Perhaps my optimism was naive or maybe it was the excitement of finding a place to call home, but over the past two decades I have become discouraged with the city I love.
“Discouraged” was the term used to describe the state of George Bailey’s mindset to Clarence the angel in “It’s A Wonderful Life.” A condition worse than sickness according to the angels sending Clarence to help George see the good in life. I am not at the point of jumping off a bridge or telling my daughter to stop playing that silly tune on the piano, but I do wonder what our city has become. A City Council once guided by young Green Party members has given way to extolling rising real estate values blind to the loss of neighbors who would not simply view their ownership as self-serving capital, but as an investment in establishing a diverse and thriving community for generations to come.
Around the corner from my home is the former Nathan Clifford school. A once-beloved public elementary school that was sold for $1 and “preserved” as modern lifestyle residences. The pricey apartments are soon to give way to high priced condominiums, netting a hefty profit for the owner while Portland’s $1 take won’t even get you a ride on the Metro.
A little further into town on Marginal Way once stood the centrally located Department of Health and Human Services building that now provides (according to the new owners) “great visibility and easy access for our patients” in the hands of private for-profit health care while Mainers in need now must venture to the runway of the Portland jetport to obtain DHHS assistance.
A few blocks uptown from Marginal Way the city of Portland now plans on emulating Gov. Paul LePage’s move of DHHS with a real estate swap on the local level. The homeless population will have to get themselves the Metro app to make sure they don’t miss the last bus out of town to a fenced in (read; caged) mega home on the opposite end of the city from the jetport/DHHS.
Thanks to out-of-state buyers the value of property in the Bayside neighborhood is no longer befitting for the city’s homeless. There is no Bailey Savings and Loan to take on the deep pockets of those capitalizing on the inflated real estate boom. The peninsula has been overwhelmed by luxury condominiums housing part time citizens, and international hotel chains seeking shareholder value. Airbnb, Uber and Amazon have smothered the Buy Local campaign that once dominated headlines a decade and a half ago while our restaurant workers need to earn enough for gas money to get to their homes out of town. The pride of being a Portlander investing in the community is giving way to noncitizens profiting off the city. The Mr. Potters of the world are thinking globally and profiting locally more and more.
Meanwhile, the fears of climate change are being embedded into our children, and adults act like a denier much like our president. Our reply to the barrage of warnings of our impending doom via environmental disaster has been to put LED lighting in place and the creation of one solar farm built on a former waste site that was hampered by environmental issues. Climate change is not a new concern so why is it taking us so long to respond appropriately. Surely a “progressive” city should be doing more to establish a municipal juggernaut vigilantly striving to reduce our negative impact on the environment while developing a culture ensuring an amicable relationship between the earth and humankind.
I realize that by living in Portland I have it real good, but yet I worry so much. Financial insecurity, an unsustainable environment and the fear of raising younger generations to feel the pangs of growing discouragement lead me to question: Is this truly a wonderful life? I am not asking for anyone to lasso the moon as George Bailey promised Mary, but I do hope we at least put a little heart into the decisions we make as a community.
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