The Dodenhoff family was Warned
You don't really need to know the Specific Demographic Landscape of Medford, Oregon to understand the situation. Everyone here understands the implications of "gentrification" and many have experiences that provide a variety of perspectives.
Friends warned Stephanie and Camron Dodenhoff against living in the Liberty Park neighborhood north of downtown Medford.
"People said, 'You're moving to the swamp'," says Camron, 28.
The neighborhood, roughly bounded by McAndrews Road, Jackson Street, Central Avenue and Interstate 5, is one of the poorest in Medford: 91 percent of the residents are low-income, unemployment hovers around 16 percent and a third of the people moved in within the past year.
When we started looking for a new home I saw "the perfect house" but immediately realized how unrealistic it would have been to "fix it up" and expect to live there amicably after having been so unaware of local conditions. But damn, that would have been an incredible renovation project if we were rich enough to afford to do it right.
I plan to get involved in projects designed to make Medford a "better" place. That will be an "interesting" process. There are some indications that Medford is a community determined to do it right.
Editorial Note: The linked article is accessible as one of three for those without a subscription, sorry.
Comments
Being Poor is not Awful
It's being poor and being able to see into the lives of those that are comfortable that is awful. It is not envy, or pity partying.
If you think this is about envy, or pity partying "click" away and go fuck yourself.
Sorry, flashback to TOP ... but really ...
If you think this is about envy, or pity partying "click" away and go fuck yourself.
There is something soul-sucking about being poor in the company of people that live a "normal" life. About not having the basics and not seeing a way out. Knowing life could be different but not knowing how to "get there". That kind of poor grinds you away.
You have no understanding of living in a home, because you know, at any time, you will need to carry your possessions to another house. The water line to your house could be shut off at any time. The landlord that was your friend becomes evil as he/she tries to force your family out.
To pour salt into the scabbed over wounds a local service club decides to let you shop for free at a local department store. Then you get to be self-conscious knowing you live on charity in a society the loves its war on poverty.
Finding a way out of hell is not something that is possible from within. Those that say otherwise are damned liars. That is the sad truth. That is the profound truth. I do not know what is worse:
For a different take read this excellent article.
If you are poor and cannot afford the
rent or food or sometimes both, then yes, it is every bad thing you can think to call it. Awful, horrible, frightening, brutal, it's all of them.
Ever have your mom have to make tomatoe soup on a barbecue grill because you had no electricity and while you were waiting for the coals to heat up the sheriff comes with an eviction notice and crew to put your shit out on the street? Probably not.
poverty IS terrible. Poverty is horrible. Don't gloss it over. That makes light of poverty and allows people to tell themselves that poverty isn't a serious social issue. And for some poor souls It's not always a question of quality of life or lifestyle, but sometimes of staying alive period.
I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks
Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa
Been there done that.
I think the worst day was when we kids watched our mom cheerfully say, "At least we have a package of pudding." As the oldest I died a little inside. Although, maybe the worst was when the city workers removed the water meter to force us to get out.
I don't know: The twenty years blends into a fog at times. Don't think I gloss over it, I talk about it the way that I do as a way to keep me from [redacted]. You have know idea of my capacity for rage.
[redacted] = words that would put me in prison.
Well then you know that poverty is terrible. That it is NOT
because of what someone else has, but because of the hardships a person suffers because of what they NEED but do not have. It's not some petty pique about not having the latest gadgets or gewgaws. It's not jealousy. It's because you (and yours) have to do without necessities.
I was the oldest too. I was taking care of my brothers (7) and sisters (2) when the my mom was hospitalized. My grandmother had been staying with us a couple days (literally 2 days) but she had better things to do so she walked out on us. The county said my mom had tuberculosis so they and sent her to the state sanitarium in Kearney. The county first put us in the Douglas County Youth Center and then they spread us out into various places, like St James Orphanage, Boys Town, and private families. The grandmother that walked out on us before wanted a cleaning lady and someone to look down on and she got soneone. Me. That was my dad's mother. We were living in the projects because her son deserted us. There's quite a story there but that's for another day.
I have 't seen some of my brothers and one sister since I was a sophomore in high school. The county had a different story for everyone of them that they adopted out. With Stacie & Steven (twins) the story was they were born to a teenage mother who gave them up. Bradley was removed from an abusive home. Susie was an abandoned child (the funny thing was she was old enough she knew that was untrue).
NONE.of that would have happened if we hadn't been poor and defenseless. My poor Mom had everything taken from her. We lost everything we ever had. . She was in Kearney a year the first time and they put her back again for another six months because they said she had a relapse. Years later the doctors told my Mom ,she never had tuberculosis, she never had a contagious disease. She had scar tissue on her lungs from the time she made medical history for the first recorded case of chicken pox in the lungs and a medical condition that in some ways mimicked tb, but it wasn't contagious. She should have never been locked away like that the first place if she wasn't poor. She would have had better medical care than she got. And no fucking fat ass lying son of a bitch (Judge Seward L. Hart) could have gotten the lie that she 'deserted' us in the official court records.
The very idea that poverty isn't terrible is bullshit.
I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks
Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa
We have a lot in common ...
Different details, different parts of the country, but a lot in common.
Perhaps the only major difference was once for a couple of years we had a case worker that actually made life a little more pleasant. I suspect (but don't know for sure) what she did saved us from some very bad shit. She was one of those that I will never forget.
My family history is on line ...
... because mormons are really "into" genealogy so once you have one point of reference the entire tree can be traversed. Charlemagne, was the "Father of Europe" in many ways. Well, that may or may not be true, depending upon the truthfulness of a bunch of mormons.
So, if you are interested and feel like "Clicking" links. As you can see for obvious reasons, I was terrified when my granddaughter was born with an atrial septal defect.
My mother began her decent into madness after my almost five year old sister died when I was a little more than three years old.
So, my "sense of humor" and attitude about life comes from a very dark place.
I understand what you mean by your sense of humour being dark.
The way I feel about most human beings can be summed up with a few lines from a Steely Dan song:
Those lines describes sooo many people that I've met during my lifetime.
Check out who introduces the band:
I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks
Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa
Is it sick (or sad) that I laughed ! ?
Just a sign of the times. Right now our only options seem to
either to laugh or cry.
I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks
Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa
DeHumanizing
Don't ever forget the systematic dehumanization. I was the oldest and the worst part was watching this all happen to my younger siblings. That was a real nightmare, them accepting life at face value, while I was unable to do anything about the situation.
I don't have survivors guilt. I have a profound hatred for the system that creates, sustains, and expands these conditions. If I could generate a collapse of the system I would not hesitate to do just that.
Oh I have plenty of anger myself. I have openly remarked
More than once that the good citizens of this fucking shithole are damn lucky the only thing standing between this place and nuclear annihilation isn't me. I'd let this place burn.
I had a foster child for a while. This place hasn't changed. Not one damn bit.
I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks
Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa
imo, that is very true, PriceRip
It's the reason why the 'poverty' of African village children became 'awful' more or less just when the colonialist folks came into their personal field of vision, introducing to them the comfort of not having to carry water in buckets from the near-by river to their huts, but seeing running water going into the colonialist's houses.
Especially awful for the little girls, who were not that privileged like the boys, who carried the water less often than their sisters. My sister-in-law was even mad about her brother not having to carry water from the river to her mother's kitchen hut fifty years later. If it weren't so sad, it could make you smile a bit, but in fact it was very awful.
Just some memories popping up in my mind.
On the garden land my parents bought in Northern Germany in the early 1950ies they had their own ground water through a well and you could pump it up manually. They built an electric pump that pulled the water up and it was lead into the house. Later on this was "forbidden". You had to use the public water that was provided by the city. That's what is used til today. But we never closed the original well and in case of the big contamination, we could still pull our own water. But now we would have to pump that water manually and carry it to the house.
Have you ever tried to carry water in buckets on your head like you see on many images of African women having to do it? I tried it and never was able to balance the bucket without spilling all the water.
https://www.euronews.com/live
two men eating in a diner.
homeless,hungry guy stops at the window and looks in.
one man can't enjoy his food with the hungry man staring at him.
for the second one, it's just that much better.
I am the third guy.
You forgot him, he's the one that invites the homeless guy in to dine with the group.
Oh!, and don't forget the Guinness (I prefer the extra stout.).
the man who can't enjoy his food
might become the 3rd guy.
we don't all start from the same place.
It is an evolutionary process ...
This is a bit O/T, PriceRip.
Rec'd for the diary though defeatism never works.
Thank you so much for the info regarding the PNW. It was in a comment in NCTim's OT on Friday. I forwarded it to the Biker man, along with some more info from other cyber folks who know the area.
There are 2 commandments in the biker world:
1--ride safe and use common sense,
2--always monitor weather.
Hope you and your family are enjoying Mothers' Day. Take care.
Inner and Outer Space: the Final Frontiers.
Just reading this morning about a 64 year old man
who has lived in the same rental unit in Oakland for 22 years with his son. The unit was sold and the landlords decided they wanted to convert his apartment into a several units, each worth, probably, 4 times his current rent (based on my personal experience with rent in Oakland). The landlords tore down his apartment while he was out for the day:
Taken from this article in the SF Chronicle: Renters screwed
Beware the bullshit factories.
So ... Nothing Has Changed
That's the sort of thing that happened back in the 50s and 60s. We were supposed to be able to live with dignity in the future.