There are no sidewalks, the other side of the building isn’t completed, the exterior still hasn’t been fully painted, but you are telling me you are preleasing? I can’t imagine things are finished inside.
The real estate marketing people are eternally optimistic.
Thanks to vacation, it’s been more than a week since I took this trek to the train. What has changed with our apartment building?
Here’s the long view:
Windows have finally been installed in our middle panel.
But we’ve still got that construction cloth on the side.
After that Turner Hall dinner, we needed a walk. New Ulm provided us with fun things to photograph.
Here they are in no particular order:
Most of the downtown buildings had great bones, but had undergone some unfortunate street-level renovations probably in the 60s and 70s. This hardware store looks good though. I would probably re-do the awning, but other than that.
Sara posing with a cutout of someone. I forgot to take a picture of the sign, though.
The famous New Ulm glockenspiel from the back.
And the front.
And the closeup.
And some info. We missed seeing the glockenspiel, arriving after 5:00 pm. And we had to leave the next day before noon, so the glockenspiel will just have to wait.
The Wanda Gag house. (Gag is pronounced Gogg) You might remember her 1928 children’s book Millions of Cats. This is where she grew up. (Houses & Homes theme!!!)
Awesome cutout detail on the second story of this house.
The John Lind House.
You know I love this wrought iron.
We spent a lot of time looking at this fabulous house. First, the turret.
Front view.
Carriage house.
Roof detail.
Widow’s walk and roof detail.
Back side of the carriage house. There was also a converted barn.
Moving on to another house we find some yard decor.
The New Ulm Witness Tree in silhouette.
Explanation. One of our problems with New Ulm was the constant references to the “Dakota Uprising” without a lot of contextualizing the Indian side of the conflict. This was a very large oversight in our minds.
New Ulm Witness Tree in color.
A very fun re-do of this street-level business. Unfortunately, most of them look like the insurance company, as pictured on the right side.
I loved these brick sculptures.
Hermann makes an appearance.
Sara steps off a carriage step. We noted that either the step has moved, or the road has gotten smaller.
Nice glass detail.
“What is this place?” I wondered as I wandered by. Not having to be anywhere at any time, I checked it out. 
Ah, it’s one of those places that takes a big space and then makes smaller spaces available to small businesses. These seem to be a very 80s concept to me.
I enjoyed looking at the different businesses and stopped in the restaurant to have a sandwich before heading home.
There was a deli counter and also a bar. I was offered a free Keno play, which I took. It was not a winner. (Surprise!)
My egg salad sandwich and water. 
I stopped in the bathroom on the way out and was interested to see this random room of antiques in the hallway near the bathrooms. There wasn’t a sign telling me what it was and there wasn’t a person to ask.
Edgefield on Sunday, Kennedy School on Monday, St. Johns Pub on Tuesday. It’s a McMenamin’s week. The walk from my house to St. Johns takes about as long as the walk to Kennedy School, but it feels much longer. For whatever reason, that road has at least two spots where I always think, “Why am I not there yet?”. This happens via foot, bike or car. On the bus, I’m always reading so I don’t tend to notice specific points of “long”. It’s just a long bus ride.
I started my walk at Cup & Saucer Cafe (because there was still not any food in the house). An excellent tuna melt was consumed, as were two cups of green tea. Not long into my walk, Mr. Schofield stopped to have his picture taken.
On the site where these two large houses now live, there used to be a tiny stucco house with an out-of-control Kiwi vine in the yard. RIP another small-house-big-yard.
Super awesome light/address block.
I’m curious about this garage. The double French doors are an interesting combination.
Exciting times in the Don Lee family. I’m guessing baby Ben is probably a grandchild, given the age of the sign.
So much of Lombard is still full of old-school businesses. Here is Western Meats, which always has the best painted windows. None of the new school places would have painted windows, but I love them! However, I notice the building is for sale. so perhaps Western Meats isn’t there any more. [Pause for googling] Well, I found a web site, so perhaps they are still around.
This dilapidated garage is one part of the lot that includes a grand house that has fallen into overgrowth and despair.
Driving, or riding on the bus, I’ve always wondered why this lot hasn’t been developed. Walking by I noticed the church (left side) guessed that the house next door is the parsonage and figured out that the church probably owns the lot. They keep the grass in very nice shape, I must say.
Here’s the iconic Fabric World, whose merchandise had not turned over since 1972. It was like going back in time to the fabric stores of my childhood. The Yelp reviews say that the store was owned by an old woman who just kept it going, despite lack of sales/customers. She has now died, and the contents have been liquidated.
Another landmark on the road to St. Johns. This gas station sign, which always has pubic appreciations/recognitions.
Eagles Aerie which features Blue Collar wrestling. St. Johns enjoys it’s blue collar status. So much so that it’s made some interesting development choices. Stay tuned.
We’re in transition on Lombard too. You could buy this car wash lot.
I’ve always appreciated the continuation of the -N- in this sign. Although I might have suggested the ampersand, were I the sign maker.
Check out Gary N John’s hours. I so rarely see opening times on the half hour. And a random Thursday closure.
I love the dramatic names of these 70s era infill apartment complexes.
Today it’s a real-estate office, but back in the day I know that many of our regular readers can identify what chain establishment this building used to house. Some of us may have even worked for said chain establishment.
I like this stripped-down lock place. It’ a landmark on the route. I thought it had disappeared, but it turned out I just wasn’t as far along as I thought I was.
I’ve heard-tell that this is where a New Seasons will be built.
I’ve always liked the cheerful paint job for this U-Haul place.
Crossing the bridge over the railroad tracks. Such a pretty bridge. Also, yet another point where I think, “Am I not there yet?”
The bridge also affords a very nice view.
Great poetry in motion outside the other Fred Meyer on Lombard.
Kruger’s farm stand, featuring not only delicious fruits and vegetables but also food carts. Kruger started his farm stand when the weddings and concerts he had been hosting on his Sauvie Island farm were deemed in violation of the land-use laws. (Also, am I not there yet?)
Interesting tiny house infill.
The other Videorama/West Coast Fitness on Lombard.
There are a lot of small churches along Lombard. This is the Portland Samoan Church.
City Farm! New-school business.
The next three buildings/businesses have been built since I moved to North Portland in 2007. They all fit the blue collar aesthetic of St. Johns.
Aside from Lady Secrets Fashion Clothing (my favorite store name on Lombard) this store also has really great window displays.
This is the point where I’m finally getting close to my destination. It’s also a main focal point as you drive out of downtown St. Johns toward Portland. It has a shack on it.
This is a main focal point on the way into St. Johns. A 7-11 was built there.
“They had a huge parcel of land in a prime location that could really make St. Johns beautiful. And what do they build there? A huge self-storage facility!” A longtime St. Johns resident bemoaned to me. I have to agree. There was a car dealership that closed up shop. During construction I thought it might be something great, but it soon had the looks of every other self-storage facility in the nation. There’s still hope for the building in the front of the picture, but it’s a quite tiny hope.
My destination is in sight! I love seeing movies at this theater because the building was part of the Lewis & Clark Exhibition in 1903. It was floated down the river and served a variety of functions before becoming a McMenamins. However, I’m early for my movie, so I continue on.
Another interesting looking church.
And look! The North Portland Library. I’ve never been, but I aim to change that.
The North Portland Library was tiny and cute and has a wealth of reference material about St. Johns and Portland. I enjoyed poking about.
I usually walk to Laurie and Bert’s house along N. Fenwick Avenue so I can see the Brigadoon House. But today I ended up on Greenwich Avenue, which could be renamed Infill/Teardown Central.
Here we have a modest-size house, normal for this street. Next to it is an infill 5-unit apartment complex built where a modest-size house used to be. Next to that is a gargantuan space of many units, built where yet another modest-size house used to be.
From the other direction: two modest-size houses being dwarfed by the new construction next to them and the new construction behind them. I have less of a problem with the new construction behind them. It fronts Interstate, is a Head Start combined with affordable apartments and, most importantly HAS PARKING. Neither of these two new buildings can say that.
Just down the street we see what is replacing a very cute cottage that sold twice since I lived here, the second time to a developer who had bigger plans.
The Missouri/Michigan alleyway to be exact. Let’s see what we find.
Some alleys are paved, but many are not. However, unlike the ones in my neighborhood, this one is well traveled and not overgrown at all.
I love how illicit alleys feel, the ability to look right into people’s back yards.
Nice use of “urbanite” and old shovels in this wall. This yellow house is where the owner of the tiny houses (featured a few weeks ago) lives.
A rather ominous doll. Is it a message to alley interlopers such as myself?
I liked the bark pattern on this tree.
A very nice back fence.
I found it interesting how a new house was grafted onto the old house. From the street front, it’s probably not at all visible. But in the alley we can see the secrets.
More good bark.
This is the back side of the house up for demolition that I featured a few weeks ago.
An abrupt ending to the alley and a good view of how the freeway, aside from cutting out Minnesota Ave., also took a bite now and then out of some other streets.
I was amused by the tulips being planted in the planter box with vegetable-like spacing.
Pretty house for sale.
It seems to have very nice looking original glasswork.
This is the Patton Home, which was originally a retirement home, but now is run by Ecumenical Ministries and offers SRO housing to drug-free low income population.
I wondered what this was and the internet told me. It’s an Urban Farm and Guesthouse.
I spy in this window some starts.
Which will no doubt be planted on one of the many beds that surround the house.
I really like the look of this back/side yard.
Here’s the plaque for the Emmanuel Temple, organized in 1965.
And here is the building itself, which we can see is not taken up by the Emmanuel Temple any longer.
But fear not! Across the street from the old church is the new Emmanuel Church.
The stickers on this car had me wondering just what “low mileage” on a 1974 car would look like.
I liked the look of these two houses. They are unique. Very skinny–kind of like the infill skinny houses. Portland Maps tells me that this home is owned by William and Mary Gump and that the house was built in 1906, is 1,875 square feet and the real market value is $218,500.
The second of the two, and a better view of their shape. This one is owned by Donna Gump and was also built in 1906. Same square footage, but worth $2,000 more. Probably because it’s not on a street corner.
Ever wanted to rent out your own bar for the evening? This is your place.
Matt, his mother Linda and I are on our way to a Forktown Food Tour of N. Mississippi Street. I wanted to update you on the ch-ch-ch-changes on N. Williams Avenue first. This sign was photographed in January.
Across the street, this building has undergone a huge transformation. I even have compare/contrast photos for you. Now:
Here’s what it looked like on 1/28:
And here’s just one picture from our food tour. That is a huge shelf of bitters. Read more about it here.
Watch out, Burgerville, that those buildings don’t swallow you whole!
This is just south of the Rose Quarter. Construction has been going like gangbusters in this area, which makes sense because it’s so close-in and has very good access to public transportation. When I moved here in 2001, there was a new-construction condo for sale in this neighborhood for $84,000. Too bad I wasn’t in the market then. I’m quite sure units in that complex aren’t going for that amount anymore.
The building being constructed in the back of this picture is the other side of the building that is swallowing Burgerville. I love the old-school nature of the two buildings in the foreground. Both the architecture and the fact that both of them have signs telling you what they are. “Professional Building,” “Dental Building.” I’m quite certain neither of these is long for this world.
There’s a new fence separating the new construction from the house next door. It looks quite nice.
The second floor has turned the corner.
And is nearly complete.
