Discover Portland Neighborhoods: Goose Hollow

Goose Hollow. A neighborhood nestled at the foot of the West Hills, often associated with century-old homes and an "old guard" feeling. While it is true that Goose Hollow is one of the earliest Portland neighborhoods, boasting some gorgeous views from its hilly streets, it is much more diverse than it is sometimes given credit for. I should know. I set out to write this article with a yawn; I wasn't expecting to uncover anything very interesting, to be honest. Now, some 2700 words later, I'm ready to eat crow.

Goose Hollow originally got its name from an Oregonian article written in the 1890's detailing an argument between women who raised geese there. The quarrel over whose geese were who's inspired the news reporter to dub the area "Goose Hollow."

One of the areas most colorful business owners in the area is Bud Clark, who would become famous later not only for being Mayor of Portland from 1985 to 1992, but also for being the "flasher" in the famous poster Expose Yourself to Art. A story all unto himself, Clark has owned the Goose Hollow Inn since 1967, and is widely recognized for bringing the area's old moniker back. With his interest in the history as well as the revitalization of the area, Bud Clark has been a great spokesperson for Goose Hollow for over forty years.

As is Tracy Prince, Board Member of the Goose Hollow Foothills League Neighborhood Association. I sat down with her to discuss the current state of things in Goose Hollow, as well as the vision for the future of the neighborhood. This visioning process allowed residents to determine what was most important to them, where their challenges lie, and ways they could empower themselves to turn the vision into a reality.

"We love our neighborhood," she begins. "This is why we began a visioning process about a year and a half ago. We want to figure out how neighbors can co-exist with the big institutions, to create the most beautiful, cultural, and historically sensitive place we can." The three dominating institutions Prince refers to are the Lincoln High School, Multnomah Athletic Club, and PGE Park. All three have vivid histories, and all three could be major players in the renewal efforts of the neighborhood.

Lincoln High School Steps into the Twenty-First Century

Lincoln High School began its existence as Portland High School in 1869, and was one of the first public high schools west of the Rocky Mountains. It sat in two different spots before moving into the current building on SW 16th and SW Salmon Streets in 1952.

A lot has changed since then, and the neighborhoods from which Lincoln students come have grown considerably. The current population of Lincoln stands at 1,402, leaving them close to bursting at the gills.

"We are a sea of parking lots and underutilized spaces," Prince laments, pointing to the Lincoln High School campus as an area with great potential for renewal.

Lincoln High School
 

From a neighborhood infrastructure perspective, there is much talk about what the future is for the aging building, increasingly insufficient in size and amenities. The plan that some of the neighborhood association members like the best would involve creating a vertical high school, to make better use of the four blocks on which it currently sits. The space that would be opened up by doing this could create some of the green space the neighborhood lacks, as well as more space for community use. The idea is for it to be a 24-hour campus, with retail business, as well as housing. Currently, there is no funding for such an ambitious project, but the long-range goal of Portland Public Schools is to have all school buildings brought into the 21st century with sustainable building elements and classrooms, labs, gyms, and theaters that better reflect the current curricula and extra-curricular activities of the students. Although all schools will be updated according to the plan, the order in which this massive project will take place has not yet been determined. Prince knows that there is opposition to the idea that Lincoln is a priority in this program; some believe there are far worse areas in Portland to tackle.

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"This fallacy about the "fat cats" in the west hills is just not true of Goose Hollow," she claims. "This is a diverse neighborhood; there are homeless kids attending school with the children of Portland Trailblazer players." There is talk of corporate partners that may help the Lincoln High School project happen, though this was unconfirmed at press time.

"Whatever happens at Lincoln will be good for the neighborhood," Prince asserts. She hopes the plans will encourage more people to get out and explore the area; currently the dimly lit campus is less than welcoming once the sun goes down.

"The only place we can fit the whole student body is the gym," Kirsten Leonard, school business manager tells me as we sit down to talk about the upcoming changes to Lincoln High School. She adds with a laugh, "That does not include faculty, however." She knows that a new building is needed, but also that there is no money to do it at this time. What Leonard, and the rest of the staff at Lincoln are more concerned with, is what goes on inside their existing walls.

"We have a vibrant, interested, and interesting group of kids here," she says proudly. She says the student body is overwhelmingly civic-minded; politically and internationally aware. She says that 80% of the students are enrolled in Lincoln's International Studies Center (ISC), where they are exposed to international guest speakers and events, through which they find community service projects, and where they themselves have the opportunity to speak on the international topics they study. They are also one of a few schools in the district to have an International Baccalaureate program, which, Leonard explains, is like "Advanced Placement courses with an international slant." While Leonard stresses that the education these kids receive is not dependent upon the building, she does admit it would definitely enhance the programs if the spaces were such that these and other projects could be grown to meet the need in the area.

"What if we had a law library that could serve as a theater in the round, a place for the Constitution team to hold mock trials, where community groups could hold meetings, entertainment, and mediation sessions?" She shares the vision of the neighborhood association, where the Lincoln campus could serve the community when school is not in session. But again, she stresses that these visions are only a small part of a bigger picture, and further says that a lot of partnering with other institutions and the community already exist at Lincoln (she points to PSU as one of many partnerships).

Though it is clear that something will happen with the structure, at this time it is unclear when and what. What is on the horizon, however, is the modernization of the system in which Portland's high schools will operate. Part of Portland Public Schools plan to bring the schools into the 21st century is a plan reorganize the current system, in the hopes of creating more equality in programs and services across the district. Its Big Ideas program suggests some different ways the system might work, weighing the pros and cons of each idea, and has asked for feedback from members of the community. The Lincoln Long Term Development Committee (LTDC) is one of many parent organizations that has been actively involved in the PPS' plans for the redesign of schools, and supports the districts efforts. Leonard voices her support as well.

"All of us understand the need and hope for equality," she says. Lincoln High School has a 90% rate of graduation which, she says, they are determined to help replicate in other schools. She believes the restructuring plan will help achieve that throughout the district.

Multnomah Athletic Club—Dedicated to Service

Founded in 1891, the Multnomah Athletic Club (MAC) began as the Multnomah Amateur Athletic Club, originally for men only. It leased the adjoining pastureland two years later, building the stadium that was then known as Multnomah Field (now PGE Park) and was the site for many athletic events of that era, including baseball, football, track and field and cricket. Today, MAC no longer owns the field (which they sold to the city of Portland for $2.1 million in 1966) but has expanded its indoor space to encompass two buildings totaling 550,000 square feet, and boasting a membership of about 20,000. It is the largest indoor athletic club in the world.

The MAC has been negatively characterized as exclusive over the years, but the club has also been quite involved with raising money to support local student athletes. Over the past twenty years, they have become known for their philanthropic work, providing scholarships and athletic programs to Portland area children. Their largest event, the Northwest Basketball Shootout, nets about $10,000 every year. The money is raised for the Joe Loprinzi Scholarship Fund which, since 2001, has provided $78,000 in scholarship assistance for graduating seniors.

As the visioning process continues, Tracy Prince and the rest of the Goose Hollow Neighborhood Association hope that MAC will be an active supporter of the revitalization.

Goal!

The third major institution in Goose Hollow is the one that has been at the center of much discussion lately. PGE Park has been a landmark here for close to 120 years, over which time it has evolved several times. And it is about to do it again.

After the Multnomah Athletic Club sold the stadium to the city, it was used for baseball, college football, soccer, and music concerts. The stadium closed in 2000 to undertake a major renovation. In 2001, the complete overhaul of the aging stadium was complete—a $38.5 million renovation and a new name: PGE Park. The Albuquerque Dukes franchise was purchased and was relocated to Portland with their new moniker—the Portland Beavers. That same year, outdoor professional soccer team the Portland Timbers began playing at the stadium. The tide is turning again for the park, though, and Major League Soccer (MLS) wants in.

Though the previous renovation was less than a decade ago, MLS standards require the configuration of the stadium to change. Chris Metz, PGE Park Media Relations, explains.

"For MLS games the most valuable seats are on the two sidelines," he explains. There is currently no seating in these areas, as the configuration of a baseball field is such that seating in those areas is not desirable. "It is [also] vital to construct the requisite, supporting infrastructure to accommodate consistently larger crowds, including permanent restrooms and concession stands."

Overall, the initial plans are to increase the capacity of the stadium to 20,000, with seats better suited for watching soccer and football. Goose Hollow residents had two major concerns: that there would be additional parking added, and that the viewing area from the street would be sealed off. Metz says that there are no concrete plans to make changes to the parking situation, and that both the street viewing area and the viewing area from the Multnomah Athletic Club will remain open. He adds that the $31 million dollar renovation will include green building elements, but that they are early in the design stages. A Design Advice hearing took place on September 17th, but no Design Review had been scheduled at press time. Though the fate of the Portland Beavers baseball team has been up in the air since their proposed plans for a new stadium in the Lents neighborhood have fallen through, Metz contends that the plan is to keep them in Portland. He adds that bringing MLS to PGE Park will be a boon to the neighborhood; the hope is that it will spur economic growth and potentially attract new investment dollars to the neighborhood.

Things Are Not Always What They Seem

Back with Tracy Prince, Board Member of the Goose Hollow Neighborhood Association, we talk about the prevailing misconceptions about the neighborhood.

"We want to call attention to the fact that there has been a massive disinvestment in this neighborhood on the part of the city," Prince says. She feels that the neighborhood is wrongly characterized as one populated by a privileged class.

Though many of the residences are historic, only about 14% are owner occupied, the rest are apartment buildings, or houses converted to apartments. A substantial amount of the renters, Prince says, are considered low income. Prince points to the section of Goose Hollow nicknamed "the Flats" as a perfect example of the mischaracterization. The association argues to the Portland Development Commission that this area, in fact, does meet the definition of Urban Blight. They seek an Urban Renewal designation in order to revitalize the area.

A Main Street Feel—A Connection to Downtown

"There is no there there," Prince quotes Gertrude Stein, when talking about the need for a neighborhood center, or "main street." She talks about the visioning plan for the area around the intersection of SW Salmon and SW 18th Streets—creating an area with active store fronts, wide sidewalks, and benches. The visioning plan seeks to enhance the urban feel of the neighborhood.

 
"We might be the only neighborhood asking the city to make us denser!" Prince laughs. The neighborhood association seems interested in embracing their urban-ness, seeking to connect with other parts of the west side in pedestrian-friendly ways.

Though close in proximity to both NW 23rd Avenue and downtown, access to those districts is made difficult by 405 and West Burnside Street. The visioning plan dreams of a pedestrian bridge over I-405.

 
"We are made an island by the freeway infrastructure," Prince says, "It is a brutal space for pedestrians, in the middle of all this car congestion." She says the group is supportive of any efforts by the city to address the "grimness" of their section West Burnside as well. Prince feels that it is everyone's obligation to encourage foot and bicycle transportation as an alternative to driving, and hopes that such projects through the main thoroughfares will help.

The Most Forgotten Population

Another tricky situation for Goose Hollow is the issue of homelessness.

"There is a severe lack of housing for the homeless," she says, "and so we house them—in our doorways, under our bridges, in our parks. We pay the social cost of this—graffiti, needles, trash left from abandoned encampments, increased car prowls and other crime." She insists that the city needs to invest a lot more dollars to combat the issues of homelessness.

 
"The RAC must be built," she asserts, referring to the multi-million dollar plan to build a Resource Access Center to house, care for, and rehabilitate Portland's homeless population. "The police have no tools until it's built," she adds. She says that there is little the police can do, aside from telling homeless people to "move along." Prince scoffs at the uselessness of this, when often there is nowhere for them to move to. It is not about a lack of compassion for the homeless, but rather an abundance of it that drives her and other residents of Goose Hollow to plead for better resources. They need more beds at night, and more safe places to go during the day as well. There is also a need to respond to the needs of couples who are afraid to be separated (traditionally, homeless housing separates men from women), of people active in an addiction (though she agrees that drug abuse in the shelters cannot be tolerated, Prince feels that those not clean and sober still deserve a safe place to sleep), and the needs of people with animals (part of the RAC plan includes a kennel for the animals of program participants). The RAC may not be able to address all of these problems, but with added housing, employment, treatment counseling, communication services and more, it is definitely a step in the right direction.

 

I felt the need to apologize to the entire Goose Hollow neighborhood after running around the place, uncovering more and more, realizing that its complete story would never fit into one article. The mix of history, the gritty realities of urban living, and a dedication to creating a sustainable, equitable future, makes Goose Hollow a place that exemplifies how a community can come together with compassion, pride, and a clear sense of direction.

[Correction: Tracy Prince was incorrectly identified as the Vice Chair of the Goose Hollow Foothills League. She is a Board Member.]

View the slideshow for more images of the Goose Hollow neighborhood or visit our flickr gallery:

 Photos ©2009 Kenneth Aaron, Neighborhood Notes