The pig's new lipstick
They opened the renovated area of the Portland Airport terminal today, and from all the local media coverage, you'd think they cured cancer. The shadowy Port of Portland is said to have spent $2 billion (with a "b") on the project. Pork for all!
I couldn't think of a worse way to spend that kind of jack. Anybody who's lived in Portland for a while knows that the city is in bad shape compared to what it once was and could still be. Imagine if we had spent $2 billion on a mental hospital, or drug treatment facilities. Turning the airport into some architect's wet dream is just gaslighting by the Usual Suspects.
Oh, I imagine they'll say that some law requires that the tax money raised at the airport has to be spent on the airport. If that's true, then the law ought to be changed. PDX, the airport, was fine without the boondoggle. Portland, the city, is far from fine.
Meanwhile, doesn't the new interior look kind of, you know, flammable?
At least we get to see something for the money spent.
ReplyDeleteGot to admit it looks good
"looks good"? Has the shape of a toilet seat and its location on the ceiling makes it just as useful.
DeletePretty sexy but seems better suited for someplace other than an airport.
ReplyDeleteHasn't Portland, the county and Metro already spent a couple of billion on homelessness and its root causes? At least this project had clear objectives, a project plan, and deliverables that actually got delivered. I'm sure there was plenty of waste and palm-greasing, but at least it's impressive and functional (we hope). It's a good way to show off how our wood products can be used in big projects. It's one more nice thing, in an era when it seems we don't get to have many of them around here, because of the general dysfunction.
ReplyDeleteIt’s nice until you get shot at the airport hotel.
DeleteThe place consistently ranks high among airports nationally, but sure, everything is bad, and life sucks.
DeleteWho cares how high your airport ranks? Is it worth TWO BILLION DOLLARS???
DeleteI’d be interested to see a breakdown of the money sources that paid for the construction. I know that the airlines pay a hefty rental fee to use the terminal.
DeleteIf they must spend that money at the airport, I have a few ideas that don’t involve architects winning some dumbass award.
ReplyDelete1) More parking lot security so your car is there when you return from a trip and your catalytic converter is still attached.
2) Remodel and modernize the rest rooms. The PDX restrooms make me long to take a leak at a highway rest stop.
3) More shuttle buses to the economy lots so you don’t have to wait a half hour to 45 minutes to get on one with enough space for you and your luggage.
4) An overpass for Airport Way at 82nd. I know Portland hates cars, but cars waiting for a needless traffic signal to turn green create lots of greenhouse gases.
5) An overpass for the Max at 82nd so every empty train doesn’t create a traffic jam.
$2B for a structure whose main purpose is to keep people dry, seems like the height of insanity. But hey, this is Oregon and we all know: “things are different here.”
There are plans for an 82 & Airport Way overpass. Construction should start within in 12-18 months.
DeleteThis absurd waste makes the Oregon Health's squandering $80 million seem like chump change.
ReplyDeleteWhen do we get a look at the money wasted in the new Multhnomah County Courthouse? The TV media excludes it from background shots.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest crime about the New and really UGLY courthouse is that it was built on top of the Veritable Quandary. Recently I got a summons to go there to be on Grand Jury duty. Googling how to get out of Jury duty in Multnomah County I discovered that if you are 70 or older you will be excused from duty if you ask.
DeleteIt looks even harder to clean than the towers on the convention center. Haven't they learned ANYTHING?
ReplyDeletePDX is Portland's version of the Winchester House.
ReplyDeleteI want to see the bean counter spreadsheet and the drawings/documents/approval signatures for everything.
ReplyDeleteFile a FOIA request.
DeleteNot really understanding all the complaints about the cost. It doesn’t come from property or income tax levies - it did get some state and federal grants but otherwise passenger fees pay for it.
ReplyDeleteI’d expect complaints after reading the City of Portland plans to spend $40m to plant 25,000 trees in the next several years. That works out to $1600 per tree. That’s a boondoggle.
Money is fungible. If the politicians wanted, passenger fees could pay for anything. There are many other things Portland needs a lot more. Plus, $2.15 billion? Come on, it's an obscene waste.
DeleteActually it will pay off with increased traffic .. % of food sales, % of landing fees, the design for once is spectacular.
ReplyDeleteIts amazing they can find money for this, but when they need to repair the levees that keep PDX from being flooded by the Columbia, we have to have a property tax bond to pay for it.
ReplyDelete