Portland Blog: This Week in Portland July 10 - July 17 2010

So for those of us who have been complaining about the Portland weather for the last few months, we got what we've been wanting this week. Boiling lava hot, baby!  Since most of the urban Portland homes do not have central air or even window air conditioners, I know you guys are living by the fan - just like me. Do not fear, fair PDX - our heat wave is nearly over...We'll be back in the mid to upper 70's next week. Whew. In the meanwhile, get a sprinkler and run through it!  Heck yeah!

So, no plans this weekend?  Head on over to the Mississippi Avenue Street Fair. This is an annual event and it gets more fun and more wacky every year. Stiltwalkers, live music, beer gardens, dancers, a huge mass of street vendors and people milling about. GO! You'll have a blast!

Nine years ago The Mississippi Avenue Street Fair began as a simple community-building event called the Boise-Eliot Multicultural Fair. The one-day event has since become Portland's biggest street fair – attracting over 30,000 attendees in 2009 and sprawling over five city blocks in the heart of the Historic Mississippi Avenue Business District. The attractions have grown along with the fair, here are a few highlights:

Five Stages of Entertainment:

Presented by Groupon, Tupelo Alley, Albina Bank, Por Qué No? Taquería and Don Pepe’s King Burrito

With over three dozen acts performing on five stages – there is something for everyone. Catch legacy acts like Linda Hornbuckle and Norman Sylvester on the Main Stage; discover emerging artists like Renegade Minstrels and The Beauty on The Courtyard and Dance stages. Be the first to get a sneak preview of the new Portland Folk Festival with the programming on The Parlour on the Hill stage. And authentic Latin performance on Rincón Pueblos Unidos stage. Plus for kids of all ages arrive early for a brand new kids’ music program presented by Legacy Emanuel Hospital & The Children’s Hospital at Emanuel on all multiple stages.

Local Brew Garden presented by Yelp:

Last year’s sold-out organic beer garden was so well received by craft beer aficionados that the fair returns with an expanded focus. Try eleven locally produced craft beers from seven breweries including: Hopworks Urban Brewery, Lucky Labrador Brewing Company, Widmer Brothers Brewing Company, Lompoc Brewery, Ninkasi Brewing, Southern Oregon Brewing and 10 Barrel Brewing Company.

Whole Foods Local Bites:

Fifteen local growers and producers will be presenting their own products –from Habanero hot sauce to natural beef to locally grown basil - in a “farmer’s market” style pavilion. Stop by to smell, taste and touch our commitment to LOCAL!

150 Street Fair Vendors presented by Dreamer’s Marketplace:

Explore over 100 of the region’s most diverse artisans, products and services along the spine of the street fair! There is even a “Green Block” devoted to organizations and vendors involved in sustainable, green industries.

Boise-Eliot Kids Corner:

Interactive games, dunk tank, kids crafts, bingo, and more.

Grandfather’s Rib-Off Competition:

“Grandfather” Leonard Smith’s barbecue contest honors the most deserving with samples available to all!

Read more about the fair and learn about the cool Mississippi Avenue neighborhood.

Have a great weekend, Portland!  See you at the fair! 

The Portland Photo of the Week

This very cool photo, Poetry Poles, wins the Portland Photo of the Week. B Hubbard snapped this shot while on a stroll in the Irvington neighborhood in NE Portland. What I love about this photo is that it really helps to show one how truly unique Portland is. I'd venture to say you won't come across too many other "poetry poles" in other cities. Portland is a city all of her own. One of a kind, indeed!

Our weekly Portland photo winner scores a $20 gift certificate to a local Portland business.  B will receive a gift cert to one of our favorite places of alllll time: Powells Bookstore!  Learn about the impressive Powells Bookstore.

Come and upload your Portland photos to the Photo Gallery for your chance to win each week.  Check back to see if your photo is selected for a spotlight in the weekly Portland blog! 

Featured Portland Events this Week

Here are the featured Portland events this week!  Thanks to everyone for adding all the great Portland events to the community events calendar.  You can add your own Portland events directly to the events calendar, here.  Just click "Add an Event" and fill in the details.

The Portland Saturday Market

Celebrate Memorial Day at the Portland Saturday Market's new Waterfront Home. With sprawling green lawns surrounding the Market, there is no shortage of picnic space for you, your family and your dog to play in the sun. The Bill Naito Legacy Fountain which is designed for folks of all ages to frolic in the waters adds an element of surprise with the ever-changing water patterns.

Does this make your belly rumble?  Greek, Lebanese, Creole BBQ, Polish, Asian and Thai cuisine, Vegetarian (Nepal and more), Healthy Mexican Pacific Northwest style Chowder, Guatemalan, Hawaiian, East African cuisine and American fare such as burgers, chili fries, pizza and more.

Shop the local vendors, eat some awesome cart food and listen to some great music.

Learn more about the Portland Saturday Market

America's Largest Antique & Collectible Show

Truly the largest Antique & Collectible SHow in the country, the show is an opportunity to stroll through 1400 booths, looking at all the things your mother threw away. Includes vintage clothing, estate jewelry, toys from the 1880's to the 1970's, vintage postcards, tools, period furniture and decorating, vintage lighting, kitchenware, prints, paintings, sterling trinkets, sliver matching, pottery, comics, Pez dispensers, rare books, dolls, linens, toy trains, vintage mens watches, china, glass, and so much more!

View this Portland Event: Antique & Collectible Show

Portland International Beer Festival

PIB is an "over the top" beer festival celebrating the world’s most legendary brewing styles and the nations that made them famous. Come taste over 150 world-class beers from more than 15 countries.

Friday July 16 4pm-10pm
Saturday July 17 12pm-10pm
Sunday July 18 12pm-7pm

View this Portland Event: Portland International Beer Festival

Portland Highland Games

The Portland Highland Games are a fun, family-friendly event featuring Scottish Highland music, dancing, piping and drumming competitions, heavy athletics, and other traditional Scottish cultural activities including beer of course, and even some bangers and mash. The Portland Highland Games is so authentic, you'll think you're in Scotland!

View this Portland Event: Portland Highland Games

Soccer City Celebration - World Cup Final

The Oregon Sports Authority, Portland Timbers, Alpha Broadcasting and TAOW Modern Marketing are teaming up to present a free public viewing party featuring the World Cup final at Pioneer Courthouse Square on Sunday, July 11, at 11 a.m. The event will offer thousands of area soccer fans the chance to share in the excitement of the upcoming 2010 World Cup as part of “Soccer City Celebration presented by McDonald’s.” For information click here or call the Oregon Sports Authority at 503-234-4500.

View this Portland Event: World Cup Final

Portland Blog, Forum Chatter & More

Talkin' about a revolution

Resist State Budget Cuts

Video gamers: Games we play

Moving from Maryland

Moving from NYC

Is there a good deephouse scene in PDX?

Midwesterner relocating

Want to add your own two cents to the Portland blog?  Please do!  But please remember to keep it real and community focused. Read our terms of use and don't spam the planet with self promoting material or weird stuff as it will just get deleted.  We have a zero spammer policy to keep the site valuable and hassle free for our members.  Thanks!

Twitter and Facebook Integration

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Roseway Neighborhood Report

By Ross Seligman

Roseway is located in Northeast Portland. It is bordered by the Rose City Park, Beaumont-Wilshire, Cully, Sumner, and Madison South neighborhoods.  For more information about the Roseway Neighborhood, click here.

In my monthly Portland real estate report, I always talk about how each individual neighborhood is a micro-market. If you are looking to buy or sell in a particular neighborhood, the most crucial information that you need to know is what is going on in that neighborhood. In this situation, the overall Portland market report is less important and the national real estate report is just about useless. This posting is a real estate report for the Roseway neighborhood of all homes in all price ranges. Feel free to request particular neighborhoods in which you are interested in buying or selling and I am be happy to do a report, just contact me on this forum or at http://www.propertiesofportland.com.

If you are looking for homes in Roseway, visit this link where you can search for homes by particular neighborhood: Click Here

The first thing you will notice about individual neighborhoods as compared to the overall Portland reports are that the numbers can be wildly different month to month. Basically, the bigger the pool of data you are working with, the smoother the stats become. As we focus on smaller areas, many different things can happen month to month.

On to the report:
Here is the overall chart of inventory, sold, and pending for the Roseway neighborhood from 3/09 to 5/10:

In Roseway, March and April saw a spike in sales, both closed and pending.  In May, pending sales have dropped while closed sales and inventory remained flat.  In May 2010, there were 38 closed sales, 29 pending sales, and 121 on the market. More stats for you from your friendly neighborhood real estate statistics nerd:

One year change from May 2009 to May 2010:

Inventory (how many homes on the market for sale): Down 0.8%
Homes sold: Up 18.8%
Homes pending sale: Down 14.7%

Chart for average price per square footage:

Homes pending sale: Up 133.3%

Chart for average price per square footage:

In the past 15 months, the average price per square footage in the Roseway neighborhood has been between $137 and $160/sq. ft. In May 2010, the average price per square foot in the Roseway neighborhood was $160.  

One year change from May 2009 to May 2010:

Change in Price Per Square Foot:
May 2009: 158
May 2010: 160
Percentage Change: Up 1.4%

Days on Market, Sold/List Price:

The second thing that this chart is showing you is what percentage of the listing price the owners actually are getting when the house is sold.  This is a great indication of pressure on prices.  In May 2010, sellers in Roseway received, on average, 98% of their original listing
price.

Change from May 2009 to May 2010:

Time on Market: Down 56.5%
Sold/List price% difference: Up 3%

Average price for sale vs. average price of sold:

Click here to read the rest of this report

Best Real Estate Deals in Portland

Every week, Ross shares with us a selection of the best real estate deals in Portland.  Check out out this cute bungalow over in the Hollywood neighborhood of NE Portland.  Check out the full list of best deals.

Did you know there are nearly 100 unique Portland neighborhoods?  Read and learn all about these interesting urban communities.

Powell's Bookstore Picks

We love Powells!

Portland Book Review of the Day

Portland eBooks

Powell's Author Interviews

That's it for now

We hope you enjoy reading our weekly Portland blog.  Want to see more or less of something?  Let us know!  Once again, thanks for being here and making this Portland website such an asset to the community!  If you love this site as much as we do, tell your friends!  Have a great weekend!

PS -- Want to read back issues of this blog?  Here ya go!