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A few broad generalizations that we think are supportable: (1) Portlanders like basketball, and (2) Portlanders do not like billionaires. So now, the Trail Blazers have launched a public relations offensive designed to convince Portlanders that they should give a billionaire $600 million so they can watch basketball. This is going about as well as you would expect. Last week, WW’s package of stories about the Blazers’ future included a look at what half a billion taxpayer dollars would change about Moda Center (“Pruning the Rose Garden,” Feb. 18). Upgrades include: dining areas with panorama views, semiprivate suites close to the court, and arena Wi-Fi that actually works. To which Portlanders replied: We hate it! Happiness is for the weak! Real fans watch games while standing in the rain! Here’s what our readers actually had to say:
whawkins4, via Reddit: “The only things taxpayers should be on the hook for are HVAC, plumbing, and rigging, and loading. Those are all appropriate upgrades for a building owner (the city).
“Everything else is obviously devised to extract maximum profit from the space. Which is fine. But such measures are tenant improvements. And should therefore be paid by the new owners.”
Angela Corlateanu, via Facebook: “What we want to know is what $600 million would do for our roads, schools, parks, community center, firefighters and police officers.”
Michael Oliver, via wweek.com: “I’m not sure that Commissioner Silver’s or the league’s marketing influencers have the same taste or needs that I have.
“If I want to see the game remotely, socialize with friends, have great food and drink, I can do so at any number of local sports bars in the metro area. I can go to those way easier, not face the [pre- and postgame] traffic jams, etc., and pay a far more reasonable fare to do so than going to Moda Center. Actually, I can really splurge given I won’t also be paying for the seat I’d be vacating anyway to hang out in the expanded corridors and new food and beverage joints.
“If the author is correct about what the redesign is all about, I’ll probably continue to periodically watch the Blazers regardless of the city they relocate to and do so at the local sports bar my friends and I decide to go to that night.”
TK, via wweek.com: “The city should not have agreed to buy the arena for peanuts, in exchange for holding the renovation tab. No one seemed to question it or bothered to look the gift horse in the mouth, but they should have. It was done to make the team’s sale package more palatable to buyers, and provide more flexibility to leave town if they aren’t able to leverage tax dollars.”
trpjlmp, via wweek.com: “I have been a Blazer season ticketholder for nearly 20 years (two seats shared between four people). My main complaint is the complete lack of local beer, and the insane cost of the Seattle beer they do sell. That being said, the new scoreboards are terrible.”
SoupSpelunker, via Reddit: “Every time I hear more about this astroturf campaign, I just hear: ‘Nice basketball team you got there—be a shame if something happened to it…’”
forestgospel, via Reddit: “You usually only see consent manufactured like this for wars and stuff.”
LIBRARY STACKS UNDER ATTACK
Something is missing from the renovated libraries: books for browsing (“Because Our Libraries Are Stunning Again,” WW, Feb. 11)! Most branches now have a very small rotating collection. But gone are the days when you could spend time wandering through the stacks and finding a book which catches your eye. Yes, you can browse “new books” or “lucky day.” You can use the website to find books on a specific subject or to get recommendations from librarians. You can search the website, put a book on hold, and come in to check it out. But the pleasure of actually seeing titles on a variety of topics is gone from most branches. Those books are now in central storage not open to the public. No longer can a patron wander the stacks and come across a book by chance. We must know what we want, or browse a remnant of what was there before.
What happened? I am told that the stacks hide bad behavior and staff needs better sight lines to see and handle it. I know bad, even disgusting and illegal behavior is now a feature at many public places. I am appalled that librarians must deal with it. But what a shame.
Who cares? Many older patrons like me. Apparently the stacks, like us, have aged out in our digital, unruly world.
I hope that reading an actual book will remain a part of our culture. And in my remaining years, I will mourn the demise of stacks.
Karla Forsythe
Southwest Portland
Letters to the editor must include the author’s street address and phone number for verification. Letters must be 250 or fewer words. Submit to:
P.O. Box 10770
Portland, OR 97296
Email: amesh@wweek.com
