News
Photos | At the People’s Store, mutual aid for houseless Portlanders
Temporarily operating out of a van borrowed from a volunteer, The People’s Store makes evening stops at houseless camps across Portland twice a week. The store offers hot food, clean socks, medical supplies, clothing, books and other items, free of charge, to anyone who approaches. This resource on wheels started after Ian Clark and Lulu…
Native land management could save us from wildfires, experts say
This past wildfire season was one of the most destructive on record. Over a million acres of Oregon burned, and 40,000 people fled their homes. A dozen have died. The fires caused an estimated $1 billion in property damage. The Indigenous practice of regular prescribed burns, according to experts, could stop this from happening again. Natives…
Kate Brown struck secret deal with Oregon homebuilders over wildfire codes, lobbyists say on tape
Building standards that could make homes safer and more fire-resistant in wildfires are not mandated for residential construction in Oregon’s fire-prone areas. With more new homes built in the wildland-urban interface than in other parts of the state, mandating these standards could help lessen the devastation of fires like those that swept through the state…
Housing
Losing ground: How the Trump administration has reversed U.S. housing policy
As of this writing, the future of the Trump administration is unknown. What comes next may be the end of a contentious legacy of a single-term president or another four years in autocratic overdrive. However history remembers this period, it must note that during the past four years, nearly 20,000 more people became homeless in…
Editorial | Housing crisis requires a federal commitment
Homelessness looks very personal. And it is, in the way that all tragedies are personal. While it’s a national crisis — created over generations by local and federal policies and perpetuated today by a lack of a nationwide vision — we ceased any forward momentum on a national level. Instead, we’ve lost ground. Now, after…
Finding Home
streetroots.org/FindingHome
Environment
Native land management could save us from wildfires, experts say
This past wildfire season was one of the most destructive on record. Over a million acres of Oregon burned, and 40,000 people fled their homes. A dozen have died. The fires caused an estimated $1 billion in property damage. The Indigenous practice of regular prescribed burns, according to experts, could stop this from happening again. Natives…
Opinion | Reimagine what our parks could be
If summer 2020 had a stage, it was Portland’s parks. They were the first places many of us went to when we finally felt comfortable leaving our homes to see friends and family. For many, parks replaced closed gyms, bars, restaurants, schoolyards, backyards and more. A periodic column about new approaches to transportation, land use and…
Kate Brown struck secret deal with Oregon homebuilders over wildfire codes, lobbyists say on tape
Building standards that could make homes safer and more fire-resistant in wildfires are not mandated for residential construction in Oregon’s fire-prone areas. With more new homes built in the wildland-urban interface than in other parts of the state, mandating these standards could help lessen the devastation of fires like those that swept through the state…
Opinion
Editorial | Housing crisis requires a federal commitment
Homelessness looks very personal. And it is, in the way that all tragedies are personal. While it’s a national crisis — created over generations by local and federal policies and perpetuated today by a lack of a nationwide vision — we ceased any forward momentum on a national level. Instead, we’ve lost ground. Now, after…
Opinion | Reimagine what our parks could be
If summer 2020 had a stage, it was Portland’s parks. They were the first places many of us went to when we finally felt comfortable leaving our homes to see friends and family. For many, parks replaced closed gyms, bars, restaurants, schoolyards, backyards and more. A periodic column about new approaches to transportation, land use and…
