Parking App Drives Into City's Garages
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TRACK TESTS— SEE STAR LIFE, B2 CYCLISTS PortlandTribuneTHURSDAY, JULY 24, 2014 • TWICE CHOSEN THE NATION’S BEST NONDAILY PAPER • PORTLANDTRIBUNE.COM • PUBLISHED TUESDAY AND THURSDAY Old Town ■ Recession-slammed 50th and Division fi nds new economic life citation When Betre “ Peter” Tesfu opened his plan bears Ethiopian restaurant on Southeast Division and 50th six years ago, the little fruit neighborhood was hurting fi nancially. Now Low-level offenders it’ s bracing for still skip court dates as gentrifi cation. enforcement tightens By PETER KORN The Tribune One of Portland’s most vex- ing downtown problems — repeated low-level violations by homeless men and women — remains mostly unchanged despite new policies intended to encourage violators to get help or suffer consequences, according to new data from the “ My sense Multnomah is that County dis- having trict attor- ney’s offi ce. more City offi cials offi cers out have struggled for years to on the fi nd a way to streets is discourage ac- really the tivities such as public urina- solution.” tion, drinking — Chuck Sparks, in public spac- chief deputy es and illegal TribTown district attorney camping in the downtown ar- SOUTHEAST ea. Two years Rebound Avenue ago, in a move authorities around the country labeled as a hen Betre “Peter” Tesfu series published fi ve years ago this month. potential breakthrough experi- opened a new Ethiopian res- Now, follow-up interviews reveal that the ment, Multnomah County be- taurant six years ago off 50th and Division area is bracing for gentri- came the fi rst in the nation to W Southeast Division Street fication, like several other lower-profile hold a community court at a and 50th Avenue, friends said he was cra- neighborhoods on Portland’s east side. homeless facility in Old Town. zy. But Tesfu fi gured Division Street was “It’s a nice neighborhood; I think people The hope was that defendants “up and coming” and primed to be anoth- are discovering that,” says Shawn Gordon, might be more willing to show er Hawthorne Boulevard. one of the residents profi led for our 50th up for court dates if court were Boy was he right. and Division series. held in a facility where many of Now the explosive There’s more vibrant them spend their daytime hours growth along Division Stories by Steve Law sidewalk life in the area — Bud Clark Commons in Old — including a national- Photos by Jonathan House these days, thanks in Town, where homeless men and ly recognized “restau- part to á la carts Food women use day services. Even rant row” between 30th Pavilion, a pod of 15 after that move, however, only and 34th avenues — is spreading east to food carts that opened in 2011 one block about one in three cited by po- 50th Avenue and beyond. south of the intersection. lice appeared as instructed at Back in 2009, when the Portland Tribune For the fi rst time, Gordon now can walk community court. sought to chronicle how the city was cop- to hear live music near his house: at á la This year, the Multnomah ing with the Great Recession, we selected carts and at the Landmark Saloon, a coun- County district attorney and the 50th and Division area as an average try bar on Division and 48th. Portland police tried a new poli- Portland neighborhood, and a team of re- Since the recession eased, restaurateurs, cy based on programs that had porters fanned out to interview nearby retailers and apartment developers are in- succeeded in yielding better residents, workers and merchants. Our creasingly busting out beyond Cesar community court attendance in fi ndings: the largely working-class neigh- Chavez Boulevard, which had long served other cities. Typically in Port- Ed MacGregor, who operates Year of the Fish at à la carts Food Pavilion, worries borhood was “stressed but surviving,” land a police citation would re- the site could get redeveloped, displacing the popular food cart pod. which became the theme of our four-part See GROWTH / Page 2 See COURT / Page 11 Parking app drives into city’ s garages the result of garage owners post- Technology helps ing misleading parking rates, according to Sann. A few don’t drivers fi nd cheapest even let you know the hourly spot for their vehicles parking rate until you’re check- ing out. Some parking lot signs By PETER KORN here advertise an inexpensive The Tribune all-day rate, but don’t tell drivers TRIBUNE FILE PHOTO: CHRISTOPHER ONSTOTT their hourly rate is more than Community court (here with Next time you’re planning three times the hourly rate at a Judge Randall Weisberg on driving downtown and lot a block away. presiding) is held at Bud Clark looking for a parking space “It’s one of the reasons our Commons in Old Town as a way to where you know you won’t site exists,” Sann says. “Not just bring the court to its homeless get ripped off, you might want because of the signage situation, defendants. A plan by the city to to fi rst look at bestparking. but because, what does an all- get more people into court faster com, says Ben Sann, founder day rate mean? Oftentimes with has stumbled, with fewer of the website. signage it’s not clear. When you defendants showing up on time. Otherwise, let the buyer be- know the price ahead of time ware, says Sann, whose secret you can fi nd the best deal and shopper, or rather, secret park- pull into the lot that suits you er, has found plenty of bad best.” deals at Portland parking lots Sann knows all this, though he COURTESY OF BESTPARKING.COM and garages. A screenshot shows the bestparking.com selection of garages and parking lots in Portland. The app helps Some of those bad deals are See PARKING / Page 11 drivers decide how much they want to spend to park in the city. “Pamplin Media Group’s pledge is to Portland Tribune deliver balanced news that refl ects the NBA WINNERS, LOSERS stories of our communities. Thank you — SEE SPORTS, PAGE B10 for reading our newspapers.” Inside — DR. ROBERT B. PAMPLIN JR. OWNER & NEIGHBOR FURNITURE BUYING SHOULD BE FUN! KUHNHAUSEN’S FURNITURE SHOWCASE 478222.072414 Family Owned & Operated Since 1919 Tuesday-Friday 10-6 • Saturday 10-5 2640 East Burnside Street, Portland, OR www.kuhnhausensfurniture.com • (503) 234-6638 A2 NEWS The Portland Tribune Thursday, July 24, 2014 Growth: Sidewalk life gets more vibrant ■ reputation for luring more upscale residents one of the city’s premier developers, is completing after getting laid off from his longtime job as a de- From page 1 where it opens, and raising property values. a 74-unit apartment building on 48th and Division. partment store shoe salesman. Now he’s back to “We saw that as one of the hottest corners in the The four-story building will include a “name” cof- work selling arch supports. as an invisible eastern boundary for Portland’s hip city,” says Sedlar, who hopes to open the 50th and fee shop chain that’s new to Portland, Jones says. Bryan Daniel, another resident profi led in our inner east side. Division store by next spring. “I would say it was He also is purchasing property on the northwest Division and 50th series, had lost his job lifting and Restaurant row expanded eastward when an average Portland neighborhood fi ve years ago.” corner of 50th and Division, site of a transmission stabilizing homes. He too is back is back to work in Woodsman Tavern opened on Division and 45th, fol- Though construction hasn’t begun, promotional shop and the popular Taqueria Los Gorditos bur- his old fi eld. lowed by the Japanese steakhouse Tokio Table on signs at a new condo project a few blocks to the rito stand. Word on the street is that Jones hopes Some businesses near 50th and Division didn’t 48th and Division, and Mi Mero Mole, a Mexican south already tout the location near Green Zebra, to develop a similar four-story multifamily build- survive the Great Recession. In addition to Bearly eatery created by the “Zuke” of Kenny and Zuke’s along with the Woodsman and other attractions. ing there, though he says it’s too soon to talk de- Worn, the Blue Pig and Bay Leaf restaurants Delicatessen, on Division just east of 50th. “Honestly, this neighborhood is so ready for that tails. closed down, their spots fi lled by Tokio Table and When used clothing retailer Bearly Worn closed type of store,” says Linda Gramlich, co-owner of á “I’ve always liked that neighborhood — upper Mi Mero Mole. its doors on Division and 50th, Green Zebra Gro- la carts. Division,” Jones says. “It’s going to grow quickly People in the neighborhood clearly have more cery announced it would open its second store The frenzied development of four-story apart- and part of it is the projects we’re doing.” disposable income now, Gramlich says. “I think there. The startup company, which bills itself as a ments along inner Division Street also is spreading that it’s a pretty sought-after neighborhood now,” healthy convenience store, was founded by former east of Cesar Chavez Boulevard. From recovery to gentrifi cation New Seasons CEO Lisa Sedlar. New Seasons has a Aaron Jones, formerly with Gerding and Edlen, Back in 2009, Gordon was out of work for months See 50TH / Page 3 Bryan Daniel says the trauma many Ace’ s Q uick Cash, a pawnshop on 50th and Despite its funky upstairs location, Bete-Lucas experienced during the Great Recession helped Division, isn’ t as profi table as it was during the Ethiopian Restaurant is thriving off 50th and make him, and his neighborhood, stronger.