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Community Displacement in Portland, Oregon

Learning From the Past to Inform Our Future

From the 1940s to the early 1970s, the Albina community was repeatedly devastated at the expense of racist planning practices and projects. We must ensure that the assumed improvements and proposed projects of the Oregon Department of Transportation do not result in the same errors of the past.

Located in Northeast Portland, Oregon for most of the 20th century was the vibrant Albina neighborhood, home to the majority of the city’s Black population. As a result of racist real estate and land-use practices and policies, Black Portlanders were geographically confined to housing options in that area. Yet, as many Black folks do in the face of adversity, the community overcame and the neighborhood flourished. Survivors and descendants of families who lived, worked and thrived in the community remember Albina as just that –a community. A member and descendant, Mr. Bobby Fouther, recalled: ​“growing up there was just all about love.”

But from the 1940s to the early 1970s, the Albina community was repeatedly devastated at the expense of racist planning practices and projects carried out by the City of Portland, the State of Oregon, and other institutions. One of the many projects supported and funded by the city was the Emanuel Hospital Urban Renewal Project, a 55.3-acre hospital expansion in the heart of Albina. Despite Albina’s apparent prosperity, in the name of ​‘urban renewal’ and under the guise of ​‘advanced blight’, the city allowed for over 300 homes and businesses to be destroyed, families forced to relocate, and social and psychological trauma to continue to this day. The project was ultimately halted because of a lack of funds, but the demolitions of the remaining homes and businesses continued. The land had been languished, and much of it remains empty, neglected, and unused.

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Residents of Albina protesting Emanuel Hospital’s demolition, including the Black Panthers’ Fred Hampton Memorial People’s Health Clinic. Source: Oregon Historical Society

The Hill Block building on N Williams Avenue and Russell Street was the center of Albina’s business district. Source: Oregon Historical Society

Households forced out and destroyed by the City of Portland to make way for the expansion of Emanuel Hospital. Source: EDPA2

The Emanuel Displaced Persons Association 2 (EDPA2) is a community-based organization of Black survivors and descendants of families affected by the hospital expansion. It is the second iteration of the EDPA created in 1970. EDPA2 has filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Portland, Prosper Portland (formerly Portland Economic Development Commission), and Emanuel Hospital seeking tangible justice, including financial restitution for their losses. Another organization, the Albina Vision Trust, is aiming to reestablish a Black community in lower Albina with the help of a range of stakeholders. Although the organizations have different approaches and strategies, they stand in solidarity with each other’s efforts.

Despite growing resistance, the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) has been moving forward with construction and planned improvements of the I-5 and I-205, including a proposed tolling program. The ODOT had published a Toll Projects’ Equity Framework, but their legacy remains true, and Oregonians are rightly concerned that the projects will once again result in fractured and isolated communities subject to gentrification and displacement.

We must ensure that the assumed improvements and proposed projects of the ODOT do not result in the same errors of the past. Sankofa, a principle derived from the Akan people of West Africa, reminds us to remember the past to make positive progress in the future. Albina should be celebrated as a symbol of Black pride, happiness, and unity. But histories of community displacement, such as in Albina, can also serve to inform us when planning the future. Unveiling and acting on these harms and injustices of our federal government can be advanced through communities of conscience, such as the community of planning exchange members with us today.

Healthy Regions Portland

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Healthy Regions Planning Exchange

The Healthy Regions Planning Exchange Portland Convening brings together practitioners, advocates, and community-based representatives from across the US to address structural issues that influence health and equity in regional planning. Join us June 11-13, 2023.

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