May I be so presumptuous as to make two recommendations.

One, Miami and the Siege of Chicago, 1968 by Norman Mailer. An under-read masterpiece of this niche genre, and timely, very timely. Long shot prediction here: Richard Daley Jr. for VP.

Get credentials for Minneapolis and go!

Oh yes, and you're right about Milepost 5. Here's the the tell - nobody's talking about it but the food chain.

I'm having trouble figuring out what the problem here is. Maybe I'm slow? Regardless,

It is a great location; on the max line, close to shopping and entertainment of various sorts. Like sooooo many other projects, This never needed to be subsidized by the city.

If the city was insistent on having some control over its uses; fine but they never seem to stick to a strong plan and say 'this is what we are offering, build it or move on.' Instead they reuse the same half dozen shady developers in a city with literally multiple hundreds of construction companies capable of building a project like this.

Matt Davis, the Narcissist Class Warrior is on the case again, out to assuage his deep-seated personal and "professional" insecurities yet again by maybe possibly accidentally reporting something of substance en route to talking about himself.

Since you're never really interested in the ostensible matter at hand, I'll give you what you want and not even attempt to discuss it. But if you're seeking to find "journalistic" vindication from the PG blog--well, then you're sinking even below your own message-board troll levels of professionalism. But I guess it's utterly predictable that you'd see the sort of people who write things like the following as models of your supposed vocation:

"Maybe it's easier to look on the bright side if you don't come from here. Personally, me and a few others, born and raised here, are looking at inevitably - continually - getting the boot from our own home town, just because we didn't have the juice to buy a house 15 years back, when they were cheap, or don't have the juice to borrow a quarter million for a starter/fixer that we'll be paying for until we're 80, nor to foresee living two to a studio for 1500 five years down the line just for the privilege of still being Portlanders. [b]It feels like shit, and that right there is the reason I don't feel I have to justify this blog with reason, fact, consideration, consistency, or anything else you apparently are advising me I could pay more attention to. Our bitterness is generally too extreme to bother. This is a class war and my blog exists to represent the losing side who have every reason to be pissed off and sick of people patting us on the head and explaining, as though we're children, "you have to understand this is the way of the world.[/b]"

Thanks again for your comment and I hope you keep reading but I certainly can't guarantee you or anyone else will like everything I have to say. [b]This blog is partly meant to hurt, frankly. A verbal suicide bomb if you will.[/b]"

Objective, careful journalists, doing "RESEARCH" in the Davis mold, to be sure. It honestly wouldn't matter if, like you, they occasionally hit a worthy target; because by your and their juvenile, solipsistic and petty approach to matters of seriousness and complexity, you do a disservice to the issues you (feigned) and they (sincerely) care so much about. "Admitting" your personal viewpoint does not, in fact, relieve you of your responsibilities to do a bit of "RESEARCH" yourself, as a journalist. I'm sure you see yourself more in the mold of the Guardian than the Sun, wearing your political affiliations "honestly," and fully vested the full post-modern, inevitability-of-subjectivity mode du jour. But my guess is you're here in America, doing "journalism" for a glorified advertising flyer because you couldn't get hired to write even the text on the headline board on the pavements outside a corner newsagent's. I urge you either to grow up, work hard, quit seeking any attention at all rather than well-earned professional recognition, and actually report with substance on issues of importance--or step down, and let your more serious coworkers like Amy Ruiz help rescue the Mercury from the fate of being the Willamette Week's embarrassing little brother wearing a Pabst trucker cap and a scarf with flip-flops.

Three words and two letters: Three twenty seven a.m.

Wow, I'm not going to hammer out a manifesto here, but I will share some specifics I learned after being involved with Milepost 5.

The newly built spaces are all in the neighborhood of $250k each. Yes, show me the working artist who can afford this. Grants that are offered top out around $2k if I recall correctly.

The old folks' home across the patio: I've wandered around in it. My friend and I assumed it was going to be knocked down. It's the most depressing kind of cheap plasterboard rooms... you'd be ashamed to visit your grandmother here. Not certain why anybody would want to move there for $400-500/mo. when so many places that aren't 5 touted miles from anywhere have competitive rent and superior amenities.

It seems a brazen, transparent move to force artificial cachet onto flimsy, run-of-the-mill condominiums.

There is, however, a pawn shop next door on the way to the MAX.

"Now, if only a local reporter could be bothered to get out to Milepost 5 and research the shit out of the place, I'm sure there'd be more troubling."

Wait a minute... aren't you a local reporter?

You find it impressive, do you Mr. Davis, that I can write three paragraphs at 3:27am? I suppose that would be impressive to someone who can't manage such a feat at any hour.

Your suggestion is. . . what? And it is a reasoned counterargument. . . how? I happen to have been working an overnight shift at a residential shelter for at-risk/abused/runaway teenagers. So, again--your "three words and two letters" is meant to imply. . . what, exactly?

One would think that a professional troll whose charge, it seems, is to publicly wail for attention (be it positive or negative) would at least have slightly more developed, less sub-mental responses, when he gets what he's after. Amazingly, you fail not only at your supposed profession, but you even fail at your unwanted and obtrusive personal avocation of exploring the endless bounds of your ego and insecurity.

Love em or hate em, the Mercury is 99.9999999% opinionistic "reporting." Sometimes it's news, but mostly it's opinion. I LIKE it, but it's still not what I would call "new journalism" or "new media."

If you want to see the short, student film that prompted Davis' blog-post from last week, you can view it here:

http://blip.tv/file/1186027

"...a professional troll whose charge, it seems, is to publicly wail for attention (be it positive or negative)": Bingo. Thanks, Ian. Couldn't have put it better myself.

I write to both clarify and correct some inaccuracies in a recent posting about Milepost 5. Milepost 5 is a non-profit development by ARTPLACE Development, LLC, for whom I work. ARTPLACE is an equal partnership between the Portland Affordable Housing Preservation Trust and Beam Development. This partnership was created to develop Milepost 5 (MP5). To date, there has been NO city, state, or federal money given to this project. All funds generated by this project go back into the project. That’s right, there is no profit to be paid to the developers. While some people may be cynical about this—and it is certainly unusual—it’s true.

MP5 consists of 2 buildings. The Lofts Building, which was completed in May of 2008, has 54 units that can be purchased for prices ranging from $120,000 up to $330,000, with an average price of $170,000. Residents can also lease-to-own or rent these Lofts, starting at $650/month. Grants of up to $5,000 are available for artists and those with incomes less than the area’s median. The author of the blog post seemed to take issue with Milepost 5’s approach to long-term affordability. Clearly, our approach is a compromise between the twin goals of allowing owners to build equity in their home and keeping the prices affordable for the next artist, upon a re-sale. After researching other attempts to do this, we came to this arrangement: 22 of the 54 most affordably priced units can experience annual appreciation of up to 2 times the area’s Consumer Price Index, if the owners choose to sell their units. This will allow for a return to the owner, but discourage “flipping,” or the unit doubling or tripling in price, as our market has experienced in the recent past. The rest of the units will have no appreciation limitations. However, where long-term affordability really fits in is with Phase 2.

Phase 2, The Studios, is slated for completion in late 2009, and is projected to house 85+ live/work rental studios ranging in size from small studios to 3-bedroom units. Rents are projected to start from $250/month. Also planned for this building are a gallery space, a restaurant/café, event space, workshops and classrooms, and space for creative businesses including an art supply store. It is intended that because Phase 2 will be non-profit-owned, the rents will continue to be well below market for years to come.

Residents began moving into Phase 1, The Lofts, on June 1 of 2008. Current residents include painter Lewis Mateo, poet BT Shaw, painter and video artist Kate Fenker (moved from NYC), and The Cooley Gallery, Reed College (gallery space and work space curated by Stephanie Snyder).

Examples of our current Studios Building tenants, either signed or in discussion, include Muse Art Supply, Independent Publishers Resource Center Satellite space, Portland Art Institute and The Writer’s Dojo artist-in-residence program. We are developing a waiting list for The Studios, and have 50 artists so far, ranging from visual artists to experimental theater to film.

In other words, MP5 provides work and live opportunities for artists and creatives at every point in their career: from $250 rental space to $300K ownership. We believe that having such a diverse community is MP5’s strength. We believe that artists all working side by side provides opportunities for inspiration and collaboration. None of this is possible without infrastructure created to foster interaction. MP5 is creating communication systems for residents to find out about each other, and to help coordinate activities. The community will be driven by individual residents’ interests which the creative director helps facilitate.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Once they are fully informed about the facts, the intent, and the execution, people can make up their own minds. Milepost 5 is an experiment; a pioneering one for Portland. As such, the development team does not pretend to have all the answers, or to have the project fully “dialed in.” In fact, they have always looked at MP5 as a dynamic, “organic” community that will largely be created by its residents, themselves.

Gavin Shettler
Creative Director
Milepost 5