There should be a Venn diagram in which Pokémon Go, housing, and being independently wealthy intersect, right? Well, while we’re waiting around for that, check out this Craigslist ad: While the description doesn’t go into exact detail about what makes it such a good Pokémon Go hotspot, let’s assume your digs will be brimming with […]
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Posted inComedy
Note to Moving Companies: Maybe You Shouldn’t Screw Over Beloved Comedians?
Burgess and Braunohler: REVENGE!!! If you’re a moving company, you shouldn’t be screwing over people as a general practice. But when you’re a moving company that screws over a comedian? WHOA NELLY, that’s a very unfortunate decision—and there are TWO such examples from today alone! First actor/comedian Titus Burgess (from The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) hired […]
Posted inBooks
This New Multnomah County Library Logo Cost $30,000. Thoughts?
Multnomah County Library In case you haven’t seen, your Multnomah County Library system unveiled a brand-new logo this week! It’s three interlocking polygons, each of them costing about $10,000. Importantly, the $30,000 in design work that led to the new logo didn’t come from your pocket—unless you’ve donated to the Friends of the Multnomah County […]
Posted inNews
Facing A Re-Election Fight, Steve Novick Is Taking A Pay Raise for the First Time
City Commissioner Steve Novick Portland Bureau of Transportation It’s the first day of the city’s fiscal year, and Commissioner Steve Novick is getting a fat raise. After passing up three years worth of cost of living adjustments (COLAs) to his salary while his colleagues enjoyed them, Novick this year has finally elected to accept his […]
Posted inHousing
Portland Officials Are About to Put A Historic Housing Bond On the Ballot
Get used to this logo, Portland. It’ll be around til November. Portland City Council will almost certainly make history this afternoon. At 2 pm, the council’s taking up a long-anticipated $258.4 million housing bond, which voters will consider on the November ballot. Other cities have had dedicated tax money for housing for decades—Seattle’s passed one […]
Posted inHousing
City: Proposed $258.4 Million Housing Bond Amounts to 1,300 Units
Nicole Cmar The City of Portland now has another figure to attach to the $258.4 million housing bond City Council will almost certainly put before voters this November: 1,300. That’s the approximate number of affordable housing units those millions would hope to create or preserve over the eight years the Portland Housing Bureau expects money […]
Posted inHousing
Here’s the $258.4 Million Housing Bond You’ll Be Voting on in November
Hey, Portland: You know how this city is currently short about 24,000 affordable units? And how the rent here is shooting up as fast, or faster, than anywhere in the country—15 percent in the last year—meaning that number is only going to rise? Meet the latest effort to improve matters. City Council next week will […]
Posted inNews
Is the City’s Plan to Spruce Up This Swan Island Dock Illegal? Some People Think So.
WHEN SUMMER HITS in Portland, aspiring mariners set a course for Swan Island. The North Portland industrial enclave, an island in name only these days, hosts one of the few public boat launches within city limits. That launch and an accompanying dock quickly fill to capacity when the weather turns balmy. So the city wants […]
Posted inCannabis
Portland Will Vote on a Pot Sales Tax in November. Here Are the Details.
Add a pot sales tax to all the other taxes you’re juggling these days, Portland. The Portland City Council voted this afternoon to refer a 3 percent sales tax on recreational marijuana sales within city limits to the November ballot. That same ballot looks like it’ll also contain a $250 million local bond measure aimed […]
Posted inNews
A New City-County Homelessness Office Is Officially Coming Next Month (Pending One Vote)
This is how a Joint Homeless Office would work. Sort of confusing. Budget deficits have been a hot topic at Portland City Hall lately. But they took a backseat this morning, as Portland City Council elected to, in effect, create a $3.5 million hole in its next budget by committing to pooling its resources for […]
Posted inNews
Nick Fish Says A Massive Homeless Campus is a Bad Fit At NW Portland’s Terminal 1
Terminal 1, in all its glory. Google A quiet proposal by a pair of Portland developers for a massive complex to shelter and house homeless Portlanders got a familiar response from one city commissioner today: Sounds great, but probably not here. That commissioner is Nick Fish, who’s in charge of the Portland Bureau of Environmental […]
Posted inNews
A New Tax For Affordable Housing Is Going to Pass—But Will Portland Unnecessarily Forego Millions?
Are new apartment buildings commercial or residential projects? Most days, that’s a question that makes a difference mostly for the type of permit developers need from the City of Portland. But under a new construction tax that appears destined to pass city council next week, it could mean a difference of millions in how much […]