Commentary
Deepening Hillsdale's spirit
It's only natural that I'd use this space to contribute my own five wishes for Hillsdale in 2014. I invited several others to do the same. Their wishes are to the right.
Without giving it too much thought I came up with six. I get one extra because, well, I'm the editor, and also, my sixth sort of breaks the mold.
Here, then, are my first five:
1. Sure, I'd like an underground MAX station in Hillsdale. (See the lead story in this issue. It's not such a crazy idea once you start to explore it. And in 2014 we will.)
2. I'd like a community credit union here. (and I have every reason to believe that we'll get it in 2014.)
3. I'd like Food Front to re-invent itself so that more people frequent it. I suggest a much stronger appeal to cooperative, customer-ownership values - and to values in general.
4. I'd like more "softening" of Capitol Highway in Hillsdale, perhaps even turning it into a two-lane, split boulevard with, as Linda Doyle suggests in the "Five Wishes" article, trees on elongated traffic islands.
5. More-many more-sidewalks. Look how Sunset Boulevard has been transformed by just two blocks of sidewalks (And thanks, by the way, to all who cooperated and worked on this project.) Finally, something a little different. I believe that if you open yourself to it, you will find a spiritual side to living in Hillsdale. People who live and worship here in our numerous religious congregations may acknowledge the spirit here, but my guess is that most of their worshipful reflections are focused elsewhere. No, interestingly enough, the folks who are closest to connecting with the Spiritual Hillsdale don't usually do it as part of their formal religious affiliations, if they have any. Instead their "churches," "synagogues" and "mosques" are sylvan trails, community health programs, tutoring, youth athletics, school site councils, the neighborhood association, Main Street, Neighborhood House, and the farmers market. The list of Hillsdale "spiritual" places is virtually endless. So my sixth wish is that we allow ourselves to feel the spirit of our community and the spirit of our commitment to it. Return to top of commentaryRick Seifert
Editor/Publisher
Letter to the Editor
Criticism misdirected
Editor:
In your "Commentary" of Nov. 29, you rightly note that Hillsdale Main Street (HMS) has resulted to date in positive changes - "Banners, street plantings, murals, and a reconfigured parking lot" - to the Town Center, as well as "high-visibility community events and hundreds of eager volunteers." I agree, too, that we need to be planning, as HMS and the Hillsdale Community Foundation are doing, for the next phase of both Town Center and broader "civic and commercial evolution." The Hillsdale Neighborhood Association, the Hillsdale Alliance, Southwest Trails PDX, the schools, Hillsdale Library, and the Hillsdale Business and Professional Association (HBPA) can play complementary and supporting roles.
I also agree - here, though, you are waiting for the shoe to drop (see below) - that HMS staff and committee volunteers did not sufficiently explain our business development strategy to the property and business owners and Hillsdale residents to win "their wider support" and make our mission sustainable. Your criticism towards property and business owners, however, is misdirected (the shoe drops) for at least three reasons. I am preparing a longer article for publication to explain these reasons as well as to contest your suggestion that it is "enough" to buy "two scones a week at Baker & Spice, an IPA at the Pub or Sasquatch and the occasional frock at Paloma." It isn't enough - but we HMS supporters need to do more in the "next phase" to win that "wider support." As Mrs. Malaprop might say, "The ball is in our court, we must knock it out of the park."
Thank you, Rick, for keeping spirited, civil discussion alive in Hillsdale.
Robert E. Hamilton
Member, Business Development Committee
Hillsdale Main Street
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Map provided by Metro
In the next six months, officials will narrow route and mode options for
future high-capacity Southwest transit. Above are options for the Hillsdale segment. |
Rail or Road? MAX or Bus? Another tunnel?
As officials consider
transit options, Hillsdale urged to weigh in
Public officials are moving slowly to a major high-capacity transit decision that could radically change the future of Hillsdale as well as much of Southwest Portland. The officials ultimately will answer whether Hillsdale and its Town Center will be served by underground MAX trains. Or they may decide that the new transit service should rely on sophisticated rapid-transit buses running exclusively on Barbur Boulevard, bypassing the Hillsdale Town Center altogether. The headline grabber is that one option is for a MAX line that will tunnel, yes TUNNEL, under the Hillsdale Town Center. The outbound trains could exit the tunnel on Barbur Boulevard near Fred Meyer or continue underground from the Town Center to and beyond Multnomah Village, finally surfacing at the busy intersection of Capitol Highway, Taylor's Ferry Road and Barbur. Then again MAX trains or rapid-transit buses could simply follow Barbur from downtown, bypassing the Town Center and the Village altogether. (See the options for Hillsdale and Multnomah Village on the map above) The options are part of a larger "Southwest Transit Corridor" planning effort that seeks to link Tualatin, Tigard and Southwest Portland with downtown Portland. A major consideration is OHSU, the city's largest employer. That MAX-in-a- Tunnel option would have an underground OHSU station, like the one serving the Zoo now. Imagine yourself one day in 15 years descending into the Hillsdale MAX station. The next two stops to the northeast would be, first, one subterranean station at OHSU and then a station above ground in downtown Portland. Over the next six months, communities along the corridor are invited to meetings where residents and business owners can weigh in on the numerous options. Here in Southwest, you might want to circle the first Monday of the next six months. At the Multnomah Arts Center on each of those days, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. an open-membership "Portland Community Working Group" will meet. The next meeting is Monday, January 6. The first meeting, on Dec. 2, attracted more than 30 members from the Southwest Portland community.
 | | Eugene has chosen Bus Rapid Transit |
The meetings are organized by two City of Portland agencies, the Bureau of Transportation and the Bureau of Sustainability and Planning. Representatives from Metro (the regional government) and from TriMet are present to explain the process, to answer questions and to take comments. The working group's views will be considered in June when a Southwest Transit Corridor Steering Committee will refine the list of options to be pursued in an Environmental Impact Statement phase, said Juan Karlos Ocana-Chiu, Metro senior public affairs specialist. More options will be eliminated in the second phase, which will last until 2017. A final winnowing phase will end in 2019 and, if the final choice is approved and funding obtained, construction could begin in 2022 with completion sometime before 2030. The steering committee consists of transit officials and elected representatives from the areas to be served. Ultimately, the seven elected Metro Council members will vote on the final proposed option. Two local members of the council, Bob Stacey and Craig Birksen, sit on the committee. Ocana-Chiu said that Bus Rapid Transit would very likely be built faster and less expensively than Light Rail. In either case, much of the money would come from the federal government. Portland has no Bus Rapid Transit lines, but Seattle and Eugene do. The new transit line would be approximately 11 miles long, compared with the new 7.3-mile-long, $1.5 billion Milwaukie line now under construction. The Milwaukie construction is taking four years with service to begin in 2015.  | |
HIllsdale could be served by underground MAX
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Two Hillsdale leaders closely tracking the planning are Glenn Bridger, chair of the Hillsdale Neighborhood Association's (HNA) Transportation Committee, and Wes Risher, a long-time neighborhood watch-dog activist and former HNA president. Bridger wonders how the new High Capacity Transit (HCT) lines with their spread-out stations will affect local transit service. "Historically when they put in a HCT facility they make changes in the service structure to maximize use of HCT corridor.... There may be fewer buses going through the Town Center." Moreover, he says, HCT service on Barbur may reduce the number of lanes on the major thoroughfare. The buses or trains could crimp traffic and limit turning options. The MAX line on North Interstate Avenue demonstrates what can happen, he said. He also wonders what kinds of pedestrian and bicycle improvements will be made to help HCT users get to the stations. "There is going to be significant change, " he said. "It is our job as a community to try and have a positive influence on the process so that it leaves Hillsdale a better place...." Risher emphasized the prospect of a direct connection between Hillsdale and OHSU. Such a connection could lead decision-makers to opt for a tunnel, he said. Moreover, the non-tunnel options "won't serve the Hillsdale Town Center at all." Like Bridger, Risher urged the Hillsdale community to get involved. He calls the transit decisions the most important facing Hillsdale for next 20 years or more. Click to go to top of story
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2014 Hillsdale wish lists
The News has invited several Hillsdale leaders to share five wishes for our community in the new year. (You are invited to submit yours to The News for the next issue. HERE's the e-mail link.) And now for the wish lists.  Arnie Panitch, Trimet volunteer and citizen activist and valued news source:
1. Food Front in Hillsdale will actually turn a profit.
2. Mayor Charlie Hales will pave at least one street in Hillsdale as he promised.
3. Hillsdale will get a movie theater.
4. We will get more food carts.
5. We will be able to buy a decent bagel here.
Beth Madison, principal, Robert Gray Middle School:
 1. Stephens Creek Crossing housing children will receive a warm welcome from Hillsdale and its schools. 2. SWTrails will be successful in bringing the Red Electric Trail through Hillsdale.
3. The Cascadia Subduction (earthquake) Zone will continue to be very quiet.
4. Robert Gray Middle School will be richly endowed with unicorns and rainbows.
5. The Bertha Blvd/Hwy 10 intersection chaos will someday be abated.
 Jennifer Brownell, pastor, Hillsdale Community Church (United Church of Christ):
1. We will extend our warmest welcome to 122 new neighbor households at Stephens Creek Crossing low-income housing project.
2. We will plant more gardens.
3. Each of us will commit to one action that supports our neighborhood schools, or a helps a child stay in school.
4. We will ensure no one goes hungry - physically or spiritually.
5. We will work for marriage equality for everyone. (Actually that's my wish for the whole state - Go, Oregon United for Marriage!)
 Linda Doyle, Hillsdale Main Street board member, Wilson Area Arts Council board member, Wilson High School Volunteer: 1. A large covered community space for festivals and events.
2. An amazing new restaurant that draws customers from beyond our community.
3. Trees and landscaping placed down the middle of Capitol Hwy to help slow down traffic.
4. A multi-million dollar donation to support the arts in the Wilson cluster schools.
5. A large street banner over Capitol Hwy, saying "Welcome to Hillsdale, a small-town Portland community"
 Mikal Apenes, president, Hillsdale Neighborhood Association: 1. A continued vibrant and vital town center.
2. Continued cooperative efforts of business owners, property owners and residents that make Hillsdale such a special community.
3. Slower traffic speeds through the town center.
4. A new building on the vacant lot on the north side of Capitol Highway in the Town Center.
5. A town plaza next to Casa Colima.
Tamairah Boleyn, co-owner, Korkage: 
1. Funding that makes our teachers and schools whole while maintaining programs for the lower income children and families who need support the most.
2. Funding and support that ensures Hillsdale Main Street endures, along with a closer alignment and involvement of other key Hillsdale non-profits, the Farmer's Market and the Business and Professional Association.
3. Better OHSU parking so that their employees can easily come down the Hill and visit Hillsdale on their breaks!
4. More fabulous retailers, along with improvements to our current structures that will continue building Hillsdale as a destination and will support long-term success of our local businesses.
5. Korkage lunches to be bustling! (Sorry I can't help but be biased.)
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Buzz Bowman of Timberline fame has a loyal following as Hillsdale's
local pharmacist
To many readers of The Oregonian and OPB viewers, 84-year-old Buzz Bowman is remarkable for the 67 years he has been active as a ski-patroller on Mt. Hood.  | |
Buzz's smile is reassuring, whether seen on the ski slopes or at his drugstore.
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Earlier this year both the paper and the public broadcasting station featured Buzz's longevity helping fix sprained ankles - and worse - on the slopes. Buzz started skiing at age 16 and joined the patrol in 1946. He met Delores, his wife of 65 years, while skiing at Timberline Lodge. Only mentioned in passing in the stories was the "other" Buzz, pharmacist in Hillsdale for more than 50 years. Since 1991 he has presided over Bowman's Hillsdale Pharmacy at the corner of Capitol and Sunset. Before that he worked as pharmacist with a group of physicians at 29th and Vermont. At one point he owned seven pharmacies in the area, but now they have been sold. All but the Hillsdale pharmacy, that is, where his daughter, Laurie Marx, a pharmacist too, works with him. A son, Patrick, is a pharmacist in Tualatin. The pharmacy employs seven full-time equivalents and offers a profit sharing plan, he says, adding "when there's a profit." Buzz is a man of quick wit. Ask him "how many work at the pharmacy?" and he deadpans, "about half." As far removed as Mt. Hood is from Hillsdale, Buzz is quick to cite the similarities between dispensing prescriptions in the Town Center and providing aid and comfort on the ski runs. (One run, "Buzz Cut," is even named for him and his service.) It's all about "taking care of people and doing something you like," he says. "And people are grateful." In both settings he finds himself administering crutches and bandages. Over the years, the easy-going and affable Buzz Bowman has made hundreds of friends, whether they have been fellow ski patrollers, injured skiers or customers. And at 84, he's nearly as much a fixture in Hillsdale as he is on Mt. Hood. Hillsdale Blueberry Pancake Breakfast volunteers know they can rely on Buzz to help out (ski-patrol demands on the slopes are virtually non-existent the last Sunday in July, the day of the breakfast). But nearly every afternoon of the work week, Buzz can be found wearing his crisp, white pharmacist's jacket and doing his part to help Hillsdale stay on its feet. Click here to go to top of issue
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Date Book
Saturday, January 4
Usual Suspects join SOLV patrol
9 a.m. at the Food Front "verandah."Usual Suspects" volunteers enjoy an hour of cleaning up litter. Good clean fun and fellowship. All welcome. Free coffee.
Monday, January 6 Southwest Transit Working Group
6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Multnomah Arts Center. All are invited to join the group and consider major changes to our transit system, including the possibility of a MAX tunnel under Hillsdale. See lead story in this issue
Wednesday, January 8
Hillsdale Neighborhood Association
Board meets at 6:30 p.m. at the Watershed to choose a nominating committee. 7 p.m. general meeting featuring Rick Nitti, executive director of Neighborhood House. Nitti will give a presentation about the new Child Development Center under construction at the Stephens Creek Crossing housing project across from Mittleman Jewish Community Center.
Friday, Feb. 7
Rieke Benefit Auction
7 p.m. to 10 p.m., Refuge PDX, 116 SE Yamhill. Desserts, wine, silent and live auctions, games and raffles, all to benefit Rieke Elementary School
Wednesday, Feb 12
Hillsdale Alliance discusses Transit
7 p.m. at the Watershed. The Alliance invites the Hillsdale community to join the discussion about transit options for Southwest Portland. See story in this issue. The Alliance is a quarterly gathering of representatives from several Hillsdale organizations.
Click to go to top of Datebook
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