Comments on the Pearl in Street Roots
Posted By LaurenI stopped outside of Powell’s on Hawthorne to buy a copy of Street Roots, a newspaper focused on issues of the disadvantaged and marginalized and sold by Portland’s homeless for income. The newspaper is short. The articles and creative writing are somewhat hit and miss both in terms of writing quality and subject matter. Still, I appreciate the vendors’ and staff’s dedication to improving their lives and the lives of others in the same situation. So, I buy it when I have a spare dollar. I believe that the newspaper is bimonthly. The issue I’m reading now is dated January 1st.
On page 11 is a letter written by a Jordana Smith complaining about the architecture in the Pearl.
“What no one seems to be able to admit, especially the fools who paid too much to live there is that the architecture is BUTT UGLY, Neo-Stalinist grey cement hideous boxes.”
Then she continues with a joke.
“Q: What’s the difference between the Pearl District and a low-income housing project?
A: About a million dollars!! (Because they are both insanely UGLY!! there is no difference besides price.)”
I think the difference between the Pearl District and a low-income housing project is actually several million dollars, but that’s beside the point. I’m not sure I’d call the Pearl District “Neo-Stalinist” but it does intimidate me. My friends and I were walking in the area and realized that (except for the rain and lack of pedestrians) we could be in Manhattan for just a moment. It’s too cosmopolitan to be Portland. Who lives in those imposing nearly skyscraping towers? I’ve never met someone who owns or rents a fancy Pearl District loft. I only know one person who’s even been in one. Who actually knows what do they look like on the inside?
I know if I had a lot of money in Portland I’d like a house with several rooms and a garden.
The Casey and Art Exhibit
Buy Local- Art at First Thursday
Landfair Furniture Moving to The Pearl District
Kinta Restaurant on Belmont
Last Thursday Poorly Attended but Well Shopped by Me
2 Responses to “Comments on the Pearl in Street Roots”
1 The Casey and Art Exhibit » Portland Interior Design Blog 4 February 2007 @ 11:19 pm
[…] I really don’t approve of 3/4 million dollar one bedroom apartments. But that’s all the rage in the Pearl (and everyone loves to complain about the Pearl). The upcoming “The Casey” at NW 12th and Everett will be just full of these expensive little gems (61 apartments in a 12 story building). Supposedly, about half of these uber-expensive living quarters have already sold. To whom? Like I’ve wondered before, who actually lives in these buildings? Why not just buy a nice place in the West Hills? […]
2 Interior design » Blog Archive » The Casey and Art Exhibit 21 August 2007 @ 5:06 am
[…] I really don’t approve of 3/4 million dollar one bedroom apartments. But that’s all the rage in the Pearl (and everyone loves to complain about the Pearl). The upcoming “The Casey” at NW 12th and Everett will be just full of these expensive little gems (61 apartments in a 12 story building). Supposedly, about half of these uber-expensive living quarters have already sold. To whom? Like I’ve wondered before, who actually lives in these buildings? Why not just buy a nice place in the West Hills? […]
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