Bad idea:

Renaming Interstate Avenue Cesar E. Chavez Blvd.

Worse idea:

Renaming SW Fourth Avenue Cesar E. Chavez Blvd. First of all, doing so will completely mess up the street numbering system in downtown Portland, which will inevitably result in all of us being asked "where's 4th? What's the matter with you people?" by tourists and expats every ten minutes. I can see the rationale of an all-white city council throwing down a "see, we're not racist!" trump card in the middle of a situation like this but why not redub one of the side-streets that run alongside City Hall instead? Wouldn't that be a bold enough gesture? Plus,I don't think James Madison's ghost wound mind giving up his street for this. Worse yet, the proponents of the Interstate name change hate the proposal.

If it finally goes through, I call dibs on running the "Portland Citizens Committee for Renaming SW 6th the Bruce Lee Parkway." I'd also be interested in joining up with a potential "Portland Alliance of Occasional Voters Eager to See SW Broadway Switched to Clyde Drexler Boulevard Even Though He Already Has a Street Named After Him Over by the Rose Garden."

The Worst Idea of All:

Why are Tom Potter and Bud Clark clearly wearing shorts in this photograph? And why do they seem more interested in each other than Vera and her statue? Ooooooooh...

Some photos tell a thousand words. I think this one has at least 750 in it. More here, if you haven't already seen the rest.

Labels: Oregon, tolerant Oregon