No place or neighborhood is perfect, but Beaumont-Wilshire ain’t bad, no matter how you look at it.
Crime is low, property values relatively high. Local schools are good — and getting better. Most residents seem pretty content with their lives and immediate surroundings, even as the broader world’s problems become more intrusive.
But neighbors I talked with agreed there are things that need fixing. Parking issues remain a concern to many. While BWNA’s Flags on Fremont program, which was extended to a few spots on NE 33rd Avenue, does help, there’s fear that too many drivers continue to treat Fremont, 33rd, and 42nd as thoroughfares, not neighborhood streets lined with homes, small businesses, and schools, and also serving children, bicyclists, and pedestrians.
Speeding, Inattentive Drivers Biggest Threat
Although too many pedestrians dart between parked cars or cross busy streets in the middle of the block, especially in the Beaumont Village area, speeding cars and inattentive drivers are viewed by some as the biggest danger.
“When larger vehicles are parked close to intersections, it’s impossible to see around them to safely make a turn or cross the intersection,” says longtime B-W resident Raelene Eckert. “Signage restricting parking in such areas would be a great improvement,” she added, “as would flashing pedestrian crosswalks in busy areas like Beaumont Village.”
Several neighbors asked us to highlight these continuing dangers and concerns; some suggested specifically that the BWNA Board ask officials from the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) to attend a board meeting or other B-W gathering to discuss the traffic situation. BWNA has requested such attention from PBOT, in fact, only to be told B-W is a low priority, because other areas are more dangerous.
Neighbors Wonder About PBOT’s Priorities
What are PBOT’s priorities when it comes to pedestrian safety, bike lanes, street lighting, new ADA-inspired sidewalk ramps, and other safety-related issues, they wonder? How are the budget decisions made that affect B-W? Why does the city seem to view our streets as safe enough, when many of those who live here disagree?
Challenges at Beaumont Market, Concerns About “Cluster” Housing
An additional concern, which the neighborhood association is already helping to tackle, is the can and bottle collection-related problem near Beaumont Market, created by the requirement that small grocery stores serve as BottleDrop redemption centers.
And, while there’s concern that some single-family homes are being replaced by “cluster” housing developments of various sizes and impacts, that issue falls squarely under new state zoning laws, and is outside the neighborhood association’s purview.
A Desire to Hear from our Elected Officials
Other neighbors would like to get insights from our elected officials, particularly the three District 2 City Council members who represent B-W, along with 27 other Northeast Portland neighborhoods: Sameer Kanal, Dan Ryan, and Elana Pirtle-Guiney.
Robin Shallcross, a 33-year B-W resident, would love BWNA to sponsor a forum (possibly in conjunction with other nearby neighborhoods) with Kanal, Ryan, and Pirtle-Guiney to discuss issues of importance to residents, explain how they feel our newly revamped City Council is working, and how (if?) the three of them are working in tandem to tackle issues and concerns in B-W and elsewhere in District 2.
Still, Robin says she and husband Otto Schell have joked for years that “any changes to our neighborhood are ‘improving upon perfection.’” Many neighborhoods, in Portland and beyond, would love to have our challenges.
Chris Rauber and his wife moved to Portland and B-W in mid-2022 after many years in the San Francisco Bay Area. He wrote for the San Francisco Business Times and other publications. He was born in Oregon.