The Burnside Blog

Chicago has mafia, DC has the illuminati (or so I’ve overheard at the Red and Black), and Portland has coalitions of angry neighbors.

Forget baseball, what Portland really needs is better options in higher education. They’re coming.

Despite opposition from the mayor, the old Sauvie Island bridge will be recycled as a pedestrian and bicycle span linking Flanders Street over Interstate 405.

Will the tiny concrete box become the new pink house?

Civic and infrastructural upgrades are important, but where’s the plan for job growth?

After watching the Bright Lights discussion with mayoral candidates Sam Adams and Sho Dozono on Monday night, I’m not inclined to rush to Sho’s defense. Mayor Potter has been a nowhere man. Does Portland need another?

Mayoral Wannabes at Jimmy Mak’s

Once tiny and without a permanent campus, Portland’s Pacific Northwest College of Art is now the fastest growing private arts school in the country. Last month, the college announced it had obtained from the Federal Government the historic 511 Broadway Building, which will be the site of its flagship downtown campus. This weekend, PNCA proclaimed it had purchased its current headquarters in the Pearl District.

Variety in Retail

Read this rant in today’s tribune.

After a spate of gloomy articles from the Oregonian, Ryan Frank reports some vaguely happy news. Still, the larger picture is missed.

The Seattle-based banking giant Washington Mutual is closing all 186 of its stand-alone mortgage offices, and cutting 3,000 jobs.

Michael Bloomberg’s plan to charge those who drive into Central Manhattan during the work day was struck down yesterday. The alternatives sound a little like Portland.

Reinventing the old Sauvie Island Bridge as a pedestrian overpass in NW Portland is a still good idea. You’d think Potter would have wanted at least one project to have have happened under his watch.

Portland is at the tail end of a mini-hotel boom, but there are no new rooms near the Convention Center to speak of. If a high-rise hotel adjacent to the Convention Center were such an opportunity, wouldn’t a private developer build one?