I actually think this guy is serious

[maxiep]

What an embarrassment for my home town.
[video=youtube;sfIrdQsriyA]

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

This is over the piece of land (private property iirc) that a developer wants to build a mid-rise housing complex. I think it's a nice little project:

 

[maxiep]

It's too much density for that site. I get they need the FAR to make the numbers work, but that site should only be three stories, not five.

 

[PapaG]

It's too much density for that site. I get they need the FAR to make the numbers work, but that site should only be three stories, not five.

There is so much wasted land in LO. Look at the former Ram site. It's been vacant for what, 5 years now?

#richwhiteworldproblems

 

[SlyPokerDog]

It's too much density for that site. I get they need the FAR to make the numbers work, but that site should only be three stories, not five.

Wait, the local community doesn't want a project that everyone knows is best for it?!? Clearly the compromise is to have the 1st level be a Trader Joe's.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

There is so much wasted land in LO. Look at the former Ram site. It's been vacant for what, 5 years now?

#richwhiteworldproblems

I shit you not, a protester showed up in a freaking fur jacket.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

I shit you not, a protester showed up in a freaking fur jacket.

So were the pimps who were protesting the Trader Joe's.

 

[PapaG]

I shit you not, a protester showed up in a freaking fur jacket.

Idiots are on both the left and the right. Look at the Trader Joe's thread, and then this one.

 

[MarAzul]

What an embarrassment for my home town.
[video=youtube;sfIrdQsriyA]

I don't know about that guy, clown comes to mind rather than serious.

 

[MickZagger]

I can honestly say I've never been to Lake Oswego.

 

[maxiep]

Wait, the local community doesn't want a project that everyone knows is best for it?!? Clearly the compromise is to have the 1st level be a Trader Joe's.

Do you think the problem is a paucity of money in Lake Oswego?

 

[VanillaGorilla]

I can honestly say I've never been to Lake Oswego.

What?! they've got like, several fro-yo joints! #suburbs

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

I agree with maxi, 5 stories seems too much. Cut it down to 3.

 

[blue32]

I can honestly say I've never been to Lake Oswego.

That's too bad. Best place I have ever lived. Light traffic, everything is well kept and clean. And what appeared to me to be a very, very minimal crime rate. In fact over the years I lived in the city I had no issues.

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

I have lived in LO twice. I liked it. Snobby as hell, but I liked it.

 

[maxiep]

I have lived in LO twice. I liked it. Snobby as hell, but I liked it.

You found LO snobby? My experience growing up there was quite the opposite.

 

[maxiep]

Wait, the local community doesn't want a project that everyone knows is best for it?!? Clearly the compromise is to have the 1st level be a Trader Joe's.

Ah, Sly, I know you're trying to be cute, but you're trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. The issue in NE has to do with the type of store that is moving in, who gets to work in that store and what the economic mix of tenants will be. Those are social issues. The one in LO has to do with density. It's a zoning issue.

I have zero problem with the redevelopment of the site (for those familiar with Lake Oswego, the front of the building was JC Penney's until the 80s and the back was a Wizer's grocery store). Whether it becomes office, retail, hotel or residential doesn't matter to me. The issue brought up here is one of density. It would be a zoning adjustment to achieve that kind of FAR, and would put it out of scale with other developments in the area. The width of the adjacent roads (with the exception of A Avenue) as well as the topography create serious light issues for surrounding residents.

I do get the economic argument, however. The project doesn't pencil out for residential use above the second floor at a lower density. The lot configuration makes it difficult for a pure 1st floor retail. Really, the site cries to be bifurcated with a one lane road running parallel to A Avenue in the center of the property. That way you get the retail around the buildings, the light relief for the surrounding residents and you can put separate uses on each building above the retail.

This is the City Council trying to create a "living" downtown LO, rather than allowing market forces to work under current zoning regs. Block 137 currently allows four stories, not five. It doesn't seem like a big difference, but on that low of a scale it is. That kind of government planning is a huge mistake. Leave the zoning where it is a workable solution will appear.

Wow, I really seem like I'm passionate on this one. I'm really not. I do understand a bit about Gene Wizer's piece of land (which is also where you were supposed to go in event of nuclear attack), so just offering my $0.02. However, if my position puts me in line with this singing idiot, I will have to change my viewpoint. If he were really a Lake Oswegoan, he'd know the heart and soul of LO doesn't exist downtown.

Stepping away from the LO Michael Bolton and going back to NEP, the Trader Joe's site fits within zoning. Yes, $500K may be under market, and yes, the PDC does have questionable practices, but where were the competing proposals? If someone is willing to pay more with a different plan, then they should step up. If it makes sense to break up the site and increase the density with other purposes, I think the PDC should go for it.

What may tie these two together is government planning interference. The PDC and the LO City Council really do think they know what's best. They're willing to waive regulations and accept fewer dollars in land price and tax revenue to get what they want. That kind of garbage needs to stop.

 

[3RA1N1AC]

bureaucracy, regulatuons and stifling of the free market is un american, let this job creator build a 10 story dollar store if he wants to

 

[BlazerWookee]

Looks like a nice place for another Dignity Village?

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Ah, Sly, I know you're trying to be cute, but you're trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. The issue in NE has to do with the type of store that is moving in, who gets to work in that store and what the economic mix of tenants will be. Those are social issues. The one in LO has to do with density. It's a zoning issue.

I have zero problem with the redevelopment of the site (for those familiar with Lake Oswego, the front of the building was JC Penney's until the 80s and the back was a Wizer's grocery store). Whether it becomes office, retail, hotel or residential doesn't matter to me. The issue brought up here is one of density. It would be a zoning adjustment to achieve that kind of FAR, and would put it out of scale with other developments in the area. The width of the adjacent roads (with the exception of A Avenue) as well as the topography create serious light issues for surrounding residents.

I do get the economic argument, however. The project doesn't pencil out for residential use above the second floor at a lower density. The lot configuration makes it difficult for a pure 1st floor retail. Really, the site cries to be bifurcated with a one lane road running parallel to A Avenue in the center of the property. That way you get the retail around the buildings, the light relief for the surrounding residents and you can put separate uses on each building above the retail.

This is the City Council trying to create a "living" downtown LO, rather than allowing market forces to work under current zoning regs. Block 137 currently allows four stories, not five. It doesn't seem like a big difference, but on that low of a scale it is. That kind of government planning is a huge mistake. Leave the zoning where it is a workable solution will appear.

Wow, I really seem like I'm passionate on this one. I'm really not. I do understand a bit about Gene Wizer's piece of land (which is also where you were supposed to go in event of nuclear attack), so just offering my $0.02. However, if my position puts me in line with this singing idiot, I will have to change my viewpoint. If he were really a Lake Oswegoan, he'd know the heart and soul of LO doesn't exist downtown.

Stepping away from the LO Michael Bolton and going back to NEP, the Trader Joe's site fits within zoning. Yes, $500K may be under market, and yes, the PDC does have questionable practices, but where were the competing proposals? If someone is willing to pay more with a different plan, then they should step up. If it makes sense to break up the site and increase the density with other purposes, I think the PDC should go for it.

What may tie these two together is government planning interference. The PDC and the LO City Council really do think they know what's best. They're willing to waive regulations and accept fewer dollars in land price and tax revenue to get what they want. That kind of garbage needs to stop.

I am cute.

I appreciate you explaining all of that.

But still, if the local community of LO doesn't want a 5 story project I'm fine with that. Just like if the local community of NEP doesn't want a Trader Joe's I'm fine with that too.

 

[BLAZINGGIANTS]

You found LO snobby? My experience growing up there was quite the opposite.

^ says the snob.

LO is full of snobs. Most of the parents I encounter in West Linn are no better, though. I have a couple of neighbors who are complete ass holes.

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

You found LO snobby? My experience growing up there was quite the opposite.

I caddied at the LO Country Club for a summer when I was about 14 and that was interesting to see the haves and have nots. I also lived on the lake for a summer and it was really nice. ABM is from LO.

 

[MARIS61]

You found LO snobby? My experience growing up there was quite the opposite.

Ditto.

Although now it's not the friendly, sleeping little town of 7,000 it used to be. The 4-decades-long influx of unimaginative, self-absorbed and short-sighted Californians has obliterated most of the community's former Mayberry-like identity, and the push by developers to stack people like cordwood in the downtown core has accelerated the mutation.

 

[MarAzul]

^ says the snob.

LO is full of snobs. Most of the parents I encounter in West Linn are no better, though. I have a couple of neighbors who are complete ass holes.

???? Where does this come from?? When I live in the Metro area (many years ago) I live in LO a year then West Linn for about 14 years. Why this hate?

 

[BLAZINGGIANTS]

???? Where does this come from?? When I live in the Metro area (many years ago) I live in LO a year then West Linn for about 14 years. Why this hate?

I live in West Linn. I grew up with this crowd.

There's no hate in this heart (except for Peyton Manning, Dodgers and their fans, Lakers and their fans, and perhaps a few others, but I digress). I'd say my many years of experience living with and amongst them gives me a pretty good barometer. It's not East Coast snobby, not by any means. But LO and West Linn residents have a greater general sense of snobby-ness than many of the other areas around the Metro Area. I can't say this about everyone in those cities, but there are many. I mean, I get the same kind of feelings from my cousins that live in Laurelhurst and some of the more expensive pockets around the Metro area, but those areas are far smaller than LO and West Linn.

 

[MARIS61]

I live in West Linn. I grew up with this crowd.

There's no hate in this heart (except for Peyton Manning, Dodgers and their fans, Lakers and their fans, and perhaps a few others, but I digress). I'd say my many years of experience living with and amongst them gives me a pretty good barometer. It's not East Coast snobby, not by any means. But LO and West Linn residents have a greater general sense of snobby-ness than many of the other areas around the Metro Area. I can't say this about everyone in those cities, but there are many. I mean, I get the same kind of feelings from my cousins that live in Laurelhurst and some of the more expensive pockets around the Metro area, but those areas are far smaller than LO and West Linn.

Are there any well-maintained, high property value areas with low crime that you feel are not snobby?

 

[blue32]

Are there any well-maintained, high property value areas with low crime that you feel are not snobby?

I can't help but agree here. I'd rather live in LO with its "snobs" then back in god damned St Johns, or Beaverton for that matter. But of course, I like nice things and clean places, and I definitely don't like people that don't respect what others have and the work it took to get it.

 

[BlazerWookee]

???? Where does this come from?? When I live in the Metro area (many years ago) I live in LO a year then West Linn for about 14 years. Why this hate?

Income inequality?

 

[MarAzul]

Income inequality?

Oh well, that is a Democrat affliction.

 

[Eastoff]

I caddied at the LO Country Club for a summer when I was about 14 and that was interesting to see the haves and have nots. I also lived on the lake for a summer and it was really nice. ABM is from LO.

Why are you outing us? I mean them >.>