1.7 Million More …September 17th, 2008… people! That’s the number by which Oregon’s population is expected to grow in the next 30 years. After saying WOW, I realize it’s no wonder that sources like Forbes have gathered information that puts Portland on a top ten list like ” Where Home Prices Are Likely to Rise.” (Other cities on the list were Atlanta, Minneapolis, Colorado Springs, CO, Salt Lake City, UT, Austin, TX, San Antonio, TX, Charlotte, NC, Albuquerque, NM, and Oklahoma City). They are obviously looking at some of the long term trends.
But when I read something about the growth projections for the state and for the Metro region, I ask myself, “What will change? Where will everyone live? and OMG, what about traffic?” I am sure I’m not alone in having these questions, or opinions on what the answers should be! So, I was excited to read about the project called The Big Look. This is a bi-partisan task force established by the Governor and Legislature in 2005 with the purpose of reviewing Oregon’s statewide land use system. Yes, I know – that’s a subject fraught with passions! The task force has been getting input, traveling the state, conducting research and getting ready to present recommedations to the 2009 Legislature. But the project is also allowing for ordinary folks — like you and me - to have input on communities, preservation, transportation and infrastructure, state agencies and citizen participation. They want to know what changes we want to see and would support. I can only hope they mean it! And trust that the mechanisms they have set up for input will be taken seriously. Some of those mechanisms are the web site The Big Look where there are videos, access to research and documents, opportunities to host meetings in your community and lists of upcoming events. They have established a series of Town Hall meetings scheduled for September 17th through October 2nd in Tillamook, Portland, Klamath Falls, Medford, Coos Bay/Noth Bend, Eugene, The Dalles, La Grande, Burns and Bend. The dates, times and locations are listed at the Big Look site. I’m planning to attend the one in Portland! I do have lots of opinions and passions. I want housing to be affordable. I want public transportation to be reasonable, available, accesible – and I want lots of it! I want the wine industry, tourist industry, farming and the resources that support them to remain strong. I want green spaces, and parks, and the coast to continue to exist. I don’t want strip malls! I want communities that are sustainable and support local people, families, local businesses. I want people to be able to live close to where they work, to shop, to walk and bike in their neighborhoods and be safe. — to name just a few! I’m guessing you have a list of wants and don’t wants too. I hope you’ll join me at the Town Hall meeting in Portland on the 18th, 6:30 to 8:30pm at the Buckley Center, University of Portland, 5000 N Willamette Blvd, Portland. Or go to one in your community. If there isn’t a Town Hall meeting near you - check out the Statewide Public Opinion Survery on line. It was easy, gave me a chance to be thougthful and state my mind. Be a part of the future! I know you care too! About PDX Seniors Real EstateSeptember 16th, 2008Ten Ways to Make a Green DifferenceSeptember 16th, 2008: 1. Use microfiber towels instead of paper towels. They are washable, reuseable, won’t fill up the landfill. 2. Use public transportation when possible, combine trips when you can’t Carpool, use your bike, or walk, all will cut down on carbon emissions. 3. Use fluorescent light bulbs. Get some free by ordering a free energy audit from Energy Trust of Oregon. They’ll assess your energy loss, and give you a list of ways to save energy. 4. Eat local fruits and vegetables. Drink locally made beverages. Buy locally manufactured goods. Saves on the transportation to our area which results in fewer emissions. 5. When traveling and staying in hotels, support green hotels and sustainable tourism companies. Re-use your towels (you do at home!) and say no to changing sheets every day. 6. Try using natural cleaners – baking soda, vinegar, lemon juice, borax, soap (instead of detergent which is petroleum based). “Natural Cleaning for Your Home” by Casey Kellar is a great resource. 7. Do the tried and true: in the winter turn down the thermostat and put on a sweater; in the summer turn off the AC and open the windows. 8. Give away instead of throw away. Make an effort to find someone or place who can use what you no longer need or use. The ReBuilding Center for windows, doors, and other home remnants. The Freecycle Network is a great resource and Portland has a group. 9. Say no to disposables. Rechargeable batteries instead of the ones that run out. An inexpensive digital camera instead of disposables. Fill a bottle with water instead of buying water from Maine or elsewhere. 10. Calculate your carbon footprint and make additional small changes to make a difference. There are several websites where you can, Carbon Footprint is one.
One of the top ten zips….September 15th, 2008… where homes are selling fastest! That would be our own 97202! Altos Research which covers real estate data all over the country, complied a list and 97202 was 5th on the list at an average of 77 days on market. You can see the whole list and read the article at Realtor Magazine. The Regional Multiple Listing Service (RMLS) has just published the Market Report for August and are showing 101 days for the Eastside of Portland. We’re doing pretty good in the 97202 zip code at 24 days less than the 101 days for the eastside of Portland, and 121 days market time for metro Portland, as reported n the most recent RMLS Market Report (August). Their statisitics are based on closed sales. Hard to say what is going happen over the next days, let alone the rest of the month of September, given the volatility in the major markets. Here in Portland, inventory is down a bit, 9.9 months as compared to 10 months in July, interest rates falling and great choices for buyers – seems like it could be a good month for us! Let me know if you’d like a more complete report on the market’s activity. There is lots more to think about in it! Outliving Your PetSeptember 8th, 2008For many individuals 50 and beyond, pets are beloved family members and almost like children. For some, a huge source of anxiety stems from wondering what will happen to a pet if it outlives its human companion or that person becomes incapacitated and can’t properly care for the pet. At the very least, older Seniors should make a pet plan and ask trusted friends or family to care for pets and write out instructions about how best to care for the animal. Feeding preferences and schedules, medications, special medical conditions, and the pet’s preferences—sleeping habits, favored toys, dislikes, and so forth—all should be noted. Some people are taking it a step further and including their wishes for their pets in their wills and earmarking funds for pets’ care. If you are interested in long-term planning for your pets, here are some Web sites that provide more information: www.professorbeyer.com/Articles/Animals.htm My Home In SellwoodAugust 28th, 2008
My father lived in Sellwood that year – at 724 Lexington, the number was changed when the Portland streets were renumbered. He was less than one year old. The family moved to northeast soon after, but Sellwood was always a name that figured prominently in the few family stories that were passed on. Ironically enough –we have sort of figured that under the current numbering system the house would have been west of 13th and east of 11th on Lexington. My RE/MAX equity group office is on 13th and Lexington. I wonder who the people were, where the house was located. Someone has written in that beautiful old script, I think was called copperplate, “My Home In Sellwood”. Seems as if someone, perhaps she, was proud of her home, her family. Was the photo kept in a shelf in that house? It’s in the kind of cardboard frame that could be folded to stand. Or was it sent to another family member? Was it by chance on or near Lexington? Could they have possibly known my grandparents? Then as now, Sellwood was a small community. Well, probably not! That would be an incredible stretch. I paid $5.00 for that small piece of a family’s history. I was browsing in Stars, one of the antique malls in what is known as Antique Row on Milwaukie Avenue in Westmoreland. There is another row of stores along 13th ave on both sides of Tacoma in Sellwood. The Sellwood Moreland area of Portland is a one of the destination and popular eastside Portland, OR neighborhoods. It’s not unusual to be in an antique store anywhere in the US and see stacks of unclaimed and unrecognized old photos. Each one has a story — even a made up one. If someone is reading this and recognizes that Sellwood home, I would love to hear from you. I’ll figure out a reward of some kind for the story of My Home in Sellwood. Perhaps a bottle of wine from Burdigala, a local wine shop? I’ve given the original photo to the Sellwood Historical Society to add to their collection. There it was again . . .August 26th, 2008 Chalkboard old school room . . . that middle-of-August-summer-is-almost-over fragrance of time past. I’ve smelled September twice now in just the last few days. And yesterday the wind had the sharp feel that always caused my mother to say, ‘better take a sweater with you.’ The air has been filled with a nostalgic bite that makes me think of the first day of school and hear the chalk screech on the board. And recreates that smell of brick and plaster walls and linoleum floors, along with the waxy odor of new crayons and old chalk dust. I almost feel again the cramped feet feel of wearing shoes after a summer of mostly bare feet. They may have been new, but they felt tight! It got me thinking about how September always feels new. A new beginning, anything is possible sense feeling. The scary, exciting feeling of change, and for me, of being the new kid, of wondering who my friends will be, who will have lunch with me. The perpetual question, what will happen this year? We moved a lot when I was a kid – 12 schools from K thtough 12, and only one was a repeat. I did a lot of mental gymnastics before school would start. Thought about many things I could never know the answer to in advance, worry about things I couldn’t possibly have any control over. Questions like those I’ve already mentioned and dozens more. I’d plan what I would wear – many times! Maybe these socks, this skirt, or maybe something blue, green, red. What should I do to make it turn out alright? Would a different outfit make it better for me? And though I relate this state of September to the new-kid-in-class feeling I used to experience - – it’s really not so different from the feelings I sometimes feel today, in my older, more mature, supposed to be wiser time of life, as I think about meeting new clients for the first time. There it is in the gut – the slightly scary feel of change, of something new, of not knowing the outcomes of the first day! The internal questions may be a little different, and underneath there still is the big one – will they like me? will they want to have lunch with me — that is, work with me, or will they sit at another table in the cafeteria? I may not worry so much about what I am going to wear – professional attire is so much easier than psyching out the clothing fads of high school girls in a particular school district miles from where you used to live! I’m more concerned now about preparation. Did I do enough, do I have the statistics I need, are the packets complete, should I add another article, or will I overwhelm them with too much information, and on and on! Enough! I’m slowly learning that the September state can be a crazy state of mind! Gradually putting in place the systems that help me feel ready to meet the kids in class. Realizing that they have as many questions as I do, listening to those questions and focusing on liking them makes for more pleasant outcomes. And just as in high school not everyone does want to have lunch with me! (A little less traumatic than in the teen age years!) But for those that do, it’s a great and wonderful adventure we get to share! Photo by Daintee, used with permission Farmers' MarketsAugust 20th, 2008
Everyone has a favorite market or two. Those of us who are lucky enough to have one in the neighborhood are often quite certain that ours is absolutely the best! Me, I love them all! I take photos of the vegies and fruit – I must have a gazillion shots of red peppers. I get to indulge my inner artist with my color shots. The market at PSU on Saturdays is crowded with lots going on and tons of color, music, dogs, wine and people. The Moreland Market is smaller, and feels more intimate. Milwaukie Market on Sunday mornings is a great place to get a few fresh things if I’ve run out or my tomatoes didn’t ripen as fast as I needed! Plus sometimes Buchic Clothing has a booth set up across the street and I love their bamboo clothing – they have some wonderful things for babies! The wonderful thing for me about the markets is that every year there are more and more of them! At the coast, Salem, Bend, Southern Oregon, even Selma where I lived as a kid and which I remember mostly because we used to climb on the redwood logs at the sawmill my dad managed. Check out the list of the Oregon Farmers’ Markets – including all those in the Metro area, and plan a great summer trip – going from market to market and back! With a winery or two in between perhaps. You might want to . .August 20th, 2008. . . get in touch with the trainers club too. You can find them at www.trainersclub.com. They have an awesome array of services. Pilates on site, yoga too, personal trainers, physical therapy and massage to name just a few. |
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