Editor's note:
"Nosing" around
One of the great social lubricants in a neighborhood, and just about anywhere, are dogs prone to greeting.
The other day I received an e-mail from one who asked to greet right here in the Hillsdale News.
So with this issue, Riley, the dog, introduces himself and invites fellow members of his species to share their views of our neighborhood and its human inhabitants.
Talk about "pack journalism."
As editor, I get to edit, even Airedales with airs. So I'm setting a limit of 100 words on how much our tail-wagging friends can share with us. I'll also decide how often they do so.
Note to the pack: Please include photographs of yourselves and a description of your particular Hillsdale Turf.
With that, here's Riley. I'll share my human commentary after he's had his canine say.
A dog's world
Noze Knowz
Welcome to Noze Knowz. I search our neighborhood for signs (and smells) of canine friends.
I love it here in my Hillsdale neighborhood and wanted to introduce myself, so you can greet me by name, Riley, on your walks.
Some other four-legged friends might like to do the same in the Hillsdale News.
If so, please e-mail me a picture of you (and, if you like, your owner[s]) to riley.hillsdale.dog@gmail.com.
I live with Jeff and Jan in our neighborhood on 18th Place up above Sunset Boulevard.
I love to take walks, alert Jeff and Jan to anyone - especially dogs - passing by.
I've lived here all my life - five years - except for the first weeks of puppyhood.
My alphas tell me they don't call me the "King of Airedales" for nothing. I'm boss. I love you all, especially if you stay in your place on my sniffing order.
I mouth, (never bite), jump up, and get a major adrenalin rush from seeing human walkers and even more of a charge from seeing other neighborhood dogs.
Write, now!
Riley
Commentary
Meeting the Future
If you have traveled abroad you likely have visited"market towns," vibrant commercial hubs with weekly ortwice-a-week public markets that attract patrons from surroundingcommunities and outlying areas.
In many ways, Hillsdale has become a market town because of its ownfarmers market. Of course we aren't really a town, but we are whatthe Metro regional government and the City of Portland call a "towncenter," one of 30 in the Portland metropolitan region.
Hillsdale further contributes to its town center status by having a library,three public schools, many thriving local businesses, numerous busroutes, multi-unit housing and an involved citizenry.
Ten years ago, many of us created a city- and Metro-approved plan forthe town center. Much of what we have accomplished in the past decadearose from that plan. Improvements have been made to our streets andsidewalks, the market was begun, we have a network of urban trails and wehave formed a cooperative Alliance of our several organizations andinstitutions.
For all that we have accomplished, there's still much to do, andon Thursday, Nov. 29, we will give new impetus to our plan when theseven-member Metro Council meets here.
Several of us have put together a presentation to show the councilors how we started, what we have accomplished and where wewant to go. A panel of community leaders will speak briefly and fieldquestions.
The program begins at 5:30 p.m. at the Wilson High School cafeteria.We hope you will be there to help lay out the future of our community.
Rick Seifert
Editor
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Links to Alliance Members
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The Iowa structure from SW Trail #3. A Barbur bridge appears faintly in the lower right.
Major I-5 bridge project planned
Driving on I-5 through the notorious Terwilliger Curves, we barely notice the "Iowa Street Structure." From the driver's perspective, the bridge is little more than a pair of asphalt seams appearing eight seconds apart.
If the predicted large earthquake hits, we could become a lot more aware of the unstable bridge hidden from view beneath six lanes of pavement.
If the Iowa Street Structure collapses, I-5, Portland's front door, slams shut. The alternative entrance, if it is still operational, becomes Barbur Boulevard.
Earthquake or not, in the next five years, hundreds of thousands of motorists will become much more aware of the Iowa Street Structure as the state department of transportation sets about replacing it.
(The structure gets its name from Iowa Street's dead-ending at the structure. The street runs west for five blocks from SW Macadam.)
Preliminary cost estimates for rebuilding the structure are $40 million to $45 million, says Tony Stratis the ODOT bridge engineer overseeing plans. The work to be paid for with Federal highway dollars.
Stratis estimates that construction will begin between the fall of 2009 and the spring of 2010 and take at least two years to complete.
Geology explorations are already underway in the forested land west of I-5 and east of Barbur. The site is just above where three temporary lanes will be built in order to keep I-5 traffic moving during the replacement of the structure.
Building retaining walls between I-5 and Barbur Boulevard to make room for the additional lanes accounts for almost half the cost of the project, Stratis says. The walls will be permanent so that they can be used for future widening of the freeway.
In recent days state crews have bulldozed into the area from a staging area at the closed-off end of Slavin Road. The crews are taking core samples to determine the type of foundations needed for the retaining wall and new bridge.
Don Baack, chair of SW Trails and the president of the Hillsdale Neighborhood Association, wants to make sure that ODOT work near the old Slavin right-of-way takes into account plans for the Red Electric bike path.
Baack also wants SW Trail #3, which goes under the structure, to remain open during the work.
Stratis suggests that the trail issue be brought to ODOT's project development team for further consideration. One major issue will be hiker safety during construction, especially for the trail going under the bridge where demolition and construction work could result in falling objects.
Stratis says that because of the new temporary lanes, Barbur should avoid a substantial increase of traffic. As a result, planned improvements to two nearby Barbur bridges, the Vermont structure and the Newberry structure, needn't precede the Iowa structure work.
SW Trails wants to make sure that work on the Barbur bridges adds bicycle and pedestrian lanes.
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Town Center's Future
Big turn-out sought at Nov. 29
Metro Council meeting in Hillsdale
The seven-member, elected Metro Regional Council will meet in Hillsdale on Thursday, Nov. 29, and neighborhood leaders hope turnout from the neighborhood will demonstrate the vitality of the Hillsdale Town Center.
The meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. in the Wilson High School cafeteria.
Metro, the regional government, helped initiate the Town Center concept as part of its 2040 Plan for accommodating growth in the three-county metropolitan region.
Largely because of its excellent transit service and potential for higher density housing, Hillsdale was named one of 30 town centers in the region and one of 10 in Portland.
At the invitation of Metro Councilor Robert Liberty, who represents this area, Hillsdale Alliance member organizations will have an hour on the agenda to tell of Hillsdale Town Center accomplishments in the decade since the community hammered out a town center plan and got it approved by Metro and the Portland City Council.
The group will also suggest ways for Metro to help Hillsdale achieve unfulfilled goals in the town center plan, including coordinated in-fill housing in the Sunset Triangle north of the commercial area and the construction of sidewalks on arterial streets.
Following a 15-minute pictorial presentation, a panel of seven community leaders will make brief presentations about the schools, social services, the library, the farmers market, the business community, the neighborhood association and the Hillsdale Alliance.
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Food Front answers part of equation
Supporters like CO-OP concept
E-mails and phone calls continue to come in to the Food Front Co-op as its manager and board weigh opening a Hillsdale store in the old Wild Oats space.
Holly Jarvis, Food Front's general manager, said preliminary sales estimates for the store were within target range. "They weren't shockingly low and they weren't shockingly high," she said.
The feasibility of opening a Hillsdale store now hinges on costs, the major ones being to leasing, staffing, equipping and promoting the store.
On Nov. 30, Jarvis is set to meet with John Braidwood, the representative of the Wardin family, which owns the space as well as the retail space to the east and west in the Hillsdale Shopping Center.
Braidwood works closely with his wife, Ardys, who is a Wardin and oversees the family's property in Hillsdale. Braidwood has declined to say more about the future of the Wild Oats space than that the Wardins intend it to be a neighborhood grocery store.
Jarvis said she believes there may be other groceries interested in the site, but the meeting on Nov. 30 is a positive sign that the Wardins and Braidwood are interested in exploring Food Front's becoming a tenant.
Jarvis said that at last count, Food Front had received 125 e-mails in support of a Hillsdale Food Front. Staff at Food Front's only store on NW Thurman Street have also received numerous phone calls, she said.
"So many in Hillsdale are saying not just they want the grocery store; but that they want a co-op. They understand the importance of a co-op," Jarvis said.
Co-ops are owned by member/owners. A prospective Food Front owner purchases a $150 share, which may be paid for in $5 monthly installments. For more about Food Front and becoming a member/owner go to http://www.foodfront.coop/AboutUs
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One of three graffiti murals near the Capitol Highway on-ramp to Barbur
Old Slavin Road is home to new art
Hidden from motorists and just about everyone else, a forested area beneath the overhead junction of Capitol Highway at Barbur Boulevard is an outdoor art gallery.
It is accessible to cautious pedestrians.
Painted on an old retaining wall are three graffiti murals that one neighborhood leader, Don Baack, would like preserved. The walls are along the old Slavin Road right-of-way and are accessible from the bus stop beneath the overpass.
Caution is required getting to the bus stop on foot by walking along the shoulder of busy Barbur Boulevard or Capitol Highway.
As plans proceed for developing the Red Electric bike path along the Slavin right-of-way, the murals will be enjoyed by hundreds of bicyclists, Baack noted.
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Briefly
Music for book buyers at Dec. 9 sale
Several local music groups will perform at the Hillsdale community book sale/Watershed open house on Sunday, Dec. 9, at the new Watershed senior housing building, 6380 SW Capitol Hwy
Here's a rundown of the groups and the times they will perform.
11:30-11:45 Robert Gray Middle School, Panache Choir
11:50-12:05 George Wolff, Wilson High School, Guitar
12:10-12:25 Hayhurst Elementary School Choir
12:30-12:45 Portland Jewish Academy Middle School Choir
12:50-1:05 Wilson High School Band members
1:10-1:25 Flutando Quartet
Thousands of used books have been donated for the sale. If you haven't culled your shelves yet, time is running out. The last day to drop off donated books at the Hillsdale Farmers Market is Sunday, Dec. 2, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Proceeds from the sale benefit Hillsdale Alliance organizations, which include the three public schools, the farmers market, Neighborhood House, the Hillsdale Neighborhood Association and the business association.
The book sale lasts from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. At the same time, chili will be served and tours of the new building will be given.
Chef/author featured at Dec. 2 Holiday Market
Noted chef and cookbook author Deborah Madison will be at the Hillsdale Holiday Farmers Market on Sunday, Dec 2.
Among Madison's many books is "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone." The 10th anniversary edition of the book will be available at the market.
Madison is in Portland for a "Local Flavors" benefit dinner on Saturday, Dec. 1, to support school garden and education programs. For more information about the event visit http://www.culinate.com/content/6150.
Wilson students seek funds for needy kids
For several years, students from the Wilson High School Leadership Class have raised funds among fellow students to help needy children in transitional housing celebrate Christmas.
This year the class has decided to extend its fundraising into the community by setting up a donation table at the Dec. 2 Hillsdale Holiday Farmers Market, said Nick Drushella, Wilson's student body president and a member of the Hillsdale Neighborhood Association board.
Money will be used to purchase gifts for the children and gift certificates for their parents, he said.
The program is organized through the Multnomah County Corrections Deputies Charitable Trust. For more information about Wilson's involvement go to http://www.mccdct.org/christmas-giving.php
Christmas tree sales to boost Wilson athletics
Customers (and volunteers) are needed for the annual Wilson Boosters Xmas Tree Sale in the A-Boy parking lot.
The fund-raiser begins Saturday, Nov. 24, and lasts through Thursday, Dec. 20.
To help out with the sale call (503) 293-6704 or e-mail LRV1045@netzero.net.
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Helping
Volunteer trail-builders sought
SWTrails is inviting volunteers to help improve a footpath frequently used by Robert Gray Middle School students.
Thepath runs along the right-of-way for SW 25th Avenue, which borders theMittleman Jewish Community Center on its east property line. Part of the trail crosses theheadwaters of Fanno Creek.
Work sessions are scheduled for three hours on two upcoming Saturdays, Dec. 1 and Dec 15. Meet between 8:30 a.m. and 9 a.m. at SW 25th and SW Nebraska with a rake or shovel and work gloves.
For more information contact Don Baack, (503) 246-2088 Baack@pacifier.com
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Rick Seifert
Editor, Hillsdale News
(503) 245-7821
editor@hillsdalenews.org
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