The Numbers

82nd Avenue: for many it’s the palpable line between what Portland is perceived to be and a world of realities the fast-growing city would prefer to forget. For many, however, it’s simply home.

With Oregon exploding onto the national scene in the last decade, becoming one of the most popular destinations to move to, the area east of 82nd Avenue—including East Portland, Gresham, Troutdale, and Fairview—has come to be affectionately called “The Numbers.” It has one of the area's highest concentration of school-age children, a sky-high poverty rate, and an uncommon diversity of race, ethnicity, and language.

In inner-city neighborhoods, where black and brown folks have been uprooted in recent decades, there is a struggle for enough affordable housing. Scores of Portlanders have in recent years fled past the 82nd border seeking housing refuge in one of the only areas close to the city’s core considered affordable to blue-collar workers because of little attention and investment from local government, banks, and realtors. However, tides are turning east and The Numbers is one of the wild cards in the city's development interests. In recent meetings, planners have admitted that 82nd Avenue is already in the beginning stages of gentrification.

New businesses, new people, new income—what does this all mean for The Numbers? Here’s what some young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 had to say about how they envision the future of their neighborhood.

Deshawn

With twenty-three years of life under his belt, Deshawn has called Oregon home for his entire life. While he’s been stationed in The Numbers since his mid-teens, Deshawn calls himself a “human GPS” having lived in a number of area neighborhoods over the years. The budding rap entrepreneur heads a collective of artists looking to tell their stories through music and sees his mission right now as one of “giving back to the youth.” Though he hasn’t seen too many changes in his neighborhood, he calls recent development trends “odd” with the influx of new people coming in and developing the town he has known his whole life. However, Deshawn keeps tune that rings positive when discussing the possibilities of development, saying, “[We’re] a very affected community due to change, but over the years I could see that it could be better.” His advice for developers is to listen to the community. His advice to the community, speak out.

Universe

A transplant by circumstance, nineteen-year-old Universe came with his family to Portland—most recently to The Numbers—for a better chance at flourishing in his arts and education. While he recognizes the social ills that plague The Numbers, he is particularly fond of its natural beauty: Powell Butte, Rocky Butte, Crown Point, and other places not often cited when people talk about the neighborhoods past 82nd Avenue. He finds solace away from city life by retreating to these places with friends or alone for long walks and meditation sessions. And while those places make for great getaways, Universe sees the need for more buildings catering to the community taking root in The Numbers. “Creative outlets to have like artistic things," he says. "Dance classes going on, basketball, board games, just all types of ways to be connected and share how people think.” He sees something different happening though. “Apartment buildings and complexes have been going up really fast,” he says. “I feel like people not from Portland are going to be moving into The Numbers and changing the community.”

Jayda

Jayda says there’s a Numbers in every community. “There’s not too much excitement when people talk about this part of town,” the twenty-year-old Los Angeles transplant says. While she’s only been in the area about a year, that word of mouth makes her fear for the safety of her and her two kids. She works with resource centers in the area like SE Works to ensure a better future for her family, and she hopes for a more solid future for The Numbers too: “In the future, I see the Numbers actually getting better if the people actually share their voice and want to be in the community and support the community. So if everybody does their part, in doing things for the community, I think this could be a pretty warm place that people would actually want to come through, and not talk so bad on it.” Bars and strip clubs are common finds in the area, but Jayda is calling for beautification of The Numbers, the kind that includes more options for those who live there now.

Dominique

When describing The Numbers, Dominique sounds like a budding urban planner, recognizing the sprawl that surrounds her Rockwood neighborhood: “It’s not as close together as North Portland. It’s a lot of room to roam around, the streets are not as close." The young scholar, nail artist, and singer sounds unsure when asked what she would create, but then adds, “It’d be mine,” with the confidence of an entrepreneur. She shies from calling her future business a community, but a place accessible for young women and children “without enough guidance and support” to get filled up, because the nineteen-year-old says she knows that feeling too well.

Marcos

“It’s definitely tough, seeing the kind of community, the types of looks on people’s faces who just aren’t as happy as they could be,” Marcos says. He's standing in front of a mural he helped create a couple years ago, just off the 187th MAX stop, in the aftermath of the tragic death of a young Black man who was run down by a white supremacist. The mural, commissioned by the City of Gresham, features a racially diverse group of folks, Oregon’s signature Mt. Hood, trees, and the MAX line winding through it. “I as an artist I try and look for the good in people,” Marcos says. While he doesn’t feel he’s necessarily been subject to many of the ills that trouble his neighborhood, he uses his art, whether emceeing or painting, to be a voice for the unheard. When considering what developments would make The Numbers a stronger, more boisterous community, he avoids talking about structures and comes back to the community. “In time, change will come," he says. "Everyone asks, ‘What’s one thing that would help the community out the most?’ But really it’s just more people who want to make a better community for everyone." He muses on the idea of hope and how the injections of spaces that inspire a sense of purpose to the community are ultimately what’s needed: “People feel they have nothing to contribute to a gloomy area, so if people were more proud of where they were, people would add more and give more of what they have as an individual [to the community].”

Donovan Scribes is a journalist, creator, and owner of the clothing line Ignorant/Reflections.

 

 

 

Sika Stanton is an award-winning photographer and digital content producer based in Portland. She primarily works on short films and photography projects. She grew up in rural Maine and is a graduate of Stanford University.

 

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