When I moved into the Old Town/Chinatown neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, I saw within a three block area many buildings, two within a block, with a "U" as in unsafe.  The neighborhood I am

When I moved into the Old Town/Chinatown neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, I saw within a three block area many buildings, two within a block, with a "U" as in unsafe.  The neighborhood I am told has the highest concentration of  such buildings.  It is a sad situation for a City that prides itself on its built environment. (April 2014)

UPDATE: December 2014 presentation about Unreinforced Masonry Buildings (UMB) here.

At no time in Portland's history have so many citizens been affected by new architecture. New buildings --bold, beautiful, middling, or downright ugly-- are rising in every neighborhood of the

At no time in Portland's history have so many citizens been affected by new architecture. New buildings --bold, beautiful, middling, or downright ugly-- are rising in every neighborhood of the city. The city has a process --Design Review-- to decide what buildings make the grade. But its most stringent oversight only applies to downtown and few other, innermost districts.

How does design review work? How well is it working? Should it be expanded to other parts of the city? Three prominent design advocates who have overseen the city's review during three distinct eras share their opinions about how to get the best buildings for the city. Panelists: Michael McCullouch, architect, urban designer and developer; Guenevere Millius, President of Parachute Strategies and chair of the Design Commission; John Russell, President of Russell Development Company. Randy Gragg, director of the University of Oregon's John Yeon Center, will moderate the program.Published on May 30, 2014