Divided by the concrete wall of Interstate 5, the two
Portland neighborhoods of Overlook and Boise lie just
a stone's throw from each other, but they are, in many
ways, worlds apart.
Overlook, on the west side of the freeway, enjoys higher
property values, lower crime rates and spectacular views
of the river. Boise, to the east, while making great
strides in the last decade, remains one of Portland's
poorer neighborhoods.
Now a massive project to improve the freeway has fired
up an old feud between the two neighborhoods. At issue,
ironically, is a padlocked structure originally designed
to bring them closer together: the Failing Street pedestrian
bridge.
Overlook wants the footbridge torn down. Boise wants
it reopened. As both sides marshal allies to support
their positions, the Oregon Department of Transportation,
which is poised to decide the fate of the span, is stuck
in the middle. "It's a poignant neighborhood issue,"
says Christie Holmgren, who is coordinating ODOT's public
outreach on the project.
The footbridge hasn't been used since October 1991,
when it was closed off as a result of complaints about
criminal activity. It remained a mute monument to urban
neglect until last year, when ODOT set in motion a major
project to repave I-5 between Hassalo Street and the
Interstate Bridge. The new coat of asphalt will raise
the freeway by about four inches--enough, unfortunately,
to reduce the clearance of five overpasses to a critical
level. As a result, ODOT will have to jack up the spans
in order to meet state and federal height standards.
For the other overpasses, this poses no particular
controversy. But the agency is unwilling to spend $300,000
to raise a padlocked footbridge. So ODOT began seeking
public input on whether to raise and reopen the bridge
or to demolish it.
Overlook residents are "absolutely" opposed to reopening
the bridge, according to Bob Peterson, chairman of the
Overlook Neighborhood Association. They fear criminals
will use the bridge as a springboard to the neighborhood's
fat wallets and late-model cars. Neighbors trade horror
stories about the muggings, break-ins and burglaries
that took place when the bridge was open. After the
footbridge was closed, "it was like day and night,"
says Overlook resident Terry Vanderkooy, who lives three
blocks away from the span's west end.
ODOT initially tried to address these concerns with
police statistics showing that crime in the area around
the bridge had actually increased since the structure's
closure. But Overlook residents weren't convinced. They
asked for a separate tally of crimes on the east and
west sides of the bridge. Sure enough, more detailed
reports showed a slight decline on the west side after
the bridge was closed--and a surge on the east side.
Although an elevated footbridge might seem an unlikely
incubator of crime, Overlook neighbors say the bridge
created a bizarre scenario reminiscent of the Keystone
Cops. Miscreants would commit crimes on one side of
the freeway, then dash across the bridge, where police
cars could not follow. Officers were reluctant to pursue
on foot for the chance that the suspects would hop into
a getaway car on the other side, leaving the cops panting
in the dust. Instead, officers would drive three blocks
north, cross the freeway at Skidmore, and head back
down to Failing. "By the time [the police] got to the
other side, [the suspects] were long gone," says Vanderkooy.
Officer Cheryl Kanzler, spokeswoman for the Portland
Police Bureau, agrees that the bridge created a "conduit
for criminal activity." As a result, the bureau opposes
reopening the bridge.
Beyond the crime factor, Overlook sees little benefit
in improving its connections to Boise. In November the
Overlook Neighborhood Association voted unanimously
to ask ODOT to demolish the bridge. "It seems that the
little use [the bridge] has for our neighborhood residents
is largely overshadowed by its attraction to a negative
criminal element," association chairman Peterson later
wrote in a letter to City Commissioner Charlie Hales.
The view is a little different on the other side of
the freeway. Boise residents yearn for the tall trees
and lush grass of Overlook Park, with its glorious view
of the river. "We have no place for our kids to run
and play," says light-bulb vendor Kay Newell, who lives
two blocks from the bridge's east end. In addition,
Boise residents would like better access to the Kaiser
Medical Center and the No. 5 bus. As things stand, pedestrians
in Boise who want to venture west of the freeway have
to detour north to Skidmore or south to Stanton--a 30-minute
hike. Boise residents acknowledge the potential crime
problems but feel they could be addressed by installing
cameras or simply locking the bridge after dark.
There is, in addition, a suspicion among Boise residents
that they are viewed as second-class citizens. "There's
a kind of a wall the freeway makes that the Overlook
people are quite comfortable with," says Tod Lundy,
co-chair of the Boise Neighborhood Association. "We
are a poor neighborhood, and they think it's fine there's
a barrier." This concern is aggravated by the racial
composition of the two neighborhoods; historically,
Overlook has been predominantly white and Boise black.
Recent census figures show differences between the
two neighborhoods diminishing. "The people over here
are the same as the people over there," says Newell.
In 1990, 81 percent of Overlook residents were white,
compared with 26 percent in Boise. By 1996, the figure
dropped to 76 percent in Overlook and rose to 44 percent
in Boise. At the same time, crime rates in both neighborhoods
have dropped dramatically in the last 10 years.
For the record, Overlook residents contacted by WW
vigorously deny any prejudice against their neighbors
to the east. "It's not the folks in Boise--that's not
the issue at all," says Vanderkooy, who says the criminals
worked both sides of the bridge. "It's more the location
of the bridge itself than [a matter of] Boise versus
Overlook," agrees Peterson.
Whatever the genesis of their concerns, both sides
are trying to enlist allies. The Kaiser Permanente Medical
Center, located in Overlook right next to the footbridge's
west end, has not yet made an official statement. On
the other hand, Commissioner Hales last week weighed
in on the side of raising and reopening the bridge.
Time is running short, however. ODOT expects to decide
the bridge's fate by the first week of April.
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Willamette Week | originally
published March 31,
1999
