Posts Tagged ‘private property rights’

July 10, 2014

Property vs. Place

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet Real estate booms and busts, exorbitant property values, displacement, gentrification and slumification are all predicated on the concept of private property. The European concept of land as property has become the rule in the world as we know it today and everything revolves around it, including entire economies and ways of life. In this post, I dissect the idea of property ownership and look at what place means underneath the filter of property ownership. Though we won’t be doing away with private property ownership any time soon, we need to look at ways to take back power for the…

June 24, 2014

Reaction Against the Possible Kevin Rose Demolition of Historic Northwest Portland Home Goes Overboard

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet Emotions have been running high regarding the purchase and now possible demolition of an 1892 historic home in the Willamette Heights neighborhood in Northwest Portland. Neighbors and concerned Portlanders are enraged that someone could buy this historically significant house merely to demolish it and build something new on the site. Kevin Rose, a Google executive and millionaire, and his wife bought the house on February 28th for $1.3 million. The house was one of the first in the neighborhood, built in 1892 by the Montague family, which was prominent in early 20th century legal circles. The house clearly has historic…

December 20, 2012

The David Wright House has Been Saved! (For Real this Time)

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet Tis the season to be jolly! After an epic 6-month long saga that has been nothing short of a roller coaster, the David Wright House is finally in good hands with plans in place to preserve it in perpetuity. The Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy, the organization that first brought the threat of demolition to our attention, has come to the rescue! The preservation organization facilitated the purchase of the property by an anonymous benefactor that will transfer it to an Arizona nonprofit. The new owner will push forward a landmark designation by the City that will protect the…

September 19, 2012

Historic Preservation Commission Unanimously Recommends Landmark Designatation for the David Wright House

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet Yesterday afternoon as a full house with an electric atmosphere at the Historic Preservation Commission meeting at Phoenix City Hall, surprising many of the commissioners who’re used to seeing only a handful of seats taken at these meetings. Everyone was there for the landmark designation recommendation for the David Wright House. It’s a no brainer that the David Wright House is worthy of a landmark designation, but the rub lies in that the owner has not given permission for this designation. And in Phoenix, we don’t normally go through with a historic preservation designation without the owner’s approval due…