Neighbors see and tell it like it is

Love your neighborhood? Give us a sign.

Recently four people have reported the disappearance of Stop the Demolition of Portland Homes signs from their front yards. With the signs, neighbors exercise their freedom of speech, as for candidates or ballot measures, only for a cause closest to home.

The signs show what concerns early investors in a neighborhood—that treasured homes that have served generations of Portlanders should be allowed to stand and shelter many more. The signs put the word out to teardown developers: We see what you're doing, and there are plenty of less destructive ways to build a better Portland.

The signs show would-be buyers of replacement homes that neighbors mourn a loss of what made their neighborhood attractive in the first place. Many of the affected neighborhoods are appealing for their history, mature urban tree canopy, and unique, if often modest, architecture, usually built of now-rare old-growth materials. When all that goes to the incinerator or landfill, the neighborhood—and neighbors—take a hit.

It's a shame the signs are targets for trespass, and worse. Then again, they must be working! Truth will out. United Neighborhoods for Reform asks a modest donation ($5) to cover printing costs for the signs. To get yours, fill in and send the form at top right.

Apart from training security cameras on the signs or somehow locking them in place, maybe the best bet is to put them in a window or, better, get two.