The other shoe drops.

Trump: "People that own their homes -- we're gonna keep them wealthy. We're gonna keep those prices up. We're not gonna destroy the value of their homes so that somebody who didn't work very hard can buy a home."

Counterpoint: If you bring your goddamn Zoom meeting into the Yukon Tavern, I will throw my beer at you. pdx.eater.com/dining-repor...

Heckuva news lede.

Portland Permitting & Development's decision to allow a Dairy Queen drive-thru to be rebuilt on Division Street is being appealed. djcoregon.com/news/2026/01...

New rendering of the James Beard Public Market, from the design review notice www.portland.gov/ppd/zoning-l...

Aren't most reptiles opaque? A transparent reptile would be rather disquieting.

ICYMI, state transportation commissioners last week blasted Interstate Bridge project leaders for keeping rising costs hidden, and questioned whether the project could be built if it costs more than $12 billion. djcoregon.com/news/2026/01...

Interesting point from Selvej Balle.

“If those numbers are correct, we can’t build this project.” - Oregon Transportation Commission Vice Chairman Lee Beyer. djcoregon.com/news/2026/01...

Trying to plan anything with my Midwest-raised parents. ↓↓

The Interstate Bridge program is now saying official cost estimates will be released in March, after City Observatory got ahold of internal estimates of up to $17.7 billion and published them last week. djcoregon.com/news/2026/01...

2025 saw significant thawing in credit markets as CRE and multifamily lending surged. Some discussion from last week's HFO forecast: djcoregon.com/news/2026/01...

Take my amateur political analysis FWIW: Power bills are going to be a salient issue in '26, and data centers offer a big, bright-red target. Pham is early to the party and there's going to be a lot more folks coming.

The Dalles wants to pull more water out of the Mt Hood forest. It says it’s for a growing population, but the city hasn’t grown much in recent years. What has: Google’s footprint. The tech giant uses a third of the city’s water. www.opb.org/article/2026...

Just a heads-up for Portlanders: My kid's school in S.E. Portland has classes that are almost half-empty with kids out sick. (Not an exaggeration, 24 of 52 in band, etc.) If you're immunocompromised, now might be a good time to stay in.

A Southeast Portland Dairy Queen will get its drive-thru after all. djcoregon.com/news/2026/01...

Indiscreet sex has always been part of politics, but the Trump crowd seems particularly ardent in their adultery. www.politico.com/news/2026/01...

Plans for an extension of Portland's North Park Blocks and Green Loop drew questions about timing, sequencing and feasibility from design commissioners.

It sounds like OR-229 on the coast won't open for a while yet, and full rebuilding "is expected to take years" after a huge landslide on Dec. 12.

It's worth noting, if this was in fact a Customs and Border Protection agent who fired, Portland is not a border city. We're about 280 miles from Canada, 1,100 miles from Mexico and 90 miles from the Pacific. It's unclear which border the agency is protecting here. www.opb.org/article/2026...

There has apparently been a shooting of Portland residents by federal agents. I'm on the scene here in east Portland

The IBR will cost as much as $17.7 billion, more than double the previous max. cost of $7.5 billion, according to documents unearthed by City Observatory. cityobservatory.org/17-7-billion...

How your email finds me.

The share of the Hispanic population who use “Latinx” to describe themselves remained statistically unchanged from 2019 to 2023.

South Beach, a neighborhood of Newport, Oregon, is represented on Google maps by a raccoon.

Goldman took a big loss on a Portland building it had owned since 2017. djcoregon.com/news/2025/12...

Washington Square's smaller neighbor has sold for $25.75 million.

Eric Kutch has been hired as the new director of Portland Permitting & Development after a national search.

Trump says the quiet part out loud, this time on housing. Interesting that even he believes that supply and demand exists in the housing market, as it does in other markets.

Preservationists are urging Portland State to incorporate elements from two historic buildings that are to be demolished for a new dorm, PSU's first purpose-built student housing. djcoregon.com/news/2025/12...

Excuse me, what?

A couple of early conceptual images for PSU's proposed student housing building on the South Park Blocks. (GBD Architects).

That's a lot of rain.

👀

That is stark. Turns out manufacturing, too, depends on trade.

In 2010s, new housing production in Portland's lower density neighborhoods was overwhelmingly very expensive duplexes. Opponents of reform pointed to this, and said that's all we'd ever get. In the 2020s, Portland is building new housing at price points that don't exist in west coast peer cities.

From the Portland City Council's state legislative priorities. They want to "update" public meetings and serial communications laws. As we know, some city councilors are big fans of group texts, which can run afoul of public meetings requirements.

An apartment complex in Gresham has sold for $20.5 million.

Portland's City Council on Wednesday approved a design review study that could lead to major changes.

App developer, heal thyself.

Paired with the System Development Charges (SDC) exception passed earlier this year, this means Portland can build more housing, faster. Today was a good day. Read more here:

New city administrator finalist Raymond C. Lee III, who is probably minutes away from being appointed by the City Council, is introduced by Mayor Keith Wilson and immediately thanks God for the opportunity. Not something you hear a lot in Portland.

A candid exchange on Instagram underscored the complicated, ongoing racial dynamics of this project bikeportland.org/2025/12/09/a...

Lol. Fortunately, my hometown is Corvallis, which has Block 15.

A quick little comparison of AI vs. human-powered news. I was looking to see if any other Portland media covered the design review reform proposal coming to City Council. I didn't see anything . . . except an AI summary of a Nov. committee meeting from something called Citizen Portal. /1

Major reform could be coming to Portland's design review system. djcoregon.com/news/2025/12...

Portlanders love 'em some sword-murderin'.

Oh, wow. Frank Gehry has died. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/a...

The 1803 Fund and other Black community leaders issued a clear message Tuesday. As Rukaiyah Adams told Mayor Keith Wilson, “We own this building. So, yeah, that’s the thing now.” djcoregon.com/news/2025/12...