One neighborhood's stats tell the story

Encouraging signs start to pop up
everywhere, from a yard in Beaumont-
Wilshire and all the way to the mayor's office.

United Neighborhoods for Reform member Barbara Strunk crunched data collected from Portland Maps, Bureau of Development Services building permits, and real estate ads to present some salient demolition facts to City Council on Dec. 17.

Here are some of her findings from a two-year period (2013-2014) in the Beaumont-Wilshire neighborhood, where 85 demolitions and "remodels" that had the impact of demolition occurred:

• New houses were on average 2.3 times as big and 2.4 times as expensive as the homes they replaced.

• Of the 85 demolitions and "remodels," three (or 4 percent) were undertaken by homeowners who continued to live in the house.

• The median price of the new houses was $765,950, compared to the median house price in all of Beaumont-Wilshire of $449,000.

• If demolitions and "remodels" that have the impact of demolition continue to occur at the same rate, all original homes of Beaumont-Wilshire will be gone in 52 years.

She capped her testimony with the sobering thought, "I do not want to see my neighborhood become a place where the great majority of Portlanders cannot afford to live."

Mayor Hales has announced his intention to establish a task force to create new rules for replacement construction and control hazmat during demolition. We look forward to hearing more about these overdue and very welcome reforms—which account for nearly two-thirds of the UNR demolition/development resolution—at City Hall on Feb. 12, when Council will hear more about demolitions and their deleterious effects on Portland and Portlanders.