Cascadia today: Huge project supports Black Portland + OR economy is slumping + poetry by Ally Ang
Hello, friends!
Hope you're enjoying Cascadia Journal, an opinionated newsletter that chronicles what's happening in the Pacific Northwest and how our bioregion is pushing back against rising authoritarianism. There are no paywalls here, and I'm working on offering more feature articles rather than just commentary, starting in 2026.
I rely on the generosity of my readers to continue this work as both a journalist and an activist working for Cascadia autonomy. If you can, please consider a paid sponsorship. And also, thank you to my existing sponsors, you rock! --AE
$70 million for Portland's historically Black neighborhoods
OPB reports that the 1803 Fund, an organization dedicated to strengthening Portland's Black community, yesterday announced the launch of a landmark $70 million project to buy and redevelop 7 acres of land along the shores of the Willamette River and in north and northeast Portland. The land purchase includes some former grain silos and the waterfront development is intended to connect the historic Black neighborhood of Albina with downtown.
“We are investing in Albina not as an artifact of the past, but as a promise to the future,” Rukaiyah Adams, CEO of 1803 Fund
Ben Shuldiner will lead Seattle Public Schools
A former leader of the Lansing, Michigan school system will take over as superintendent of Seattle Public Schools, leading a district facing numerous hurdles for its 50,000 students, KUOW reports. Read the article for more on Ben Shuldiner, who will make $425,000 per year in his new role (nice work if you can get it). Meanwhile, want to get to know Seattle's new mayor, Katie Wilson? She's declined multiple national interviews but took time to chat with Erica and Sandeep over at the Seattle Nice podcast. It's a wide-ranging interview that covers the upcoming budget, surveillance cameras and SPD, and whether Wilson can be both a socialist mayor and an urbanist mayor (spoiler: she can!)
Portland bans landlords from using AI price fixing software
Willamette Week reports that the Portland city council passed a bill banning landlords and commercial real estate management companies for using AI software to fix and inflate rental prices. The bill was victory for Portland's progressive "Peacock" caucus over the pro-business coalition. Meanwhile, the Tyee looks at the movement by various cities in British Columbia to declare housing a human right – and what actually solutions that declaration provides. The piece takes issue with cities like Vancouver that adopted the resolution but then shut down a renter advocacy office and cut funding for permanent supportive housing in the Downtown Eastside.
Oregon's economy is slumping
According to a state economist, Oregon's economy is in a downturn, with unemployment rising, economic growth slowing, and the impact of Trump's ill-advised tariffs taking a toll on a state that relies heavily on international trade, Oregon Capital Chronicle reports.
As the Trump administration continues to hammer Cascadia's economy, deny FEMA emergency funds to our region, and slash health care, education, and food benefits our residents rely on, it's time to get serious about autonomy. This next legislative session in Oregon and Washington will be a critical test if legislators will take bold action that will make our region resilient or continue business as usual.
Please contact your legislators in Oregon and Washington and tell them now is not the time for austerity and that you support increased taxes on wealth, a fast-track toward universal health care, and tapping into rainy day funds to insure education and child care are adequately funded.
Poetry by Ally Ang
Please take a moment to head over to Poetry Northwest and read Seattle poet Ally Ang's powerful work "The Moon, Abstracted," which meditates on the ways our minds adapt to the world's daily atrocities – but also offers a passionate call to action:
"I want to say what really
matters, and I want to say it plain.
May every colonial regime collapse
within our lifetime. May each border
crumble into dust." --Ally Ang
Amen. Thanks for reading! Don't buy Starbucks until workers receive a fair contract! --Andrew
