Divided by the concrete wall of Interstate 5, the two
Portland neighborhoods of Overlook and Boise lie just a
stone's throw from each other, but they are, in many ways,
worlds apart.
Overlook, on the west side of the freeway, enjoys higher
property values, lower crime rates and spectacular views of
the river. Boise, to the east, while making great strides in
the last decade, remains one of Portland's poorer
neighborhoods.
Now a massive project to improve the freeway has fired up
an old feud between the two neighborhoods. At issue,
ironically, is a padlocked structure originally designed to
bring them closer together: the Failing Street pedestrian
bridge.
Overlook wants the footbridge torn down. Boise wants it
reopened. As both sides marshal allies to support their
positions, the Oregon Department of Transportation, which is
poised to decide the fate of the span, is stuck in the
middle. "It's a poignant neighborhood issue," says Christie
Holmgren, who is coordinating ODOT's public outreach on the
project.
The footbridge hasn't been used since October 1991, when
it was closed off as a result of complaints about criminal
activity. It remained a mute monument to urban neglect until
last year, when ODOT set in motion a major project to repave
I-5 between Hassalo Street and the Interstate Bridge. The
new coat of asphalt will raise the freeway by about four
inches--enough, unfortunately, to reduce the clearance of
five overpasses to a critical level. As a result, ODOT will
have to jack up the spans in order to meet state and federal
height standards.
For the other overpasses, this poses no particular
controversy. But the agency is unwilling to spend $300,000
to raise a padlocked footbridge. So ODOT began seeking
public input on whether to raise and reopen the bridge or to
demolish it.
Overlook residents are "absolutely" opposed to reopening
the bridge, according to Bob Peterson, chairman of the
Overlook Neighborhood Association. They fear criminals will
use the bridge as a springboard to the neighborhood's fat
wallets and late-model cars. Neighbors trade horror stories
about the muggings, break-ins and burglaries that took place
when the bridge was open. After the footbridge was closed,
"it was like day and night," says Overlook resident Terry
Vanderkooy, who lives three blocks away from the span's west
end.
ODOT initially tried to address these concerns with
police statistics showing that crime in the area around the
bridge had actually increased since the structure's closure.
But Overlook residents weren't convinced. They asked for a
separate tally of crimes on the east and west sides of the
bridge. Sure enough, more detailed reports showed a slight
decline on the west side after the bridge was closed--and a
surge on the east side.
Although an elevated footbridge might seem an unlikely
incubator of crime, Overlook neighbors say the bridge
created a bizarre scenario reminiscent of the Keystone Cops.
Miscreants would commit crimes on one side of the freeway,
then dash across the bridge, where police cars could not
follow. Officers were reluctant to pursue on foot for the
chance that the suspects would hop into a getaway car on the
other side, leaving the cops panting in the dust. Instead,
officers would drive three blocks north, cross the freeway
at Skidmore, and head back down to Failing. "By the time
[the police] got to the other side, [the suspects] were long
gone," says Vanderkooy.
Officer Cheryl Kanzler, spokeswoman for the Portland
Police Bureau, agrees that the bridge created a "conduit for
criminal activity." As a result, the bureau opposes
reopening the bridge.
Beyond the crime factor, Overlook sees little benefit in
improving its connections to Boise. In November the Overlook
Neighborhood Association voted unanimously to ask ODOT to
demolish the bridge. "It seems that the little use [the
bridge] has for our neighborhood residents is largely
overshadowed by its attraction to a negative criminal
element," association chairman Peterson later wrote in a
letter to City Commissioner Charlie Hales.
The view is a little different on the other side of the
freeway. Boise residents yearn for the tall trees and lush
grass of Overlook Park, with its glorious view of the river.
"We have no place for our kids to run and play," says
light-bulb vendor Kay Newell, who lives two blocks from the
bridge's east end. In addition, Boise residents would like
better access to the Kaiser Medical Center and the No. 5
bus. As things stand, pedestrians in Boise who want to
venture west of the freeway have to detour north to Skidmore
or south to Stanton--a 30-minute hike. Boise residents
acknowledge the potential crime problems but feel they could
be addressed by installing cameras or simply locking the
bridge after dark.
There is, in addition, a suspicion among Boise residents
that they are viewed as second-class citizens. "There's a
kind of a wall the freeway makes that the Overlook people
are quite comfortable with," says Tod Lundy, co-chair of the
Boise Neighborhood Association. "We are a poor neighborhood,
and they think it's fine there's a barrier." This concern is
aggravated by the racial composition of the two
neighborhoods; historically, Overlook has been predominantly
white and Boise black.
Recent census figures show differences between the two
neighborhoods diminishing. "The people over here are the
same as the people over there," says Newell. In 1990, 81
percent of Overlook residents were white, compared with 26
percent in Boise. By 1996, the figure dropped to 76 percent
in Overlook and rose to 44 percent in Boise. At the same
time, crime rates in both neighborhoods have dropped
dramatically in the last 10 years.
For the record, Overlook residents contacted by WW
vigorously deny any prejudice against their neighbors to the
east. "It's not the folks in Boise--that's not the issue at
all," says Vanderkooy, who says the criminals worked both
sides of the bridge. "It's more the location of the bridge
itself than [a matter of] Boise versus Overlook," agrees
Peterson.
Whatever the genesis of their concerns, both sides are
trying to enlist allies. The Kaiser Permanente Medical
Center, located in Overlook right next to the footbridge's
west end, has not yet made an official statement. On the
other hand, Commissioner Hales last week weighed in on the
side of raising and reopening the bridge. Time is running
short, however. ODOT expects to decide the bridge's fate by
the first week of April.
- - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - -
Willamette Week |
originally published March 31, 1999
