building.

Btw, I was thinking of what would make Portland look better:

Finding a (humane) way to get rid of the street kids.
 
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The East side view, the skyline shot, is a glass wall. Still a huge improvement.
 
I'm pretty wacky green loving...and that grass looks stupid...has to be a joke, right?
 
I'm still excited for the other green building going up a few blocks south (PSU)

6a00d8341c86d053ef0115707165c3970c-500wi


And the Weave

6a00d8341c86d053ef01116897dd9c970c-300wi


For the next decade the only projects that will go up, IMO, will be office buildings like these. I doubt we'll see another high-rise condo tower anytime soon.
 
Fez W. Bush said:
I'm still excited for the other green building going up a few blocks south (PSU)

6a00d8341c86d053ef0115707165c3970c-500wi


And the Weave

6a00d8341c86d053ef01116897dd9c970c-300wi


For the next decade the only projects that will go up, IMO, will be office buildings like these. I doubt we'll see another high-rise condo tower anytime soon.
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I really like that PSU building!
 
If they want to beautify Portland, they should take down that hideous statue of Vera Katz on the Springwater trail.
 
wasn't one of the buildings recently voted one of the 10 ugliest in the US? I think the one with Portlandia?
 
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