🍌Friday. Sunny and hot today, 88 and clear, before cooling into the 70s this weekend. Hillsdale gets affordable houses, and Albina gets a chance at a makeover. FoodieLand returns to the Expo Center. Timbers are playing Seattle Sounders on Saturday. Let’s go.
🚨 THE NEWS
photo from 1803 Fund
1803 working to reshape Albina
The 1803 Fund is trying something unusual with big real estate money, asking the neighborhood first. Its Low End district, seven-plus acres near the Moda Center, is meant to become Albina's next hub for art, business and culture, the kind of place Black Portland lost to decades of urban renewal. Before any foundation gets poured, the fund is running community sessions to shape what gets built there. Nothing is open yet, but if the process holds, this could be a rare Portland project where residents helped write the plan first. OPB
Actual affordable houses being built
Five acres once owned by Greater Portland Bible Church are becoming Gooseberry Trails, 52 affordable townhomes in Hillsdale. Habitat for Humanity bought the land in 2021 and broke ground in March, targeting buyers earning up to 80% of area median income. Most units have three-plus bedrooms, with five ADA-accessible homes. Proud Ground will hold the land in a community trust, keeping it affordable long-term. Funded partly by Metro's housing bond, the project is expected to house about 230 people, completing in two phases by 2027 and 2028. Hoodline
Cash for cans, minus the line
The Delta Park BottleDrop closes Friday after years of complaints about drug use, break ins and general chaos from neighboring businesses. The landlord calls it a natural lease end. Neighbors call it overdue. Customers who count on daily cash for cans call it a real loss, especially with the nearest full service center now out in Beaverton. OBRC says all eleven staff found new jobs, and it is expanding Green and Blue Bag drop offs nearby, though those pay out days later instead of on the spot. KATU
🥎 OREGON HUMANE SOCIETY SPOTLIGHT
Meet Paprika This 9-week-old sable Shepherd puppy is looking for her forever home at Oregon Humane's Portland Campus. At just 9.6 lbs, she's still a baby who'll need guidance, patience, and plenty of playtime. A training class could help you both bond. Adoption fee: $500. Walk-ins welcome! WEBSITE
📚 ON THIS DAY
On July 31, 1844, the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur crossed the Columbia Bar on their way to St. Paul, Oregon, among the earliest Catholic missionaries in the territory.
🥳 UPCOMING EVENTS
