But, no, really—as commenters have pointed out here, the taping issue has unleashed a wave of anti-suburban sentiment that is always bubbling just under the surface.

For me, it's anti-idiot sentiment, and those places just happen to be where the idiots live. Don't blame me for their choices.

Your Portland ideals are also throwing up expensive condos, driving up rent, and pushing people to the burbs for a cheaper living alternative. Yes, there are problems and challenges just like there are in Portland, yet there remains a great sense of creativity and community life in many parts of Beaverton. That your stereotype does not aknowledge them does not mean they do not exist.

Nice over-simplistic rant, Matt. Tell it to the working family in Beaverton who live there because it's the only place where they can find a two bed room apartment for less than $900 a month. Taping the sidewalk is dumb, but so is your xenophobic and self-absorbed attitude of many Mercury readers.

That's the only place they can find a two bedroom for $900? Weird—my two bedroom in inner SE Portland (one of many I had to choose from) is less than $800. And I save a lot on gas by living close in.

It was me, not Matt, and I know of numerous two-bedroom or more places in town that go for less than $900--and they're even close in. I've lived in two such places. Go a little further out of the central city, and they're even more abundant. I'm capable of living comfortably in this city, and believe me, I'm so poor I can't even see lower-middle class from where I'm at.

Oh, but maybe you mean people can't find McMansions with three car garages and pasture-like backyards for $900, in which case they absolutely belong in the suburbs.

You live in close and still drive? Wow, I live way out in McMansionville and get around solely via bike/trimet/walking.

With the money I save I bought a pony to graze in my backyard.

How come Mayor Tom hasn't issued a press
release or given a comment on this issue?
Is this another issue where he just don't
"get it" and instead looks off into space
with a Thousand Yard Stare while waiting on a "vision"?

I think what puzzles me is how deeply felt your rage is, despite the fact that most of us don't know much about the real differences between inside the city limit and outside it. We think we do, and words like "city" and "suburb" help us hold on to that conviction, but really very few people live with or look at both sides.

I'm surprised at how meaningful the city limit seems to people. I've tried to find out more about the differences between Portland and Beaverton, since Beaverton is almost always on the list of denigrated places, and there are a lot of surprises.

You might have heard them before, but Beaverton is 20% more densely populated than Portland. So, you'd think anti-sprawl people would be praising it and railing against Portland. Beaverton is also markedly more diverse, in terms of ethnicity and first-language, than is Portland. I like that quality, and in fact I go out to Beaverton a lot because the mix of people (and of food and shopping) is exciting to me. It is awash in cars, but so is my neighborhood in Portland. And which one is the problem? I read that there is now a zero commute between Washington County and Portland. As many people live here (in the wide open spaces of Portland) and drive to jobs out there as drive from there into Portland for work.

I don't have a car, so I encounter Beaverton (and Portland) on the bike, train, and bus. With no car, Beaverton is actually a lot easier and more pleasant for me than SE Portland, but that should change when the MAX or streetcar get down to SE.

In any case, I know, first hand, that the city limit does not separate out the America you hate from the America you love. It's a lot more complicated than that. The fact that you (and seemingly millions of others) can hold on to your rage despite realities that run counter to what you presume is true astonishes me. It makes me think something else is at issue, something other than hatred of sprawl or SUVs. What could it be?

Very nicely said, Matthew.

First, Amy rides a scooter, and uses approximately a gallon of gas per year.

Second, Matthew, the depth of "rage" is completely overstated. I spend next to zero emotional energy on the supposed urban/suburban split, but was theorizing as to why we so easily toss out oversimplifications that denigrate entire towns. I readily admit that it's overgeneralized, but I do think the core reason for the denigration (on both sides) is an ideological one.

Orf—I "drive" a scooter. Not as great as biking, maybe, but it's a better option for me. I use about a gallon of gas a week—which is a considerable savings (and costs less than taking Trimet every day). If I didn't live close in, I couldn't do the scooter thing—it'd take too long to get to work, or I'd have to hope on the scooter-unfriendly freeway.

Ah come on. Even the words "Gresham" and "Beaverton" sound gross.

"Vancouver" at least gives some cause for hope, until you realize it's Vancouver, WA.

I guess what blows my mind is why people would choose to live in places like this. One reason is that they don't stop to think about anything other than the square footage of their house or their perceptions about "The City".

For renters, there are options that don't leave you isolated in some creepy complex out on the fringe of town. But you just checked the papers for rents, right, rather than decided first where you want to live?

I think that people who live in the burbs use a more narrow range of criteria in deciding where to live. Do I think they are brainless chasers of whatever bait is put in front of them? Kind of.

It doesn't mean to me that their lives are any less important than mine. I just am repulsed by what they choose to emphasize in their lives. I think their understanding of the world is kind of superficial.

I was born and raised in Vancouver (the 'couve as everyone likes to call it) and it's a shit-hole. Yeah, they are trying to get some sort of "Downtown" thing going, but it's a suburb. It will always be a suburb. There is a small group of friends I've had since High School, and we've all relocated to and become part of Portland. We have turned our backs to our native land and will fight to the death to protect our adopted homeland. We came to Portland because if you live downtown, or right out of the city center, (which by the way has more than enough two bedrooms for under $900, I've even found a few three bedrooms), you have so many things to do. So many places to work and you don't need to spend your whole paycheck on gas for getting around. I can take my car and leave it parked the whole week and not have any problems.
I've also lived in Gresham, and if you're not driving an SUV you're on meth. I've left my car parked downtown, unlocked for hours before. Not a good idea, I agree, but nothing happened. My first week in Gresham, some tweeker broke into my garage and into my beat up 1990 Ford Ranger, stole my radio that would only play tapes, a few Nirvana tapes and about $1.50 in change. What the hell? And Beaverton.... I'm not even going to start with Beaverton.

In closing Portland Rules, and to the suburbanites, Remember, you are GUESTS in OUR city. We live here because we love the city life. You live where you do because the city life scares you.

I think the main issue here is that most of the folks who have a problem with a very fun, family oriented tradition is because you are TRANSPLANTS. You talk of moving here because you didn't like where you were - well guess what if you moved here, you need to remember there are some long established traditions that you are disrespecting. While, yes, there are those who leave their tape and their messes behind, but there are many more who don't. If you are so worried about the mess, then come in after the parade and clean it up. This for you obviously isn't about the tape - it is so you have something more to complain about and to make negative. Don't bring the rest of us NATIVE's down for the sake of your unloving self. Try to find a more worthy cause to spend your time on, for instance, I'd bet none of you have gotten so up in arms about the fact that Portland is severly lacking in Mental Health programs, I'd bet you haven't put a second thought into the fact that class sizes are up around 42 students - what about the kids who are being left in the dust of a run down education system? Or better than that. Find something good to talk about. I'll bet some of you would find you are such jaded negative people that it would pain you to lift someone up instead of bashing something as menial as sidewalk tape at a parade. COME ON FOLKS - GET REAL!!

Hey...what's wrong with the suburbs? I like driving my kids to school in my big Hummer, followed by driving along 217 to work as I tower above little Priuses, etc. I pay my taxes and can happily decide to funnel my money into my McMansion while eating at Olive Garden and shopping at a chain store. That's my American right! I could care less that I guzzle gas, use well above my allotment of resources and watch my kids play soccer on the weekends on fields recently built over sensitive wetlands. You can keep your urban life...the suburbs are for me!!

You kids crack me up.

So, the newcomers to Portland should respect long established traditions?

Taping the sidewalk is not a long-established tradition, unless 10 years is a long time to you.

If you to talk about a real long-standing tradition in Oregon, how about the law that made it illegal for people of color to live here?

Some traditions are stupid, and some are evil. And anyone who uses an all caps NATIVE's in a post defending their right to tape the sidewalk is an idiot.

Native my ass, unless you're Chinook.

Are you seriously going to try to find a parallel between civil rights and sidewalk tape. Wow you guys are pretty messed up!! That you would even think that sidewalk tape was as important as something so much more worthy of history is beyond me. Okay here folks we are discussing Tape on a sidewalk and I have to agree with kjhpdq that folks who aren't originally or as she put it natively from Oregon do have a different set of webbed feet. She is just as much a native as the salmon who was born here. Afterall - she was born here too and humans are just as important as the fishies!

The suburbs are not just McMansions, Scott. You should visit Allen Boulevard in Beaverton, in the heart of suburban hell. I’m not saying I’d like to live there. But I am saying that the contemporary portrait of suburbia is much more complex than the image of rich, fat white people driving around in SUV’s. There is a wide-range of income-levels and ethnicities, and it's not fair to judge these people based solely on where they live.

It's time to start taping some mouths shut.

Hey Beaverton, I just put some tape on a picture of your sorry ass little town. Pwn3d.

I'll be by a little later to hang out and smoke cigs and stuff, so get off my land.

and what about the fucking californians!

oh wait, that's me...

I think the taping of the sidewalks wouldn't be such a hot issue if we weren't already pissed over the sit/lie ordinance. Here we are telling certain people (who don't have homes) that they aren't allowed to be in the public space because we find them inconvenient while suburbanites bumrush the city to put down tape, which, obviously, a lot of other people find more than inconvenient.

And, KJHPDQ: how is your average citizen going to change either the mental health services or educational system in the city? Be realistic. People tend to be active when they feel they can actually make a change.

So we're gonna rip up your tape. Cry about it or get to the parade route early.

The suburbs are not just McMansions, Scott.

I know! Christ! I already admitted I was overgeneralizing, and attempting to explain why urbanites so easily slip into those generalizations, despite the fact that we detest them in other areas--race, class, sexual orientation, etc.

That said, the whining about "we can't find an affordable place to live in Portland!" is bullshit. Unless, as I said, someone's requirements are, by definition, suburban. In which case they need to stop whining about cost of living in the city (which is still dirt cheap by most measures) and be honest about why they live in the suburbs--because it fits their lifestyle/personality.

Matt Stadler, thank you for posting that. I live in Portland and do not understand the smugness that my fellow citizens have towards people in the burbs.

And for the worst of what you xenophobic Portlanders like to sneer at -- just look at Forest Heights. IT'S IN PORTLAND!

Chad wrote:

"suburbia is much more complex than the image of rich, fat white people driving around in SUV’s."

Take out the "fat" part and you've got the Pearl District.

The people in this blog have reminded me that it is time to find new office space outside of Downtown and Portland as a whole. Most of my clients will be happy anyway.

Stereotyping is a sign of a lazy mind. Yes, there are people in the "burbs" who are superficial, materialistic, gas-guzzling, egocentrics...guess what? These people also exist in Portland...and for the record, Portland city limits extend quite a ways beyond inner SE or even I-205. It's always amusing to me to hear folks talk about "Portland this" and "Portland that" and when you ask them their definition of Portland, it ends just before 82nd street. I have friends who live in "Portland" at Powell and 130th.

I live in Gresham and, for me, right now, it's the right spot.There are plenty of great independent restuarants, bookstores, salons, etc in Gresham.There are also some strip malls and chains. But life is choices and you can choose to live consciously while in the "burbs". For the record, I own a 7 year old Ford Escort that I drive only in the winter or when I need to haul my kayak, using an electric scooter the rest of the year and I use Tri-Met when I go into Portland. I live in a 900 sq foot apartment 2 miles from where I work. I recycle, I volunteer in my local community, I am progressive and involved in politics on a local, regional, and national level. I lived in Portland (Park blocks downtown, NW 21st, and 11th/Morrison) for a decade before moving to Gresham. I love both Portland and Gresham for different reasons. Both have good and bad things about them, both have considerate and rude people, both have environmentally-aware people and folks who believe the world is theirs to trample and waste.
But for those of you who have a "Gresham sucks" attitude, I encourage you to come out to Gresham sometime. MAX out to the second to last stop on the line. Walk west to Main street and then South. Visit the independent shops making and selling clothes, hats, and accessories. Stop in at the herbal store and pick up an herbal infusion for bath, eat at Wall Street Pizza (play pool, too) or Jazzy Bagels. Drop into Cafe Delerium Internet Cafe or go to the local independent bookstore right off of third street. Life is choices, people. I respect your choice to live in Portland and wish you well...I may move back someday myself. But just because I live in Gresham, don't assume I'm some SUV-driving, earth-raping, McMansion living dittohead. That's not fair to the great people who do live out here or in Beaverton or in Hillsboro. And if you can't see that, come visit...and you will. Peace.

Honestly, there isn't that much difference between Portland and the suburbs these days. Oh sure you have some nice old houses and trendy businesses left and right. But every hip neighborhood eventually just becomes ground zero for upscale lofts (the urban equivilant of McMansions), oh and be sure to throw in a Pasta Works and Starbucks on the ground floor. Meanwhile they can just recreate the same idea out at Orenco Station.

Alot of people end up living in the suburbs to be close to where they can make a decent wage. There aren't enough jobs in Portland for the mythical creative class transplants from the Midwest, East Coast and Cali, let alone for homegrown state college kids. It's the same reason you see immigrant communities in the suburbs as opposed to the central neighborhoods of Portland. (Even counting the neighbohoods of N and close-in NE, is there a whiter inner-city anywhere in America?)

That being said, those morons who put tape down are miserable fuckwads, and deserve to get there precious little spots stolen that they can't even get out of bed early enough to claim in person. So please, rip away.

despite the fact that we detest them in other areas--race, class, sexual orientation, etc.

Scott, not to nitpick, but are you saying the above knowing that Portland is a great deal more white than Beaverton, or because you still believe, wrongly, that it isn't?

I wonder if race and class are in fact at issue here. So many of the stereotypes thrown at "surburbanites" are stereotypes of class. Ignorance, obesity, xenophobia. (Again, despite the markedly greater diversity in the suburbs than in the city.) Even the wealth ascribed to the suburbs is consistently, negatively characterized as gauche "new money" (i.e. Randy Leonard's unfortunate statement, that he has since backed off of).

Oh cripes, sorry about that Scott. Now I see what you were saying. Despite the fact that you detest stereotypes in "other areas: race, class, sexual orientation, etc." hhhmmm... I guess I just saw what I wanted to see. Mea culpa.

Yeah, it was clumsily worded.

Okay -- I'm not from Portland, don't live in Portland, have never been to Portland, and have absolutely nothing invested in this. I won't see the tape, I won't get my tape ripped up, I won't get threatened by anyone who either taped or ripped up tape, and I don't know anything about this "tradition," such as it is. Just so you know where I'm coming from.

But I've been following this story for my own reasons, and all I can say, from as objective a view as I think is possible, is this:

Taping out a spot for a public parade is a really, really douchebaggy thing to do.

Just sayin'.

I live in the 'burbs and I could care less how much fucking tape gets ripped off of the sidewalk during the Rose Festival.

If someone is stupid enough to get horn in on my patch of sidewalk if I decide to show up to the parade--then they can damn well take me on. I'll stand where there's a spot and if there's tape there, they can kiss my lilly white liberal ass.

Honestly--is this really the most pressing issue in town? Jeez.

Portland Rocks -- I live in a very nice three bedroom house, on a super quiet street with nice big trees and great neighbors. I drive a small SUV(carpool to keep the gas use down), have kids, a husband and dogs. I can conveniently get to shopping, my downtown job, cultural events and restaurants. My neighborhood is safe. My kids are happy with their school. Life is great here.

I pay less rent for my inner-city house today than the crappy rental house I had in Beaverton 15 years ago where I never knew my neighbors and had to lock my doors. Anyone who thinks they can get a better life in the burbs and that they are getting a deal finding an apartment for $900 a month deserves the wonderful life they live, complete with traffic, strip malls and burban culture. More power to them, they can have the burbs!

PS, I wont tell ya what part of the city I live in, I want to keep this area nice for as long as possible, so I am keeping this one secret. : )

Peace Out

I see so many tangents on this topic. It is about marking off areas (probably larger than one's need for body/chair space areas-so they can be 'comfortable') BS of "I CALL DIBBS..."
Can we say:
Taping ones area for parade viewing: Pretentious-Bad. Done by those who are maybe 1)too timid to battle crowds, 2)too lazy to get up early to position themselves for their leisure viewing time later, 3) AND PROBABLY NOT JUST DEFINED by where they live?
I really wouldn't put it past some of my neighbors-we live INNER PDX-Hollywood, on doing the taping crap.
I wouldn't tape myself, but...
UN-taping: (Some of those on a mission to LIBERATE THE REAL PORTLANDERS)-Bad, too. I can see why this might sound like you are taking a STAND against some A-Holes, but by taking the dramatic vigilante stance that SOME are taking...it looks just as bad, maybe even hypocritical.
I say that because I am hearing that it is bad to be a self-righteous ass to tape off your area(which it is!) ...but it is going to be undone by another self-righteous ass, who feels they are better than "the taper" Some of who are doing this not of their OWN thinking, but because they read about it and it sounded "KOOL!"
I am not a timid soul, I will get nose-to-nose with someone who pisses me off...and I despise "the taper", even worse...I despise those crappy "spray-painting-space-saving-mongrels." But I find it hard to support those who are MELODRAMATIC on the taping issue, and especially the "followers" who would have never done anything about taping until they heard it would be "KOOL" to UN-TAPE!

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