Real Talk

Should Portland Grow In or Out? And Other Housing Qs

📸: Hector Chacon “How does Portland’s zoning and the metro area’s ‘infill philosophy’ contribute to homelessness and gentrification? Considering the available public transportation, might ‘outfill’ ease the crisis?” —Duncan McEwan We shared a little background on this question and the broader infill debate in today’s newsletter. Here’s what else we learned. THE URBAN GROWTH BOUNDARY The urban […]

/ January 16, 2019

Your Questions About Homelessness, Answered

📸: Multnomah County “How much does it cost the city to clean up the homeless camps? I see workers cleaning up the huge amount of stuff again and again.” Teri Prifach sent us that question shortly after the New York Times reported on the “dirtiest block in San Francisco,” detailing the daily cleanups that caused […]

/ January 9, 2019

We’re Digging Into Portland’s Housing Crisis. What Do You Want to Know?

What do you want to know about Portland’s housing and homelessness crisis? Bridgeliner’s next Real Talk series will focus on big ideas and promising solutions that could help Portland dig out of this problem, but as always, we’re starting with your questions. To follow this project, subscribe to our newsletter for updates on what we’re learning and what […]

/ October 10, 2018

Want to Improve Graduation Rates? Focus on the Little Ones.

We’ve been talking this month about Oregon’s lowly high school graduation rate — and mostly focusing on what happens after kids start ninth grade. But Mark Holloway, CEO of Social Venture Partners Portland, says what happens before kindergarten might be just as important. Here’s what Mark told us about SVP’s goal to help all children in the […]

/ September 19, 2018

Real Talk: What’s the deal with juvenile justice in Oregon?

This month’s Real Talk series is all about Oregon’s juvenile justice system, including the impacts of Measure 11, the neuroscience behind sentencing reform, and the campaign to end our state’s ‘racist’ non-unanimous jury law. Real Talk In Oregon’s Justice System, Who Deserves a Second Chance? Real Talk ‘Oregon has a stain on its criminal justice […]

/ August 31, 2018

Volunteer to support youth in Oregon’s juvenile justice system

The marathon at the MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility has become an annual tradition — and donations help make it possible. (📸: Oregon Youth Authority) ICYMI, we’ve spent this month tackling some of the big questions and thorny challenges in Oregon’s juvenile justice system, from what justice looks like for kids who commit violent crimes to […]

/ August 29, 2018

‘Rehabilitation is Difficult, But Never Impossible’

Earlier this month, we kicked off our Real Talk series on Oregon’s juvenile justice system with a story about Trevor Walraven, a former inmate who committed aggravated murder when he was 14 years old. This week, we asked Walraven and two other Oregonians who went to prison as kids — Marc Trice and Anthony Richardson […]

/ August 22, 2018

‘Oregon has a stain on its criminal justice system’

(📸: Pixabay) Oregon has a stain on its criminal justice system. We are one of two states – in bad company with Louisiana – with a discriminatory law that requires only 10 of 12 jurors to agree on a guilty verdict for defendants to be convicted of most felonies. There’s not much data on how […]

/ August 8, 2018

In Oregon’s Justice System, Who Deserves a Second Chance?

Eastern Oregon Correctional Institute. (📸: Sam Beebe/Flickr) Trevor Walraven was 14 years old when he stepped in front of a car in rural Oregon, held up the driver at gunpoint, ignored his pleas for mercy, and then killed him. At his trial for aggravated murder in 1999, Walraven might have seemed like an irredeemably lost […]

/ August 1, 2018