FeedsInterstate/Chavez Renaming Hell
Are you familiar with the massive debate over the proposed renaming of Interstate Blvd? If not, check out the BlueOregon article which links to a lot of other sites. Basically, what appears to be a group of some well meaning mostly white hippies, spurred on by the recent renaming of Portland Blvd to Rosa Parks Avenue, have all decided that this town needs a street named after the great Hispanic leader Cesar Chavez.
Blogtown PDX has become a hotspot of pro- and anti- sentiment on this subject, most of it very annoying. Scott Moore just put up a post announcing a haven to those apathetic on this issue.
For me, personally, I'm kind of ticked off at the city for wanting to do this. It's not that I'm not in favor of promoting Hispanic culture, it's just that the entire effort seems clueless and overbearing.
As I understand it, a group of concerned citizens (no story ends well that starts out with that) approached the city council and asked it to begin the process of renaming the street. Rather than ask the group to go through the normal process of collecting signatures, etc. the city council said "Sure!" and began putting together an ordinance. This seems very against what John Doussard, Mayor Tom Potter's spokesman said, as reported in the Oregonian: "We are trying to make sure that this bubbles up from the ground up. . . . We're not driving the bus here." Just facilitating. Right.
Reaction in the involved communities has been fiercely against it. Unfortunately, something like this also pulls out the crazies, and this issue has been joined by a bunch of a racist dickwads. Predictably, this has hurt the cause, as some people in favor of it are now claiming that all the people against it are racist.
Ugh. What a mess.
Personally, I don't think they should be bothering with renaming a street, which, in my opinion, is a stupid gesture. There is a very real problem of racial division in Portland and just renaming a street won't do nearly enough about it. Considering the tensions around the issue, at this point I think it might do more harm than good. I'm also slightly confused by why they're renaming a street after a Hispanic leader in the part of town with the highest concentration of African Americans. True, there is no real Hispanic area, but come on. Clumping all of the token minority renamed streets into one area? Yeah, that's real fucking diverse.
Portland, right now, is an extremely white city. We also struggle with race. We need to be very encouraging to the growing minority communities. Parks, community centers, more civic activism, parades, whatever. I can see how renaming streets can make an effort, but this is definitely not the way to do it, and there need to be more solutions.
Stumble It!We use Markdown to style our comments. **This is bolded.** *This is italic.* [This is a link](url)
For more options,
try reading the
wikipedia article or the
official style guide.
Comments
Comments from site editors have a darker background than comments from everybody else.It's too easy to do, and no one wants to oppose it. It's a little hard to defend against "you're a racist" when the original name is Interstate Avenue. Besides, as the Mercury pointed out, who gives a damn? At this point it would just cost more money and time to simply oppose it, which doesn't seem smart, fun, useful, interesting, .
Now you know what would be useful? If you were to start a competing campaign to get it renamed to say.... Zeppelin Avenue?
You could use that to raise awareness of our future. The majestic and endangered Zeppelin.
Think about it.
We use Markdown to style our comments. **This is bolded.** *This is italic.* [This is a link](url)
For more options, try reading the wikipedia article or the official style guide.
Hell, if we want to get crazy renaming streets, I've got a list we can go down. And yes, Zeppelin Ave is at the top.
But I thought the point was to, you know, promote a cohesive Hispanic community and encourage diversity and all that. But you never know with things like this. It certainly seems that right now nobody is really caring about the actual issues. As usual.
We use Markdown to style our comments. **This is bolded.** *This is italic.* [This is a link](url)
For more options, try reading the wikipedia article or the official style guide.
I have heard that this idea would foster a role model for young Latinos.
Has anyone bothered to ask the young Latinos who Chavez was? Or if he is indeed their idea of a visionary leader, a leader they can aspire to follow?
Probably not, Why? Because this is not about the kids. This is about a few individuals. Their reasons are as varied as the proposals discussions.
The real issue I see is that again we are faced with spending city tax dollars to change not just a street name, but everything else that is associated to an address. Like the Yellow Pages which is printed every year. All those phone books with the wrong addresses. Or Mapquest, and all the Rand McNally Maps
Lets not forget all the small business owners up and down Interstate. Or the actual history of Portland and of Oregon.
Here is my thought. Name a school or Agriculture after the man and his commitment to the Labor movement. That would make more sense.
But then again, this isn't about making sense.
I am tried of paying for taxes to the City of Portland so they can abuse the spending on ideas like this one.
Hopefully, Sam Adams will do a better job then Potter.
We use Markdown to style our comments. **This is bolded.** *This is italic.* [This is a link](url)
For more options, try reading the wikipedia article or the official style guide.
I hate it when people change the names of things. I have enough trouble getting around this poorly-signed labyrinth, without hippies changing the names of the streets. I can't tell you how much trouble I had finding my way to Portland Blvd.
On a loosely-related note, if I ever catch one of the hipsters spinning the street signs around for irony, I will perform a field testiclectomy...
We use Markdown to style our comments. **This is bolded.** *This is italic.* [This is a link](url)
For more options, try reading the wikipedia article or the official style guide.
Dan:
Your comment "this poorly signed labyrinth...."
Walk around to the other side of the sign. It'll say 1st, 2nd, 3rd...if you're close in to downtown.
The farther away you get, the numbers go up: 89th, 90th, 91st, etc.
If you turn around out there, you'll find that the numbers get smaller the closer you get back to downtown: 142nd, 141st, 140th....
If you're in the North part of town, the signs will say "North" or "N", which means "North."
If you're in Northeast, the street signs will say "Northeast" or "NE", which means "Northeast."
The labyrinth is posted like that in other parts of the city, too, so if you want to go to southeast Portland, for example, look for signs that say "Southeast" or "SE", which stands for Southeast.
If you see one of those, you are in Southeast Portland. Then walk around to the other side of the sign and look at the number. If you want to go to a higher number, follow the instructions in the 1st paragraph above. If you want to go to a lower number, go that way.
Also, in some neighborhoods, the streets are laid out in alphabetical order. For example, a street named "Couch", which starts with a "C", is adjacent to streets named "Burnside" (which starts with a "B") in one direction and "Davis", which starts with a "D", on the other.
If you happen to be on "Couch", for example, and you want to go to "Everett", you simply count the alphabet to know how many blocks you have to travel in that direction, and then you walk around the sign and look at the number....
Unfortunately, the neighborhood you were lost in is not signed in alphabetical order, so I can understand the confusion.
Watch out for the "one way" signs. They'll be marked "One Way", which means "One Way."
If you come across one of those, you want to go in the direction the arrow is pointing, not the other way. That's why they have the arrow on the sign.
I hope this information is helpful.
We use Markdown to style our comments. **This is bolded.** *This is italic.* [This is a link](url)
For more options, try reading the wikipedia article or the official style guide.
Sean, don't be silly. I've lived in Portland 6 years. I know how the streets are organized.
The problem is that the grid system doesn't work that well. (rivers aren't straight, there are crazy twists to get on bridges, giant hills, tunnels, and a 5th quadrant)
Which is what the post is about anyway - a street in North Portland - Which doesn't have a grid system.
We use Markdown to style our comments. **This is bolded.** *This is italic.* [This is a link](url)
For more options, try reading the wikipedia article or the official style guide.
I hear you. I'm still claiming the #1 Top Zinger Post of the Day...
Couldn't resist, had to go for it.
don't get me started explaining how the "Stop" signs work...they put those just about everywhere they want to,,,,not sure why....
Lots of people are mystified by the "Caution" signs....like, "What?" as they go by, "Caution?" "What?" "What was that about?"
had enough?
We use Markdown to style our comments. **This is bolded.** *This is italic.* [This is a link](url)
For more options, try reading the wikipedia article or the official style guide.
Regardless of how logically most of Portland is, it IS a poorly signed labyrinth. There are no lit, hanging street signs, mysteriously repeating numbers, (SE 35th Pl.? What the fuck is that all about?) streets like Powell, Foster, and Sandy that aren't at all part of the grid, and a freeway system designed by a drunken mad man. Really, the grid is only useful if you are travelling east/west or happen to be in the alphabet district. Otherwise, you have to either know or guess that Burnside's next, 'cause you're sure as hell not gonna be able to see the sign. And don't even get me started about fucking Ladd's Addition.
We use Markdown to style our comments. **This is bolded.** *This is italic.* [This is a link](url)
For more options, try reading the wikipedia article or the official style guide.
Amen.
We use Markdown to style our comments. **This is bolded.** *This is italic.* [This is a link](url)
For more options, try reading the wikipedia article or the official style guide.
My mom lives up in North Portland (actually not too far from Interstate, though on the other side of the freeway) where The Rules Do Not Apply. Somebody spun a sign around on one of the streets I turn down to get to her place and, while this wouldn't be a problem with a numbered street, it still absolutely destroys my autopilot. Having to think while driving? That dog won't hunt.
We use Markdown to style our comments. **This is bolded.** *This is italic.* [This is a link](url)
For more options, try reading the wikipedia article or the official style guide.
Hipsters don't have testicles.
We use Markdown to style our comments. **This is bolded.** *This is italic.* [This is a link](url)
For more options, try reading the wikipedia article or the official style guide.