Only in Portland

Portland was the first major American city to elect a woman mayor. Now Portland may become the first American city to elect a mayor who is gay and who has been accused of having an affair with a minor.

Moreover, the person who made the accusation, who is also running for mayor, is also gay and has also been rumored to have had an affair with a minor (though in this instance it clearly seems a case of mistaken identity). Is this a great country or what?

It’s well known that the New Urban lifestyle of high-density living in mixed-use developments is most attractive to young singles, childless couples, and gays. I firmly believe that any zoning codes or other regulations that prevent developers from meeting the market demand for this lifestyle should be eliminated.

Although marijuana use is often dismissed as a benign rite of passage among young people, researchers note that the high rate of use is concerning, given that the brains of high school students are commander cialis pharma-bi.com still developing. Silagra pill is available in the market in cheap. click here for more info buy viagra The effective treatment lasts for four to six purchase viagra from india hours. How does Kamagra act? Before knowing the action of Kamagra, one should be familiar viagra on line http://pharma-bi.com/2010/04/don%E2%80%99t-be-fooled-by-poor-analytics/ with how an erection occurs. What Portland has done, however, is to increase the regulatory cost of building low-density housing while it has subsidized high-density housing. This has led to a dramatic sorting of te region’s population: families with children have moved to the suburbs while Portland itself has gotten younger and more child free. Although Portland’s population has doubled since 1925, its schools educate fewer children than it did then.

People have a tendancy to think that everyone in the world shares the same tastes as their close friends and associated. The problem with having a city that is run by gays and other childless people is that they may not realize that not everyone wants to live in high-density mixed-use developments.

Sam Adams, who is considered the leading candidate for mayor, recently proposed that all new housing in Portland be high-density housing along streetcar lines or near light-rail stations. What’s good enough for him is apparently good enough for everyone else. Of course, people can still buy an existing home on a 50×100 lot, but those houses will get more expensive than they already are as demand rises and supply stays declines as some of the remaining single-family houses are torn down and replaced with rowhouses or “skinny houses” on 25×100 lots.

Of course, there are plenty of examples of Portland policitians who live in giant homes with large yards who are nonetheless willing to close the door for anyone else to buy such housing. So maybe it doesn’t matter if Portland elects a gay mayor who wants to jam all future families into transit-oriented developments.

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About The Antiplanner

The Antiplanner is a forester and economist with more than fifty years of experience critiquing government land-use and transportation plans.

7 Responses to Only in Portland

  1. JimKarlock says:

    Metro is Portland’s regional planning agency and just full of gung-ho planning Nazis who KNOW how everyone else should live.

    Here is a page of how the elected Metro officials lived a few years ago when the web site was created:

    http://www.stopmetro.com/Lifestyles.htm

    Comments Dan?
    Comments Msetty?

    Thanks
    JK

  2. aynrandgirl says:

    Do we know that Mr Adams lives in high-density housing? It wouldn’t surprise me if he owned a house and knows the policies he espouses dramatically increase the price (but not *value*) of that house. That has three benefits for him: the direct financial benefit of owning an asset with lots of equity, albeit with much less liquidity, loads of extra property tax money he’ll get to spend (waste) on his favorite pet projects, and extra money available to pay him increased salary and benefits.

  3. Dan says:

    People have a tendancy to think that everyone in the world shares the same tastes as their close friends and associated. The problem with having a city that is run by gays and other childless people is that they may not realize that not everyone wants to live in high-density mixed-use developments.

    Exactly my point in the thread last week, when certain small-minority ideologies pronounce/imply/knee-jerk that large-lot single-fam should be built everywhere because that’s what is wanted. My rule of thumb is 1/3 1/3 1/3, where 1/3 want hi density, 1/3 don’t, and 1/3 don’t think about it that much and will live wherever.

    It is also interesting that the longer a suburban dweller lives in large-lot single-fam, the lower their satisfaction with the neighborhood (albeit they didn’t move to the McSuburb to seek neighborhood).

    DS

  4. JimKarlock says:

    It wouldn’t surprise me if he owned a house and knows the policies he espouses dramatically increase the price (but not *value*) of that house

    Sam does live in a house in a modest area of North Portland. In or near an urban renewal district.

    Thanks
    JK

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