Can I just say that I wish there were as much outrage over the new sign design as there was over the new street name? These new street signs have started to crop up a lot of places, and those rounded corners look somehow cheap and scream mid-90s stylelessness. I absolutely loathe them; am I alone?

That $120K could have probably gone to much better use than new street signs for a street that already had a perfectly good name. That money probably could have been used to actually do something helpful for latinos in this city, but whatev.

And you're right on mike. those new street signs are hideous.

in the street photo, the accent is over the a in Chavez, whereas in the other photo it is over the e in Cesar!
whats the deal?!

That sign pic is like 20 feet from my old house (and Stangel's current abode).

Detective Flannery,

The photo of the sign in the ceremony is a fake giant prop sign. Guess they forgot the a!

Symbols are more important than substance

I'm still a bit lost on the symbolism of this. Instead of naming a pedestrian bridge after Chavez, a bridge that will bring two haves of Portland together, one that will give pedestrians opportunities they never had before; they name him after a mostly miserable street that is only navigable in a car and serves as a dividing line in Portland, be it in our everyday speech or property values.

Just realized I haven't publicly chimed in on this; Changing the name is fucking stupid! In fact, it's so stupid, that I feel I have to misspell "stupid" at least once in this sentence to offer an exemplar of exactly what "stoopid" means.

@ Sarah: Are you suggesting that it's beyond the pale for a group looking to block a street renaming to actually read the rules about street renaming? WILL THESE RACISTS STOP AT NOTHING?

I was really hoping two star-crossed lovers would find each other across the divide of these warring factions, and, as they lay victims of a love that burned too bright, (preferably at the corner of SE Stephens & SE 39th/Chavez), enemies would become friends and Sam Adams would nervously sing the national anthem.

I guess it wasn't that dramatic... but close.

The new font is called Clearview and it is a Federal Highway Administration standard...

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=…

Anyone who thinks naming a street after Chávez is "for Latinos" is missing the point. Chávez fought for human and equal rights for the poor- he and most of they just happened to be Latinos. Not much has changed. If anything, maybe this name change will teach people his history as well as how to spell his name correctly, that goes for all of you posters.

Totally moronic wastle of money. What's in the name of a street? How can these people think that this renaming seriously deserved that amount of money?

What's wrong with people?

Finally! That should make navigating the city that much easier.

Pfft.

It will always be 39th Avenue to me. I've lived within 100 feet of the street for most of my life. If I have to call it something other than 39th Avenue, it will be CCB. I am not lending any validity to this farce.