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i too tire of these stores for suburban white hipsters who wear skinny jeans. they destroyed uptown in minneapolis and moved the rents up 1,000 a month once they got a hold of it.
Portland is something like 84% white, and not everyone in Portland is a hipster who wears skinny jeans, nor is that everyone who shops at Trader Joe's.
No one commenting here, probably lives in the neighborhood being referenced or even in Portland so I don't think anyone read the entire story of what's going on here. (I lived in that neighborhood for six years until moving to a different neighborhood a little over a year ago)
Part of the controversy is that the Portland Development Commission sold that property to a real estate developer for Trader Joe's for $500,000 when it was worth $2.9 million--and a few weeks before the deal went through PDC officials were being wined and dined at the most expensive steakhouse in Portland(this just came out in the press locally). There's already a lot of local skepticism about the backdoor deals the PDC has been engaged in with real estate developers, and it wasn't until this hit the news that Trader Joes said they were pulling out.
The Portland African American Leadership Forum made a big deal about the proposed below market value sale of the land in addition to concerns about gentrification to make a political point. The fact is that the area is largely gentrified already--it's surrounded by several of the trendier neighborhoods in Portland(Alberta and N Mississippi and Williams areas)--MLK Ave, the street the store was proposed to built on is sort of a working class island at this point that reflects the remaining African-American population.
Gentrification started a decade ago(I moved out of my rental in part because it got too expensive). If the city didn't subsidize some affordable housing in the area, most of the poorer renters in the area would've moved out--some of the older homeowners stayed but many cashed out and moved out to the suburbs. Gentrification took place everywhere in inner Portland over the last decade, it only really became a news story when it hit the one area that was mostly black for fifty years(because of redlining, which itself is a sad story). No one though was really that concerned when the working class neighborhoods of SE Portland were gentrified.
I didn't bother reading through 10 pages of this, and I am betting you are right about everyone commenting on this failed project. It was just the wrong project for this site, there are much better building options.
i too tire of these stores for suburban white hipsters who wear skinny jeans. they destroyed uptown in minneapolis and moved the rents up 1,000 a month once they got a hold of it.
There is no Trader Joe's in Uptown. They tried twice to open a store there, but "neighborhood opposition" killed it.
Location: By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea
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Quote:
Originally Posted by urbanlife78
Portland is something like 84% white, and not everyone in Portland is a hipster who wears skinny jeans, nor is that everyone who shops at Trader Joe's.
Kinda funny that those who enjoy quality products at good prices are now identified as hipsters, eh? I'm sure many of the gray haired ladies of a certain age I saw at TJs this morning would be amused by that label.
Kinda funny that those who enjoy quality products at good prices are now identified as hipsters, eh? I'm sure many of the gray haired ladies of a certain age I saw at TJs this morning would be amused by that label.
Personally in Portland I prefer Fred Meyer, but there are some good things at Trader Joe's and they typically do a good job at fitting into urban areas as a grocery store, it just happens that this project sounded like a bad deal for the city and everyone that lives in that area.
There is a New Seasons going up in NW Portland that would be a better style of development for MLK and Alberta.
Location: By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea
68,410 posts, read 54,738,291 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by urbanlife78
Personally in Portland I prefer Fred Meyer, but there are some good things at Trader Joe's and they typically do a good job at fitting into urban areas as a grocery store, it just happens that this project sounded like a bad deal for the city and everyone that lives in that area.
There is a New Seasons going up in NW Portland that would be a better style of development for MLK and Alberta.
Oh, I understand not every business is a good fit for every neighborhood, I just think the characterizations in this thread of TJs as a hipster/yuppie store are way off base.
Here in coastal NC, TJs has been a very welcome addition. Just one small example, TJs sells a ciabatta for $1.99 that is every bit as good as the one selling at another store for $3.99 and there are many similar examples I could name. I like food and have no problem paying for quality items but I sure as hell won't pay twice what I have to for no reason.
Kinda funny that those who enjoy quality products at good prices are now identified as hipsters, eh? I'm sure many of the gray haired ladies of a certain age I saw at TJs this morning would be amused by that label.
What?!?!?!
You mean I can't call myself a 62 year old hipster? LOL And all this time, I thought I was 'trendy'!
I just bought three weeks worth of dinners at TJs; it cost $60.00! I rarely go to a 'regular' food store; a lot of their meat, fish, and seafood is imported from countries I don't want to buy from.
You mean I can't call myself a 62 year old hipster? LOL And all this time, I thought I was 'trendy'!
I just bought three weeks worth of dinners at TJs; it cost $60.00! I rarely go to a 'regular' food store; a lot of their meat, fish, and seafood is imported from countries I don't want to buy from.
All unprocessed meat has COOL labeling as does fish and vegetables.
I see plenty of US sourced fish in my supermarket.
I wouldn't take the store's word for it..make sure there is a COOL label on that fish.
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And all this time, I thought I was 'trendy'! 
