The Dialogue: What Readers Said About City Council’s Rejection of a 17-Story Pearl District Apartment Building

“Portland has a housing crisis, not a scenery crisis.”

By WW Staff

Last week, WW wrote about the Portland City Council's rejection of a 17-story building with 275 apartments ("No Foundation," WW, March 14, 2018). Pearl District residents had feared the building would obstruct their views of the Fremont Bridge. Economists worry the vote will have a chilling effect on future housing developments. Here's what our readers had to say.

JP Perry, via wweek.com: "Portland has a housing crisis, not a scenery crisis."

Chris Elliott, via wweek.com: "Do you want to live in Los Angeles or do you want to live in Portland? If you want to be here, then protect our city. If you want to live in a concrete jungle, then move. I applaud the Pearl residents for fighting against blocking our ever-decreasing views."

Anonymous, in response: "You realize LA's housing solution was sprawl, right? And that led to legendary traffic, notorious pollution, and overstretched infrastructure and public transit. To answer your question, I want to live in Portland. Let's build enough housing to make that possible. Sacrificing quality of life for housing? There are literally thousands of Portlanders for which ANY stable housing would be an upgrade in their quality of life."

Jake Hartel, via Facebook: "With all of the demand, I'm sure eventually somebody can come up with an acceptable compromise. Not just any shmuck developer can do it."

Babcock123, via wweek.com: "Good news! The value of my house just went up and I can charge more for my rental. Less new housing + growing population = more money for me. Thanks, Ted and gang!"

Jesse Liberty, via Facebook: "This rejection is basically the council being swayed by wealth, not the needs of the people."

Andrew Yaden, via Facebook: "It's not just about this project, but how it was done and what that means for the next development that a neighborhood opposes."

Pdan, via wweek.com: "I don't think people have any idea of the time and expense involved in developing a project to the point of approval, much less getting it built. Adding more layers of bureaucracy and not providing developers with clear criteria that they know will get their project approved if they follow it is astoundingly counterproductive."

Scatcatpdx, via wweek.com: "Great, another land-use debacle we who live in the metro area will pay for in unaffordable housing."

Daryl Johnson, via Facebook: "Yes, what will the average buyer do without more towers offering out-of-reach apartments and million-dollar condos?"

Benjamin Page, via Facebook: "Well it's either density or sprawl. Pick your poison."

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