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Taxed to Death? Part 1 of 2

Posted on by Mike Warwick

By Mike Warwick

Introduction

It’s winter, a time for holiday cards and, less welcome, property tax bills. This time next year you may look back fondly at your tax bill as the Governor, Speaker of the House, and legislators from Beaverton and Hood River have all indicated they want to revisit our property tax system. Their public justification is that “gentrification” has resulted in “those homeowners” not “paying their fair share.” Of course, “gentrification” is a code word for homeowners in inner N/NE Portland; namely, us. To see how this might affect you and your neighbors, look at the difference between the “assessed value” and “market value” of your home. “Reform” will likely reset assessed value to market value so the difference (currently about 4 times for an older Eliot home), is how much taxes could increase; 400%!

Continue reading Taxed to Death? Part 1 of 2

Carried Away on a Bird

Posted on by Mike Warwick

By Mike Warwick

montse-on-scooter.DPI_600.jpg
Mike Warwick’s scooter partner Montse Shepherd enjoying a fall day
on a Bird. Photo credit Mike Warwick

Being a senior citizen leads me to avoid risky behavior. I was never a skateboarder and my few attempts at rollerblading ended in scrapes and torn trousers. The idea of balancing on a narrow, two-wheeled platform that moved seemed insane. However, the recent favorable report about Portland’s scooter trial forced me to accept a neighbor’s invitation to test drive one. Like many residents, I begrudge riders on sidewalks, scooters blocking sidewalks, and worse, blocking curb cuts for strollers and wheelchairs. However, the report indicated users surveyed believe these could address the “last mile” problem keeping more city residents from using mass transit or their personal vehicle. So, time to put myself at risk to determine the truth for myself.

Continue reading Carried Away on a Bird

Say Goodbye to 2018 and Welcome to 2019

Posted on by Jere Fitterman

Change is the only constant in life” (Heraclitus, c. 535 BC – 475 BC)

We are changing, it’s a fact. We always have been changing. Our neighborhood is one of the six fastest-growing neighborhoods in Portland and we continue to evolve demographically as well as architecturally. A quick search on the web will enlighten all our new Eliot residents. (Check out the list of web pages at the end of this letter)

Continue reading Say Goodbye to 2018 and Welcome to 2019

Eliot’s Suggested Contacts for the Freeway Expansion

Posted on by Brad Baker

The proposed I-5 expansion through Eliot and the Rose Quarter will have a dramatic impact on our air quality, traffic, and safety. ODOT is asking for feedback now through April 1st.

In addition to sending your feedback to ODOT, please also consider sending feedback to our elected leaders who also have sway over the project.

Continue reading Eliot’s Suggested Contacts for the Freeway Expansion

Within and Beyond the Borders of Eliot: Meet Your New Eliot Neighborhood Association Board for 2019

Posted on by Sue Stringer

By Sue Stringer

This column usually features businesses, in Eliot and just beyond our neighborhood’s borders to help our residents learn what exciting businesses and opportunities are located in and around our amazing neighborhood. However, in this issue, we focus on the people that make up the Eliot Neighborhood Association Board.

Our Eliot Neighborhood Association board is made up of 12 members this year. Most live in Eliot but some just work in Eliot and live in other neighborhoods. We have included most of them here so you can get to know them better. Also, you can always stop by a neighborhood association meeting and come meet us in person!

Continue reading Within and Beyond the Borders of Eliot: Meet Your New Eliot Neighborhood Association Board for 2019

Call for New Members for the Land Use and Transportation Committee

Posted on by Brad Baker

The Land Use and Transportation Committee is looking for more neighbors to join our group. Anyone who works or lives in the neighborhood is welcome to join. Whether you’ve been in the neighborhood for a week or thirty years, regardless of if you’re an urban planner or are just curious to know about upcoming projects in the neighborhood, we’d love to have you join. The time commitment is fairly light with only one two-hour meeting a month.

The Land Use and Transportation Committee or LUTC is a group that participates in neighborhood review of land use, zoning, building and transportation regulation and planning. What that essentially boils down to is when a new project or policy is proposed that will affect the neighborhood, the group proposing the change with come to LUTC and ask for our input or feedback. LUTC then voices our opinions on what can lead to the proposed project having the largest positive impact on the neighborhood.

If this sounds interesting we’d love to have you. If you’re worried that you don’t have the right “background,” don’t let that stop you from joining. We’d be happy to train you and get you up to speed on things so that you can be a contributing member.

So if you’re interested in helping shape the direction our neighborhood and city grow, please consider joining. Our meetings are open to everyone, so if you’re interested in checking them out to see if you want to get involved, they’re the second Monday of the month at 7pm at 120 NE Knott. The next meeting is Monday, March 11.

Breadwinner Cycles and Café

Posted on by Eliot Neighborhood

Hey Eliot friends! I’m one of the owners of Breadwinner Cycles and Café on Williams at Page St (one block south of Russell). We have been making custom bicycles for many years, and about a year ago opened a cafe adjacent to our shop. I’m reaching out to just let you all know that we are here. We’re not in the thick of the busy retail part of Williams and we have parking, making it a convenient place to stop, but also easy to miss. Our menu has breakfast and lunch items, coffee and espresso from Water Ave, and beer and wine, all with a view of our little bike “factory.” We’d love to have more neighborhood friends stop by, whether you are into bikes or not, so please think of us next time you are looking for a treat close by. Thanks!

Breadwinner Cycles and Café
2323 N Williams Ave.
503-206-5917
Breadwinnercycles.com

By Tony Pereira

Eliot Houses the BMX Museum

Posted on by Eliot Neighborhood
BMX bike frames hanging from ceiling
Only some of the bike frames and gears at the BMX Museum. Photo credit
Micah Kranz, Niiro Circus

Gary Sansom doesn’t have to go far to visit a museum. He has one of the world’s largest collections of BMX bikes in his house.  There are bikes in the kitchen and bikes in the dining room – which really isn’t a dining room at all, just a room in the middle of the house with custom shelving units built to display different bike parts from different eras.

Continue reading Eliot Houses the BMX Museum

More homes. All shapes and sizes. For all our neighbors.

Posted on by Eliot Neighborhood

This is the mantra encouraged by a Seattle based research group studying solutions to increase livability in their city. Portlanders find ourselves in a similar situation; we need more housing options. 40% of people in the Portland-Hillsboro-Vancouver MSA rent their homes. At the same time, according to a study by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, the average rent for 1-bedroom apartments is no longer affordable for people earning the mean renter wage. For families that make less than half of the median family income (Portland’s median family income is around $83,000 per year), there is an affordable housing shortage. In Multnomah County, the estimated wait time for housing assistance is 14.5 years. If you were to get on the waitlist when your child is a baby, you’d be waiting for housing assistance until your child was a high schooler.

Continue reading More homes. All shapes and sizes. For all our neighbors.

What a Great Difference a Year Makes

Posted on by Eliot Neighborhood

In under a year, Boise Eliot Native Grove has transformed a grassy dumping ground into a thriving native pollinator habitat and education space. Located on N. Ivy St. north of the Fremont Bridge ramp, the Grove is now planted with over 500 plants representing 40+ species of native plants and 9 species of trees, along with logs, stumps, snags, boulders, educational species signs & interpretive signs featuring English, Latin & Chinuk Wawa plant names.

Continue reading What a Great Difference a Year Makes

Moving News about Martin Mayo House

Posted on by Sue Stringer
Martin Mayo House
Martin Mayo House in 2018. Photo by Sue Stringer

It’s not often that a house is in the news multiple times over the course of 122 years, but it’s no wonder when one specific house has had 4 different physical addresses. The Martin Mayo House has been the topic of many articles in the Eliot News – most recently in the summer issue of the Eliot News (“Historic Martin Mayo House Slated for Demolition” and “Help Stop the Demolition of Martin Mayo House”).

Continue reading Moving News about Martin Mayo House