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Susan's Online Guide to Portland Let me Help You Find a Home and a Neighborhood |
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Welcome to my Web site about the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area. It is my way of helping you become acquainted with the neighborhoods and communities of the city and to inform you about the Portland area housing market. Your comments and suggestions about my Web site are always appreciated. If you have questions or if you are interested in buying or selling a home in the Portland area, contact me online or call me at (503) 497-2984.
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Neighborhood and Communities News |
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Not so summery in Oregon's Summerville January 6 − Snowmobiles and chained-up four-wheel drives were the only vehicles getting around Monday in this snowbound hamlet. "We are locked in," said Samantha Danel, 64, operator of the Summerville Store -- a combination market, post office, tavern and cafe for the town of 120, just north of La Grande. "It's been blowing and snowing for three days." Read the full story... Portland wins almost all arguments in David Douglas urban renewal case January 6 − The city has -- mostly -- won a legal challenge to its decision to divert urban renewal money from downtown to east Portland. The Portland City Council in June approved spending $19 million from the River District to build an elementary school and community center 10 miles away. The idea, pushed by former city Commissioner Erik Sten, was to use some of the money generated in the downtown district, which includes the Pearl, and invest it in the city's outer east area. The city has -- mostly -- won a legal challenge to its decision to divert urban renewal money from downtown to east Portland. Read the full story...
Snow is gone, and Portland-area schools start shoveling January 6 − Admit it, parents. When it started snowing Sunday, you thought, "They'd better not cancel school again." Don't worry, superintendents throughout the metro area thought the same thing. But the rain arrived, the snow melted and the kids were back at school Monday morning after a three-week break. "There is no way we could afford another day," said Lake Oswego Superintendent Bill Korach. "There is a tremendous amount of angst about missing that many days and having finals coming." A series of snowstorms before a scheduled two-week winter break forced most schools to close a week early, but teachers plan to review past material and district officials are already discussing options to make up the lost days. Read the full story... Portland agencies pull in property taxes January 5 − Although property tax collections in Multnomah County only increased 2.5 percent last fiscal year, the growth was much greater in two Portland agencies — the Portland Development Commission and the Portland Fire and Police Disability and Retirement Plan Commission. In the fiscal year that ended on June 30, property taxes for both these agencies increased around 10 percent, according to the annual report recently released by the Multnomah County Tax Supervising & Conservation Commission. Read the full story...
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House and Home |
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Two for the money: Fewer bedrooms uncork a real estate home run January 4 − As recently as last summer, former pro baseball player Given Kutz and his wife, Katie, a nurse, weren't in the market to buy a house. Kutz was transitioning to a law enforcement career, while his wife was preparing to graduate from nursing school. "We had talked about an investment, a house we knew would appreciate if we put a little work into it," said Kutz, a former University of Portland baseball pitcher who had played for the Great Lakes Loons, a Class A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. "We originally thought about buying something larger -- three bedrooms, two baths. We had some savings, but with the market doing what it's doing and the money we had, we were forced to look at smaller homes." Read the full story.... |
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Green Zone |
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OIT expands degree with sustainable technology January 6 − Faced with a growing demand for graduates versed in sustainability and engineering, the Oregon Institute of Technology is offering a new interdisciplinary emphasis in its Environmental Sciences bachelor's degree program. Students in the new environmental sciences/sustainable technologies program will take courses in renewable energy engineering, mechanical engineering technology, civil engineering and business management. Courses have titles like "The Built Environment" and "Fuel Cells."OIT officials say the sustainable technologies emphasis will give their students an employment edge over others with environmental science degrees. Read the full story... |
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Sports and Outdoors |
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Oregon ski areas' snow mojo is working against them January 5 − First, there wasn't enough snow on Mount Hood. Then, there was too much snow to get to Mount Hood. Last week, Oregon's ski industry took another hit when a landslide forced the closure of U.S. 26, blocking one of the main routes to Mount Hood. The road wasn't fully cleared until Sunday afternoon, providing the latest setback in a difficult season on the mountain, for skiers and the businesses that rely on them. Business owners and managers say a late start to the season and a crippling snowstorm in Portland made for an unusually slow December. Rentals and lessons at Mt. Hood Skibowl in Government Camp have been down because many beginners have stayed home, said Troy Fischer, the night operations manager. Business is "down considerably" at Meadowlark Ski & Sports in Sandy, according to owner Dave Livermore. Read the full story... |
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Susan Marthens |
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Get
a Life band marches in Obama’s big parade January 6 − Portland’s
wacky Get a Life Marching Band has been selected to march down Pennsylvania
Avenue during the Jan. 20 inauguration parade. The all-adult group will
join about 100 other bands from across the nation for the national event.
Get a Life Marching Band includes members in their 20s to their 60s from
Portland and Southwest Washington. For the inauguration event, other members
will travel from several states to perform. “Our members have three things
in common,” said band founder and Executive Director Bob Pulido. “We were
all in high school or college marching bands, we still haven’t gotten over
it, and we’d rather miss a note than a meal.”
Portland's
new mayor tour neighborhood shops, businesses January 6
− Newly minted Mayor Sam Adams left the stump and headed to the street to
make good on his promise to put out the city's "welcome mat" to businesses
and to work to expand Portland's economy with new companies focused on green
building and alternative energy. Adams repeated the theme throughout his
campaign for mayor and the long run-up between the May primary and last
week, when he took the oath of office as the first seconds of 2009 ticked
away. He sounded it again Monday during a symbolic swearing-in ceremony
at Parkrose High School attended by family members, political supporters
and City Hall staffers.
Oregon
could set standards for diet and exercise at day cares January
5 − When parents call Desiree Newberry of Knappa looking for day care, they
ask about her hours. They ask about her rates. But they never, ever ask
about the food. With children joining the ranks of the overweight and obese
before they're old enough to recite the alphabet, public health and child
advocates say it's time working parents across Oregon wonder whether day
cares should shoulder some of the responsibility. Closer regulation could
be on its way. statewide obesity prevention task force has recommended that
the upcoming Legislature require state agencies to study child care and
develop minimum standards for physical activity, healthy foods and time
in front of a screen.
