BIG OREGON QUESTIONS, ONE ANSWER

Oregon questions don’t come one at a time.

Like the mountain that blew all over our northern neighbor, things tend to percolate.

When they do go, they go big.

Whether it’s heartfelt outrage over farmland sold off for developers to rape and pillage with grocery stores, restaurants, and super efficient mixed-use housing, or the joy of moving out of the city, or closer to the city, there is real concern.

Moving from the ruined, crushed, burning, crumbling, post-apocalyptic hellscape of Portland’s  Eastside, Westside, Northside, and Southside, fleeing the carnage after stopping at Fred Meyers for groceries, going through the Dutch Bros drive-thru for a Caramel Pumpkin Brûlée Breve, and after an appointment at the dog wash, is a concern on where to go.

This is one of life’s major stress points that doesn’t get talked about enough: Where to go?

Many people moving closer to the city are asking big Oregon questions like, “Is Portland really worse than the beginning of Saving Private Ryan?“

Seriously? Come on. There may be tanks at the National Guard station at PDX, but there are no tank traps on the banks of the Willamette.

The only shaking hands are those waving goodbye on their way out of the city and their old life of fear and worry.

After their block by block skirmishes with the government checkpoints set up across Portland, green light for go, red light for stop, yellow for maybe, they deserve recognition, acknowledgment, a tip of the hat.

 

Honoring Portland Veterans In Bethany 

From Google AI:

 

Mixed-use development is a project that combines multiple purposes, such as housing, retail, and office space, within a single building or complex to create a self-contained, vibrant community.

These developments often feature vertical integration, with retail on the ground floor and residential or office space above, and are designed to be walkable with amenities like parks and public transit to reduce reliance on cars and promote sustainability.  

 

Bethany has a vision of what it was, what it is, and what it will be.

What it will be is an English village feel, which I got a taste of on the last big trip.

It even has a public bathroom. No big deal, you say?

One of the big Oregon questions is, “Where’s the bathroom.”

In 2025 you can’t just pull over wherever you are and christen Oregon.

The same rules that apply everywhere else apply here, and Bethany gets it.

This is what stands out, business on the bottom floor, living space on top.

 

 

This is what it is becoming with shade from the sun, and shelter from the rain.

 

 

How many parking lot centric places can you name that could have used the same plan?

The huge lots in Tualatin near Cabellas, close to the freeway, shopping, and further out of Portland?

The outdoor mall of Bridgeport Village that has everything but the village?

Those aren’t the biggest Oregon questions, and I’m not asking for an answer, but why not help out?

 

Why Not Help Out?

Now and then I get feedback that makes me wonder if I’m doing the right thing by writing a blog the way I do.

Am I serving a cause? Noooo.

Am I promoting a lifestyle? Noooo.

Am I  closing a sale? Noooo.

So why would I spend the time I do with this?

Why would an able-bodied, clear minded, university educated baby boomer bother nailing one blog post after another to the online tree?

Because someone somewhere will read boomerpdx and start writing with the great hopes of new writers everywhere at every time in history start with.

They might produce a masterpiece and give the old blogger credit in notes.

That’s not the only reason I write, but it’s one.

Another is to portray family and support and authentic love, real love, the kind of love you never know until you live it.

I’d include the family I’ve been blessed with, but they banned that bullshit, so I’m on my own.

It’s not a love to protect, or cherish, or hide away. It is a love of recognizing others in the same light.

Make that a goal and watch the landscape shift.

The folks who say the landscape never shifts?

They will need help when they lose their balance, fall, and can’t get up.

The people who know how to adjustment know how to get up. (Hey Phyllis)

 

PS: Look for a new light in old friends.

 

PSS: Don’t light them up if they’re not bright enough.