Points DMN editorial on Portland

[mjblazin]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/points/stories/DN-renn_22edi.State.Edition1.1691580.html

I waited a week to see if any comment would be forthcoming from the forum. While I enjoyed visiting Portland and SF, I've never thought either had much to tell other cities on how to reach more healthy urban cores. They are unique situations that can't be replicated. You end up with pieces not supported by the whole and eventual failure.

Unfortunately no answer really exists other than block by block neighborhood building. I wish our local leaders would stop thinking wasteful multi-100 millions dollar projects were the answer.

[lakewoodhobo]

I think the author conveniently excludes bigger cities just to make its point and gives an unconvincing reason for their exclusion (because the average U.S. city would never compare? whatever). Is it that shocking that Portland has fewer minorities than a city in the South?

The article even points out that Austin (a liberal city) and Ft. Worth (a much more conservative city than, but roughly the same size as Austin) both have a low percentage of African Americans, so that disproves the author's theory that liberal cities are whiter than the average city.

[mjblazin]

I thought the premise of the article was that no really sucessful urban core existed that that had a minority white population. Is that premise correct? Personally I don't consider Atlanta as successful, but maybe that debatable point is the rebuttal. I did not think the references to Portland, SF or even Austin were criticisms against those cities. Those cities simply used what they had. The criticisms were against experts that used those cities as models for emulation when, according to the author, the demographics with other cities are very different and make the solutions unworkable.

[AeroD]

As someone who lives in Austin I do find some Austinites to be rather pretentious. They claim to be more "open-minded" and "diverse" compared to places like Dallas or Houston. As though liberals hanging together is diversity.

[lakewoodhobo]

I thought the premise of the article was that no really sucessful urban core existed that that had a minority white population. Is that premise correct?
Maybe I failed that part of the SAT, but the word "progressive" is mentioned 15 times in the article, sometimes in quotes, and the mention of red versus blue in the 3rd paragraph makes it about politics.

As someone who lives in Austin I do find some Austinites to be rather pretentious. They claim to be more "open-minded" and "diverse" compared to places like Dallas or Houston. As though liberals hanging together is diversity.
I also lived in Austin and I agree that there's a snobbish attitude there. I can't explain it, but I wouldn't necessarily say it's a liberal thing (San Francisco seems to be the same way, but not New York). My friends who live there are still raving about the Austonian and how tall it is, but they can't explain why such a forward-thinking city like Austin doesn't have light rail or streetcars.

[vman]

The article even points out that Austin (a liberal city) and Ft. Worth (a much more conservative city than, but roughly the same size as Austin) both have a low percentage of African Americans, so that disproves the author's theory that liberal cities are whiter than the average city.
FW has a low percentage of African Americans?? According to who?? FW's eastside, southeast, and much of the southern sector is very african american...and hispanic, especially the northside. Plus the whiter westside has a very visable black neighborhood, Como and the area southwest of Ridgmar is full of rundown apartments full of black people. FW has mangaged to keep it's black population out of touristy areas like downtown and the stockyards by having nothing there that really caters to them, but sorry, there's far from a shortage of black folks in FW.

I've visited San Fran and love Seattle. I can agree that both cities seem to have pushed blacks (especially San Fran) out of the city. I will also agree Austin has done this too. FW, not hardly. I can't believe the author of this article has ever been to the city of FW or driven anywhere outside of downtown.

[mjblazin]

Maybe I failed that part of the SAT, but the word "progressive" is mentioned 15 times in the article, sometimes in quotes, and the mention of red versus blue in the 3rd paragraph makes it about politics.

I also lived in Austin and I agree that there's a snobbish attitude there. I can't explain it, but I wouldn't necessarily say it's a liberal thing (San Francisco seems to be the same way, but not New York). My friends who live there are still raving about the Austonian and how tall it is, but they can't explain why such a forward-thinking city like Austin doesn't have light rail or streetcars.

Again I took those comments as a slam against urban experts, maybe some of whom reside in these cities, trying to extrapolate the results to other cities. It is those "evangelical progressives" that are his main target. For the other residents, it's not bad to be snobbish about something or to be ignorant about the root cause for that something.

[xen0blue]

Again I took those comments as a slam against urban experts, maybe some of whom reside in these cities, trying to extrapolate the results to other cities. It is those "evangelical progressives" that are his main target. For the other residents, it's not bad to be snobbish about something or to be ignorant about the root cause for that something.


I hate when people use words like "progressive" to only refer to liberal, as it's completely subjective and dependent on one's point of view. You can say a conservative is even "progressive", in the same way that holding ground in a battle is "progressive" as opposed to losing it.

But back on topic, i've never been to Portland but I got back from san francisco yesterday and it's just too damn crowded...more crowded than I remember NYC being even. Also, bums are EVERYWHERE. Every corner in downtown SF there are at least 5 bums, and you can usually smell them before you see them because they are marinating in their own piss and it's disgusting. Berkley was even worse. The weirdest thing I saw in SF was a bum sitting on the corner of the sidewalk in union square with his dog in his lap so he could roll a joint on the dog's back. I have a picture if anyone doesn't believe me.

[Lakewooder]

A Republican "Progressive":

http://modern-us-history.suite101.com/article.cfm/progressivism_and_teddy_roosevelt

[utgf]

But back on topic, i've never been to Portland but I got back from san francisco yesterday and it's just too damn crowded...more crowded than I remember NYC being even. Also, bums are EVERYWHERE. Every corner in downtown SF there are at least 5 bums, and you can usually smell them before you see them because they are marinating in their own piss and it's disgusting. Berkley was even worse. The weirdest thing I saw in SF was a bum sitting on the corner of the sidewalk in union square with his dog in his lap so he could roll a joint on the dog's back. I have a picture if anyone doesn't believe me.

Well, this is the off-season for SF, so unless you were in Union Square area during the Black Friday frenzy, I would hate to see what you think of crowding during spring, summer and early fall. And those bums don't come cheap. I believe the city spends close to 500 million dollars a year to house, feed and care for the homeless so that they can be out on the corners begging for the drug and liquor money. san francisco will pay you to be a ho’ (http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huR-DcVh8AY)

When the author is so myopic that he sees anything not black as being white, how can one care about anything he has to say.

San Francisco hopes to reverse black flight (http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-08-26-urban-blacks_N.htm)

[mjblazin]

You could make the same case for "liberal." Original liberals were a lot closer to libertarians than current "government is primary source of solutions to big problems" group.

[MarkL2023]

woo woo! Go libertarians! :)