Local Headlines

By Midge Pierce   In response to last month’s story, The Rubble Within, Justin Wood with the Portland Homebuilder’s Association says the association has not done any formal research on …

Some Like it New Read More

By Don MacGillivray   The City is embarking on its Seventh Regulatory Improvement Code Amendment Package (RICAP #7). Those that remember the temporary vacation rentals flap may know the term. …

Tweaking Portland’s Zoning Code Read More

By Don MacGillivray   Portland residents are invited to view and comment on elements of a long-range plan to direct growth and change over the next twenty years. Draft 2035 …

Up for Review and Comment – the New Draft Comprehensive Plan Read More

By Nancy Tannler   In 1988, the Central Eastside became an official district of Portland’s Central City and is now part of the Central City 2035 Plan (CC2035). The SE …

Central City 2035 SE Quadrant Read More

By Midge Pierce   You may feel like your car, bike or sandals are barely squeezing through Portland’s tightly-packed commercial corridors and detours this summer. Inner SE is bursting with …

Have Patience While Commuting Read More

Portland’s longest running STREET FAIR  Hawthorne businesses are looking forward to hosting our community on Hawthorne Boulevard on August 17. The Boulevard will be closed from SE 30th to SE Cesar …

Hawthorne Street Fair 2014 Read More

By Don MacGillivray   The Nature Conservancy is an organization taking climate change seriously. The Conservancy has revised its activities across 23 million acres in Oregon to ensure that priority …

Preserving Pristine Environments Read More

By Midge Pierce   The progress presented by a citizen’s group that reduces damage in Mt. Tabor Park from Portland Water Bureau’s upcoming, 18-month reservoir disconnection project was almost overshadowed …

Park Progress Made Frustrations Mount Read More

By Don MacGillivray   Quality homes are being scraped away. This is not infill or added density, it is the gradual devastation of many neighborhoods and perhaps their rebirth. Demolitions …

Home Demolition Epidemic Read More

By Rich Riegel   An initiative petition for a proposed ballot measure is being circulated in our area in an effort to give guidance to how the region’s water supply …

People’s Water Trust Initiative Petition Read More

By Midge Pierce   The year-long Franklin High School Centennial ends this month with an alumni weekend that starts with the planting of a Centennial Rose during a school open …

Franklin Centennial Read More

By Don MacGillivray   Nearly 1,100 public comments were received in the review of the second section of the Draft Comprehensive Plan in the forth quarter of last year. Most …

Public Opinion About the Draft Comprehensive Plan Read More

By Don MacGillivray   While some graffiti shows artistic talent all of it is considered vandalism. Perhaps, more importantly it is criminal behavior that is expensive to repair. Generally, modern …

Graffiti – Art or Visual Vandalism? Read More

by Karen Hery   It’s taken quite some time for a closed down high school in the inner Southeast to graduate to its next use.  The diploma is almost in …

Washington High School’s Commercial Comeback Read More

Heavy equipment enthusiasts may have been delighted with the massive 20-plus ton excavator digging up the old Portland Impact Building at 4703 SE Hawthorne recently but neighbors were less than …

Excavating Old Properties Read More

By Nancy Tannler   The community meeting about the Mt Tabor Reservoir Disconnection Project was co-hosted by Portland Water Bureau (PWB) and Mt. Tabor Neighborhood Association (MTNA). It came about …

Negotiations on Reservoir Disconnect Read More

By Nancy Tannler   The ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new SE Center Library and Student Commons Building at Portland Community College was an important celebration  for the vision of higher …

PCC Celebrates Read More

By Midge Pierce   High drama capped a 15-year-saga that saved a priceless, century-old tree. Thunder clapped and the sky spit shards of ice as nearly two dozen arborists climbed …

High Drama Saves Centurion Tree Read More

By Don MacGillivray   The Central Eastside Industrial District (CEID) appears to the layperson as a unique, but under-developed section of Portland’s central city. Those that know it are aware …

Growth in the Eastside Industrial Area Read More

Greg Hulbert, a popular and highly-respected adviser at the information desk at Portland Nursery for twenty-three years, passed away at home on Sunday morning, April 13, 2014, following a short …

In memoriam Read More

By Midge Pierce   Mt. Tabor’s Proposed Reservoir Construction Project plan is now posted in southwest sections of the park prior to a public meeting May 6, 6:30 pm at …

Public officials explain reservoir disconnect project Read More

By Don MacGillivray     The improvement of community life in Portland is often the topic of policy discussions resulting in implementation difficulties. The current conception of a neighborhood’s commercial …

Improving Neighborhood Commercial Centers Read More

By Don MacGillivray   Airbedandbreakfast.com, known as Airbnb, is initiating a “Shared City” concept to help the city of Portland and local businesses attract visitors showing off Portland as a …

Regulations on Short Term Rentals Read More

By Nancy Tannler   Co-petitioners for the Portland Public Water District (PPWD) Floy Jones and Kent Craford held a meeting that detailed the reasons they have pushed to get their …

Facts about the PPWD Read More

By Midge Pierce   Time is running out on the preservation of the Mt. Tabor reservoirs with the April filing of a Portland Water Bureau land use application to disconnect …

The Fast Track Reservoir Disconnect Read More

By Karen Hery   The inner Southeast’s pride in being ever so unique gets one more boost and another notch in our not-like-anywhere-else persona this Spring when the primary elections …

A Primary Race Like No Other – Running for Office in District 42 Read More

By Midge Pierce   Experts predict 400,000 people will move into Portland over the next few decades. Builder, scholar, entrepreneur Eli Spevak believes he has solutions for how to house …

Smart Infill Answers Vexing Problem Read More

By Nancy Tannler   Portland Water Bureau (PWB) announced plans to disconnect Reservoirs 1, 5 and 6 from the city’s drinking water and construct new piped connections, valves and other …

Community Neglected in Reservoir Disconnect Read More

By Don MacGillivray   How well do you know your neighbors? Are they renting out a room or two to visitors from out of town? There are over 250 homeowners …

Bed & Breakfast Market Growing in Portland Read More

By Don MacGillivray   With the increase of the number of apartment buildings without parking and the anticipated general growth in the future, parking is a big issue. To address …

Permit Parking Coming to the Inner Southeast Read More

By Karen Hery   First to market can be a fast path to success or a lonely walk. Stephanie Sheldon, is far from lonely right now. Sheldon is the owner …

Retail Renaissance on Belmont Read More

By M. Pierce   Neighborhood children, a giant heritage tree and property listed on the National Park’s Register of Historic Places were endangered by illegal excavation over last month’s MLK …

Unpermitted Work Distresses Neighbors Read More

By Karen Hery There’s a building boom going on in the inner SE. It’s not a sudden surge in box stores or single family homes, not a slew of new …

Who’s Moving In Read More

by Karen Hery   There’s not much stirring as winter approaches St. Francis Park except the final work of a city sewer project along the walkway between the park area and …

St Francis – a Park for Now Read More

By Don MacGillivray   The Central Eastside Industrial District (CEID) has been the subject of planning activities for the last forty years. It’s time to renew and update these plans …

Preparing the CEID for Growth Read More

Nestlé’s proposed water bottling plant in Cascade Locks may still be years away, but a recent state ruling helped Nestlé over one of multiple legal hurdles it must clear before …

Battling the Giant Over Water Rights Read More

Over the next several months, the 25-million gallon underground reinforced concrete reservoir being built atop Kelly Butte in SE Portland will begin to rise from the ground. The 394 by …

Kelly Butte reservoir construction Read More

By Rose Kelsch King   It’s been nearly two months since students in SE Portland headed back to school. Homework, spending time with friends, and the next big sporting event …

Cleveland Students take the EcoChallenge Read More

By Don MacGillivray   For those interested in the planning of Portland, the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability has outdone themselves. The new Draft Comprehensive Plan (Part 2 was released …

Guide To Comp Plan Draft Part 2 Read More

By Karen Hery   Picking the next neighborhood hot spot is, at best, one part social science, two parts intuition and a fair bit of luck. As long-time residents age, …

Neighborhood Roll Over Rolls On Read More

By Nancy Tannler   Providence Portland Medical Center on NE Glisan held its annual meeting with the community recently and presented plans for the Providence Guest House to be built …

Providence Builds Guest Housing Read More

By Rich Riegel   Wandering the streets with overloaded shopping carts, camping under bridges, viaducts and next to businesses, and congregating in local parks, Portland’s homeless population is everywhere, and …

Homeless plight/solutions offered Read More

By Nancy Tannler   The future need for more water in the Portland Metropolitan area is making the news. Most recently the Tualatin Valley Water District declared they plan to …

Portland Water Needs Solutions Read More

By Nancy Tannler   Montavilla residents held a town hall meeting to address government officials, environmental experts and Portland Public School about their worry over the recent installation of a …

Smoke Signals Trouble for Neighbors Read More

By Eve Dodds   The people of Oregon are about to get healthier. A national study by the Department of Health and Human Services has shown that Oregon’s health reform has …

Oregon State Health Reform Read More

By Rich Riegel   A $20 million renovation in the heart of the Central Eastside Industrial District is proof the area in inner SE continues to boom. Viewpoint Construction Software, …

Viewpoint Renovation in Central Eastside Read More

By Don MacGillivray   With approximately 3,000 potentially susceptible elms throughout the city, Dutch Elm disease (DED) would have a catastrophic impact on Portland’s urban forest if it were allowed …

Can Portland’s Elm Trees Be Saved? Read More

By Jean Baker   The Burnside Bridgehead site is located at the base of the east end of the Burnside Bridge. Extending north from Burnside Street to I-84 between 2nd …

Bridgehead Development Underway Read More

By Nancy Tannler Additional information provided by Mark Bartlett and Shannon Loch The struggle to identify the best use of the Mt. Tabor Park reservoirs is about to heat up. …

Public land use past and future Read More

By Nancy Tannler   Last month in a series on the reservoirs, The Southeast Examiner wrote the article Open Air Reservoirs and Your Health. This month, we look back over …

The Cost of Decommissioning Read More

Lee Perlman was one of our ace reporters here at The Southeast Examiner. He knew how to meet deadlines, follow local news and tell great stories. Lee was our intrepid …

Lee Perlman 1949 – 2013 Read More

By Don MacGillivray   Unfortunately, Portland still has many people in need of basic emergency assistance. When the paycheck is gone or is not enough for the rent and folks …

Fish: Neighbors Helping Neighbors Read More

By Lee Perlman   According to some of its neighbors, Colonel Summers Park has become too popular as a place to hang out and drink. Reactions from the bureaus of …

Col. Summers Gatherings Pit Neighbors Against Visitors Read More

By Lee Perlman     Urban renewal advisory groups abolished   Portland Development Commission announced plans for the abolition of the Urban Renewal Advisory Committees (URACs) that have provided local …

SE Updates Read More

By Lee Perlman   There are many other community gardens in Portland, but it’d be hard to find one with a more spectacular view than the Brooklyn neighborhood’s plot. With …

A Garden Grows in Brooklyn Read More

Even though it seems as if Portland’s elected officials have capitulated over the covered reservoir ordinance (EPA Long Term 2 Enhancement Surface Water Treatment–LT2), a group of concerned citizens believe …

Open Air Reservoirs and Your Health Read More

Around noon on Sunday, July 28, a couple thousand people will climb into inner-tubes and other human-powered watercraft and set sail down the Willamette River in downtown Portland. This merry …

Big Float 3 Sails the Willamette Read More

Bridgehead development continues   Portland Design Commission last month held a second hearing for Key Development’s plans for a 20-story building on Block 67, vacant land immediately north of the …

SE Updates Read More

By Don macGillivray You may have noticed the towering sixty foot high rust-colored steel sculpture at the corner of SE Grand Ave. and SE Hawthorne Blvd. The massive installation is …

New Sculptures on Eastside Trolley Line Read More

Dan Valliere is not only new to Portland and to REACH Community Development, but he is new to housing development in general. However, he is no stranger to organizational collaboration, …

REACH Hires New Director Read More

Kerns parkless apartments get in under the wire   New rules recently passed by the Portland City Council now require new apartment projects of 30 units or more to have …

SE Updates June 2013 Read More

Portland has lost a great civic and environmental activist with the death on May 4 of Cascade Anderson Geller at age 59. A resident of the Mt. Tabor neighborhood, Cascade …

Tribute to a respected resident Read More

The 2013 Village Building Convergence (VBC), themed “Urban Succession: Shift and Sprout,” will happen May 24 – June 2 in Portland. At this year’s annual, ten-day Convergence on urban permaculture, …

Village Building Convergence Read More

by Allen Field   Commissioner Nick Fish, Parks & Recreation staff, Portland Parks Foundation, Friends of Portland Community Gardens, community gardeners, and neighbors officially opened the new Mt. Tabor Community …

Mt. Tabor Community Garden Officially Opens Read More

By John McLaren Construction of the NE/SE 50s Bikeway, plans which were hotly debated two years ago in the Mt. Tabor Neighborhood Association (MTNA), is now expected to begin in …

North/south bikeway changes 52nd/53rd Read More

The Portland Planning and Sustainability Commission heard testimony last month that proposed new parking requirements for new multi-family development was unnecessary and contrary to city goals, and also that it …

Commission Approves New Parking Rules Read More

  by Tim Hall Portland Water Bureau Making way for a better Kelly Butte landscape   During first three months of the year, construction vehicles were at work clearing a …

Kelly Butte Makeover Read More

Tower planned for Burnside Bridgehead   Representatives of Key Development, and LRS and Skylab architects last month treated the Kerns Neighborhood Association to their plans for Block 67, next to …

SE Updates April 2013 Read More

By Don MacGillivray and Lee Perlman The one-acre private park that graced the Buckman neighborhood for 40 years is about to disappear. The St. Francis Parish is in the process …

Big Changes Ahead for St. Francis Park Read More

Historic Resources Code Improvement Project makes it easier, cheaper to make minor modifications to Portland’s historic resources PORTLAND, Ore. — This morning Portland’s City Council unanimously voted to adopt code amendments that …

City Council Unanimously Adopts Code Amendments That Help Homeowners in Historic and Conservation Districts Modify Their Homes Read More

By Don MacGillivray Mayor Charlie Hales campaigned on “common sense” priorities for the City of Portland. In the next three months the City will find out what this means. Mayor …

Defining New Budget Priorities at City Hall Read More

By Nancy Tannler Back in 2005, Carol Levine, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker here, recognized the need to assist veterans reintegrate themselves back into society after returning from the war …

Volunteer Program for Vets Read More

By Lee Perlman Green Castle to become apartments Joe Westerman waged a long legal battle to allow his parking lot on NE 20th Ave. at Everett St. to be used …

SE Updates March 2013 Read More

By Lee Perlman     At the direction of Portland City Council, and response to outcries from many neighborhoods, the Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability has proposed to impose …

City proposes some parking minimums Read More

Editors note: Have you ever gone by a non-descript building and wondered “What’s going on in there”? So have we. In this new column, we will explore the interior of …

What’s Going on in There? Read More

The minimum parking requirements for new multi-family buildings along high density corridors has residents living in the immediate neighborhood very concerned. At the City Council session of January 10, citizens …

Parking Study Read More

Sunshine Dairy seeks street vacation   The Sunshine Dairy at 801 NE. 21st Ave. is seeking a pair of street vacancies to facilitate its truck loading. As consultant Peter Fry …

SE Updates January 2013 Read More

By Paul Leistner, Mt. Tabor Neighborhood Association and MaryLouise Ott, South Tabor Neighborhood Association.   Division St. between SE 60th and SE 80th is a dangerous place for pedestrians, bikes, …

Proposed “Lane Reorganization” for Division St. Read More

The redevelopment of Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard at 26th Ave. will take place – but at least one of two large and venerable buildings in its path will be moved to …

Moving the Montgomery House Read More

By Lee Perlman Some say allowing large new apartments without off-street parking decreases neighborhood livability and endangers business vitality. Others say parking is still available, if not convenient, and parking …

Two Perspectives on the Parking Issue Read More

Apartment tower slated for Bridgehead   Portland Development Commission is in the process of selling Block 67, part of the Burnside Bridgehead, to Key Development Corporation, staffer Steve Schain told …

SE Updates December 2012 Read More

On a cool rainy Friday last month, local business people gathered to clean up the bioswales on SE Ankeny St. They are part of the Green Street Steward Program: citizens …

Green Stewards Take to the Streets Read More

October 27 was a big day for the Friends of Mt. Tabor Park Weed Warriors, the band of volunteers who pull invasive plants from the slopes of Mt. Tabor Park. …

Weed Warriors Honored Read More

The City of Portland’s Sustai nability at Work program provides free assistance and certification for Portland businesses looking to create a more sustainable workplace. Our businesses have taken a lot …

Sustainable local business Read More

The latest news relevant to the Mt. Tabor and Washington Park reservoirs comes from Rochester, New York where they’ve received a 10-year reprieve from the federal LT2 reservoir covering rule. …

Reservoir Advocates Seek an Economic Hardship Reprieve Read More