I enjoy reading 360digest when I get a chance. Not only is my brother-in-law Dave a newly-minted real estate agent but the house next door was up for sale for a while recently. Real estate is one of those things that we all have to deal with, because we all need a place to live. Anyway, I was amused to read that on the blog this quote: In Portland, Ore., $300,000 means a clean and simple floating home on the Pacific ocean ...
As a native Portlander, there’s a little bit of a thrill every time the Rose Festival starts. Every June, it’s a celebration of living in Portland. There are 3 parades but the Grand Floral Parade is the big one. It’s a Portland tradition that people tape out space on the sidewalk to sit or stand and watch the parade go by. And people basically respect those pieces of tape. What seems a little ridiculous, though, is companies like Azumano Travel taping out the sidewalk in front of their offices, the restaurants next door and then taking half a block across the street. You might think that people would think that was excessive and ignore it … which is why Azumano has a security guard patrolling “their turf”. ...
The City Council of Portland was very interested in buying Portland General Electric from what was left of Enron. Rate cuts of 10% or more were talked about. With amazing 20-20 hindsight, it’s now obvious what the City should have done: Keep PGE’s rates the same! Keeping them the same would have let them . Give rebates to other cities. Here, Gresham & Beaverton, here’s 10% of the electric bills of everyone in your city boundaries. Now be quiet. . Give money to Portland Public Schools. . Fund the tram . Stop people wondering what would happen when well-paid, unionized private sector workers became well-paid, unionized public sector workers. Did anybody expect there to be fewer people? Less pay?