TAX THE RICH (AND/OR BORING) RE: “Pricing Out Portland’s Artists” [Feature, May 27], addressing how the rising cost of living in Portland affects the very community that contributes much of its value. DEAR MERCURY—State, local, and federal governments could follow Ireland’s example and exempt working artists from all taxes. It is clear that we add […]
Portland
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Skyrocketing Rents Are Pushing Out Portland’s Most Vulnerable
Photo: Jeff Gunn PORTLAND RESIDENT Caroline Sojourner signed a lease last year for $750 a month. On August 1, when it’s time to renew, that price will jump to $1,087. Sojourner can’t afford the $337 a month increase, and says she’s been sick with worry that she’s going to have to move from her Brooklyn […]
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Whitelandia: It’s Still Being Made, and They’re Still Asking for Money
After raising over $20,000 via Kickstarter last year, the Whitelandia documentary is asking for an additional $27,000. Last year, we blogged about the Whitelandia Kickstarter—and continued to cover it as the production grew increasingly complicated and contentious: Last May, Alberta residents Matt Zodrow and Tracy MacDonald collected $21,528 via Kickstarter to fund Whitelandia, a documentary […]
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This Week’s Letters Section!: “Douchebags Who Destroy Portland… One Microbrew Growler at a Time.”
RENT REVOLUTION RE: “Pricing Out Portland’s Artists” [Feature, May 27], regarding high rents and development pushing creatives out of the city. If we don’t stem the high rent in PDX, it will become as bland as a retirement village. Developers are sucking the life out of our historical neighborhoods. But it’s not just artists being […]
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So the Rent Is “Too Damn High”—How Damn High Is It?
NLIHC From the ‘Out of Reach’ report: “In no state can an individual working a typical 40-hour workweek at the federal minimum wage afford a one- or two-bedroom apartment for his or her family.” The gap between wages and rents is an uncomfortably familiar source of constant, low-level panic for many Americans, but the National […]
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Tigard’s Joy Cinema & Pub Asks for Help to Stay Open
via Three years ago, Jeff “Punk Rock” Martin took over Tigard’s Joy Cinema & Pub, promising to bring second-run blockbusters, pizza, and beer to the theater, along with “monster movies, biker flicks, critics’ faves, and grindhouse fare.” But for independent movie theaters, it’s been a tumultuous few years—thanks in large part to mandatory digital projection […]
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Newsflash: Newbies Aren’t Ruining Portland (But Here’s Something That Might)
First of all, if you’re new to Portland (even within the last few years), WELCOME! As a relative newcomer myself (since 2000), I mean that with the utmost sincerity. New people are great and necessary, because they turn over the garden, remind the rest of us of what the city still lacks, and have a […]
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Everything as Fuck: Portland Isn’t Disneyland
Illustration: Ryan Alexander-Tanner LAST WEEK the Willamette Week published a testimonial from one of its contributors. This particular writer was upset that people had mocked one of those LIFESTYLE CENTRIC PARK YOUR BIKE HERE AND KAYAK TO WORK ON A WAVE OF MICROBREW apartments that are springing up in the haunted graveyards of Portland’s recent, […]
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This Week’s Letters Section!: “It Is Important Not to Exaggerate.”
Bobby Roberts OH DEAR LLOYD… RE: “So Long, Lloyd Cinemas! You Won’t Be Missed” [Blogtown, May 12], regarding the news that the Lloyd Center 10 multiplex will be replaced by a mixed-use development. DEAR MERCURY—The only real memory I have of those theaters is seeing a movie with my high school homeboy and asking another […]
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Strength in Numbers: Portland Made’s Annual Survey
If you agree that one of the things that makes Portland so darn special is its culture of small manufacturing—of food things, clothing things, apothecary things, wood things, bike things, etc—I’m guessing you want to see that culture perpetuated. And, if you are out there making things yourself, selling at farmers markets and craft fairs […]
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Get to Know Your City, Win Tix to Sir Mix-A-Lot
If the cameo appearances of summer weather and rising percentages of pitbull puppies downtown haven’t signaled it to you yet, Portland is about to dive into high tourist season. I met some Canadians in Thailand a few months back and we were asking each other what brought visitors to our respective cities. Food/drink and outdoor […]
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This Week’s Letters Section: “Go Home, OLCC! You’re Drunk!”
Let’s start with a theory. Why not? It’s just a theory. Later on we’ll address the gun-lust of the OLCC! FRANÇOIS VIGNEAULT UNDERCOVER RE: The President’s recent visit to Portland, where he addressed a crowd at Nike headquarters. DEAR MERCURY—Why should President Obama visit Nowheresville to raise $110,000 and then give a speech he could […]