This afternoon I want to focus on the history of east Portland. While many people know that east Portland was largely annexed into the city in the mid-1980s through the early aughts, I want to provide some details and observations on what that means today...

First some history. Much of east Portland was unincorporated Multnomah County. The unincorporated area included much of what is east of 82nd Ave, but also other neighborhoods like Cully and Brentwood-Darlington.

Since these areas were unincorporated, they still look different today: lack of sidewalks, poor planning, fewer parks, wide & dangerous streets, etc. In other words, @multco shares a lot of the blame for why east PDX doesn't have the same amenities as neighborhoods elsewhere.

The area also lacked... 🥁 decent sewers! That's right. Only 15% of east Portland was served by sewers. According to the article below, the area was the largest urban area in the country without sewers and 10 million gallons(!!) of untreated sewage was dumped into cesspools daily

As a result, a huge sewage plume was making its way toward the Columbia South Shore Well Field, Portland's back up drinking water source. East Portland had shot down 17 of 19 sewer construction measures as of Oct. 1983. #notgood

Both Portland and Gresham were also interested in annexing the South Shore area (along the Columbia River, east of the airport) and promoting economic and industrial development. The sewage issues would undermine those investments, they said.

Another big driver of annexation was a @multco study that found that city residents were subsidizing the sheriff patrols and other costs associated with serving unincorporated east Portland. County leaders (and city residents) didn't think that was fair. ⚖️

Some east Portland residents tried to create a new city - Columbia Ridge - to provide urban services & address the sewage issues. But they were stymied by the boundary commission, which had concerns about fragmentation and the ability of the newly created city to build sewers.

In the end, the areas west of 165th largely were annexed by Portland, those east of 165th went mainly to Gresham. Portland doubled the size of the east side & increased its population by 75k-80k residents. Gresham went from being a "hamlet" to one of the 5th largest cities in OR.

As governments, @multco & Portland made major readjustments. Portland became the major provider of urban services in east Portland - police, fire, transportation, parks, water, sewer. While Multnomah County focused on social services, corrections, taxes, elections, libraries.

There's rarely a week that goes by when the annexation and this major readjustment of services (known as "Resolution A) doesn't come up. It has had a lasting impact on east Portland residents and how and by whom services are provided.

Interesting fact: If you've ever wondered why the county still owns the downtown bridges but handed over all the roads in east Portland to PBOT, look no further than Resolution A!

People in east Portland often grumble about how they dislike the city tax rates, hate how the annexation issue went down, or think the city never delivered on its promises.

This issue is always a reminder to me that we inherit history (re: building Wapato 🤦🏾‍♀️), and also make it. So we need to be mindful not to pass our mistakes on to later generations (re: global warming!)

For those interested in reading more, Jewel Lansing and Fred Leeson's book, Multnomah, is a great resource. It's available at @multcolib! I also have many old clips if people are interested in reading some source material.

Curious to know: If you could wave a magic wand and have one east Portland issue resolved today, what would it be? More walkable urban areas? Sidewalks everywhere? Eliminate dangerous intersections/roads?