Agenda Announcements Blog Sharing Orienting Thoughts on Portland Discussion of Portland Gentrification Solutions City Gentrification Report Portland Restorative Listening Project

Announcements Readings for next week: Tuesday, on Portland Walidah Imarisha “Oregon Black History Timeline” Portlandia and Whiteness The “Portlandia” effect Thursday, on San Francisco Solnit’s Hollow City (pdfs coming soon!)

What Can We Do About Gentrification? 1. Action within the “public” sector 2. Action within the “private” sector 3. Cultural/Educational Action 4. Direct Action

City of Portland Gentrification Report What’s in this report? What are the potential benefits of a report like this one as a strategy for responding to gentrification? What are the problems or disadvantages?

From the Report Gentrification and Displacement: An under-valued neighborhood that becomes desirable, which results in lower income households being displaced due to the loss of affordable housing. Gentrification Challenge: Public goal of improving neighborhoods for current residents often results in making neighborhood more attractive, which can lead to rising rents and values and involuntary displacement.

Portland’s Experience North and Northeast Neighborhoods Segregation and redlining Major urban renewal projects More recent improvement projects Not paired with programs to address displacement.

Portland’s Plan Strategies to address gentrification: Affordable Housing Business Development Tracking and Evaluation Policy Strategy: Planning, policy, and public investment align with market and demographic dynamics Tools for different types of neighborhoods Facilitate equitable revitalization and mitigate harmful consequences Tools to assess potential impacts from future projects

Gentrification/displacement Gentrification/displacement. Minimize the involuntary displacement of vulnerable populations, such as low-income households, the elderly, and people with disabilities from their communities as neighborhoods grow. 2.7.a. Strive to maintain the socioeconomic diversity and cultural stability of established communities. 2.7.b. Consider the potential to cause gentrification/displacement when planning significant new public investments in areas with concentrations of low- and moderate income housing to protect against involuntary displacement of existing residents. 2.7.c. Utilize public investments, incentives, and policy tools to mitigate the impacts of market pressures that cause involuntary displacement. 2.7.d. Encourage early and meaningful involvement of community members in prioritizing needs and redevelopment plans, especially communities of color and others historically left out of critical participation forums.

Portland Restorative Listening Project What is it? What are its potential benefits as a strategy for responding to gentrification? What are its problems, or potential disadvantages?

MARTIN: Judith, can I ask you something MARTIN: Judith, can I ask you something? At the end of the day, though, what do you say to those who say look, it's not about feelings, it's about policy? Ms JUDITH MOWRY: Well, of course it is and like everything, it's holistic. Everything is connected to everything else. The reason the policies aren't what they need to be is that we don't have the political will in the majority white paradigm to make them so. What I believe is that if we actually get it, if we are actually willing to look at it then we will become passionate about creating that equality. There is nothing like sitting in a room with someone . . . and hearing her experience. You walk out changed and you walk out feeling like it's no longer this abstraction of some black community. It is people valuing each other and starting to figure it out. And we can do that.

Reminders for Next Week Annotated Bibliographies Due Next Friday, 11/21 Description posted in “Assignments” section of the blog Also posted: sample annotated bib Readings for next week: Tuesday, on Portland Walidah Imarisha “Oregon Black History Timeline” Portlandia and Whiteness The “Portlandia” effect Thursday, on San Francisco Solnit’s Hollow City (pdfs coming soon!)