Mr. Hallberg’s op-ed piece:

“The Housing Authority of Portland is in the process of applying for $40 million in federal money to tear down the 39-year-old, 60-unit Hillsdale Terrace apartments in Southwest Portland and build 100 units of new public housing. That plan is socially unacceptable and fiscally outrageous.
HAP Executive Director Steve Rudman has been quoted as saying: “What we’re trying to rebuild is essentially a community.” Well, building a segregated, dense community of low-income families is exactly what HAP should not be doing.
Families in public housing projects blend poorly or not at all with the larger community. Project schoolchildren are marked by their peers as “from the project” and tend to self-segregate. Rightly or wrongly, there is an inescapable stigma attached to the tenants of public housing projects.
Such projects have been identified nationally as social failures since the 1960s. The larger the project, the larger the failure. Many large projects, such as St. Louis’ infamous Pruit-Igoe, became such dangerous, filthy, crime-infested buildings that they were eventually demolished.
Congress, in response to the failure of housing projects, enacted Section 8 to the original Public Housing Act of 1937. Section 8 allows qualified low-income clients to find suitable private housing in the neighborhood of their choice. The housing authority provides a voucher according to family or individual need. The authority then has no property to manage, and no property is removed from the tax rolls.
Most importantly, the assisted clients avoid the stigma of a project and have the opportunity to blend into and connect with the total community.
The Section 8 program is very popular. Most housing authorities, including Portland’s, have multi-year waiting lists that exceed the waiting lists for public housing.
In the late 1960s, HAP proposed the Hillsdale Terrace apartments at 100 units. The plan triggered immediate, intense neighborhood resistance because no one wants a public housing project next door. There were many neighborhood meetings, including a full house in the Wilson High School auditorium. There were two hearings before then-Mayor Terry Schrunk’s City Council. Finally, the plans was approved — at 60 units — and built in 1970.
At 39 years, the existing Hillsdale Terrace is not old. Many older private apartments — some very much older — retain high value, are in good condition and continue to provide decent housing. The poor condition of Hillsdale Terrace is the direct result of careless management. But even in its poor condition, Hillsdale Terrace could be rehabilitated for a fraction of the $40 million proposed to rebuild it. Average value of privately owned apartments in the Portland area is less than $80,000 per unit, only 20 percent of HAP’s proposal. To put $40 million in some perspective, it could provide 400 Section 8 families with $500 per month rental assistance for 20 years. To pay $400,000 per unit to rebuild a public housing project is clearly disrespectful of taxpapyers’ money. The country is in a deep financial hole, but we don’t need to keep digging. The irresponsible, outrageously expensive proposal for Hillsdale Terrace should be summarily rejected.”

While we respect Mr. Hallberg’s opinions and we encourage civic dialogue on this topic, we feel we need to offer a counterpoint. Our just released documentary, “Imagining Home,” exploring the 5-year transformation of Portland’s Columbia Villa public housing neighborhood into New Columbia, calls for increased awareness and involvement in the growing movement toward building inclusive, equitable, and healthy communities for all our citizens. We ask that you join us Saturday, Nov. 14 at 4:00 in the 36th Northwest Film & Video Festival’s presentation of “Imagining Home,” at the Whitsell Auditorium of the Portland Art Museum. We are proud to give a voice to those who struggle with poverty, yet who are determined to provide a better life for the next generation. For ticket information and location,  (click here.)

As part of the 36th Northwest Film Festival, the Northwest Film Center presents Imagining Home, a feature film by Sue Arbuthnot and Richard Wilhelm,  spanning five years and following the struggle to rebuild the Portland public housing community Columbia Villa into New Columbia. Imagining Home follows several Columbia Villa families from displacement to relocation back into New Columbia, a federal HOPE VI urban redevelopment project. Through their stories, we learn how resident involvement is crucial to a growing national movement in community building. Although New Columbia has drawn critics, it is now hailed internationally as a bold advance in urban planning and community building.

36th Northwest Film & Video Festival, Saturday, November 14, 4:00 p.m. For ticket information and directions, click here.

2010 OREGON ARTS COMMISSION MEDIA ARTS FELLOWSHIP

On opening night of the Northwest Film & Video Festival, Sue was awarded the 2010 OAC Fellowship along with two other Oregon filmmakers, Jeff Streich and Vanessa Renwick. We are, of course, thrilled with this acknowledgment and will use the momentum from this award to continue the postproduction of our feature documentary Amber Waves & Checkered Flags, which will be finished late spring 2010.