Portland has very loose standards for what counts as a public good. A few months ago the City Council blocked changes to the privately owned “Made in Oregon” sign because — and I am not making this up — “The loss of the quirky, historic upper-case ‘E’ and cut-off ‘g’ in the text are not in keeping with the landmark character of the sign.” And now? I’m not making this up either:
“Beavis & Butthead”-style humor aside, the pagoda-topped, vaguely pornographic-sounding sign outside the old Hung Far Low restaurant was an odd Oregon landmark, one of those only-in-Portland icons that would likely be considered eminently disposable anyplace else.
Instead of celebrating the sign’s disappearance last fall as another step in the gentrification of downtown’s grittiest neighborhood, a coalition of Old Town activists, residents and business owners is working to put it back up. To, as organizers are so artfully phrasing it, “re-erect Hung Far Low.”
And you, Mr. and Ms. Portland Taxpayer, will help. [...]
Because of its bulk, restoring the sign will take serious engineering work and cost anywhere from $25,000 to $40,000, depending on how much restoration work is done. Organizers are selling T-shirts and soliciting donations online. The Portland Development Commission has already pledged $22,000.
Because Portland is already “the city that works,” I guess there was no better use for the cash.
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Jacob Grier is a freelance writer, barista, mixologist, and magician in Portland, OR. He writes, eats, and drinks a lot. His articles have appeared in The Washington Post, Reason Online, The Oregonian, and other publications.
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