Mississippi St. Fair - some didn’t like it
We ventured down to the Mississippi St. fair yesterday and had a blast. I never thought it could be as big as last year, but it was. There were people crowding the street for 5 blocks shopping, eating and enjoying the music. The vendors were either local from the street or local from around the region. We got some amazing organic soap from Oregon Soap company and a handmade stocking cap for our future nephew/niece. The music was amazing. I think the best performances were coming from Mississippi Station. I’m not a fan of their food, but they know how to throw a party.
One local business seemed to not want to participate in this local celebration. Mississippi Records was closed with a cardboard sign in the window reading “Fuck your “Progress.” hmmm. Not sure what to make of this. I am challenged that by having a street fair to celebrate the street and neighborhood and bring neighbors together is in some people’s minds negative. I am not going to go into defining progress or discuss gentrification or the like. I will point out that Mississippi Records isn’t an original shop on the street. I believe they moved in only after others had take the risks opening their small businesses and helping the street revitalize itself. It is too bad that there is such negativity on such a great neighborhood day.
Till they explain what that sign means to them just remember not to support that company.
It is strange to me that a business making money from a community or its reputation would not support a community celebration. Maybe too hip to be real?
I bet their lease is getting raised and they are bitter about it. Perhaps they won’t be around much longer?
I was there and saw this also. Still, unless you were actively looking, it was hard to see–therefore, there really wasn’t much negativity going on. One of the really interesting things was the amount of environmental/sustainable and community-based organizations that were represented there.
I put some pics and info over at my site also (sorry if plugish).
Miss. Records has been there for as long as I can remember??!!
Miss. Records has been there for as long as I can remember??!!
JBJ, how long is that? 10yrs? 20yrs? 5yrs?
Mississippi Records has been there for almost 5 years, and pre-dates pretty much all of the boutiques and restaurants on Mississippi. The owner has nothing against “bringing neighbors together,” nor is his rent being raised; rather, he’s protesting the breakneck speed of development in the neighborhood, which one could argue is destroying the original integrity of the Boise district and expelling longtime residents.
close to 10 I believe, pretty much the same time fresh pot came in. I spoke with the owner of Mississippi Records and he said that he did not like the consumerism associated with the fair now. He liked it as a community celebration, not christmas for the new business owners. which, I must say is precisely how the new ones see this fair. reading the historic business page prior to the fair they were giddy as they counted down the minutes to the fair. One said she wanted mississippi to become the destination spot of portland. and this is exactly what a lot of our community does not want, never had in mind for our beloved street. we want essential shops, like a food coop or store and a hardware store so that we might shop locally. being in a fish bowl and not being able to park within 4 blocks of one’s home is not so welcome by all who live here. and as for the rent increase, my friend who owns the building has not interest in jacking up rents like others do(read brian wannamaker who recently raised polly bangs restaurant by 50% which is forcing her out or billy grippo who raised rent 300% or something outrageous on a business who’d been on the street for 30 some years). however my friend is going to have to raise rent if the street scape project goes through and our street is narrowed by 4 feet, since she and everybody owning property on mississippi will be have to fund the project in part.
Claire, Lupin, thanks for the comments. Development. Ahh, for some, a positive connotation and for others, an evil part of our city. I keep hearing what “the community wants,” yet don’t really see those items coming to fruition. If the community really wanted a coop or hardware store etc, wouldn’t someone in the community have made an effort to open those stores?
My memory just doesn’t remember the store there back in 1997. I seem to remember seeing it open around 2002 or so. But then again, I keep thinking I started my latest house project last summer and realize from receipts that it was 2004. Wow, how time flies.
Yeah, neither of those stores have been around for 10 years, 5 tops.
yes how time flies! I stand corrected on when mississippi records came to be. geez, it’s crazy, time that is, I’ll be saying , “oh a year or so ago”, and then realize it’s been 5 years! phew.
No shop is as much a yuppie bastion of consumerism as a boutique used record shop.
Who’s buying used vinyl? Us poor folks who’ve been living in Mississippi for 30 years? Hmm. No.
Us hungry families working hard to put food on their table? Nope.
Rich white kids coming into our neighborhood from across all of Portland with tons of disposable cash? Oh yeah, that’s it…
Did the “original integrity” of the Boise neighborhood start when Mississippi Records set up their shop about 5 years ago. Ha!
I guess maybe Mississippi Records sees themselves as missionaries who “discovered” Boise. Thanks, rich white folks - thanks for discovering us and telling us how we should be!
As a longtime resident, I’m happy to see new and old locally-owned businesses. I may not shop at ‘em all, but they’re better than Wal-Mart. And if I have to see less crime these days, I’m cool with it.
Not you - you’re real “punk rock,” Mississippi Records. Thanks for taking in all your Yuppie cash while you pretend that you have some credibility. We may giggle a little.
So you just go on and sell your records from your boutique, rich white boy. It’s okay. I know you gotta make a living, too.
But don’t you ever write the word, “fuck,” where my kids can see it again.
“Can’t stop the bum rush”
the “fuck progress” attitude is certainly a common feeling in the neighborhood. i personally see that attitude as incredibly self centered.
these are people take it upon themselves to define what the neighborhood is and refuse to allow any other visions. they move into the hood, fall in love and want FREEZE THAT MOMENT for themselves and every other person.
its the opposite of what being part of a community is.
Let’s see if I’ve got this right. They open up shop just as Mississippi starts to take off, yet they say F progress? Progress is what brought them to Mississippi.
George summed it up perfectly.
All of this is moot. They won’t last more than a few more years. Their space will become too valuable, and seeing as how they make such great members of the community (rolls eyes) I won’t be sad to see them go. I’m just glad I know not to shop there now.
We were there as well, had a wonderful time. We also wondered about the sign. It seemed so out of character for the event and the neighborhood. So, I’m glad the commenters have helped to explain it. I imagine they won’t have to worry about “progress” much longer, as the reaction to the sign seems to be mostly negative. I can’t believe they are making much money anyway.
Yes, the fair was bigger and better for sure. It was kind of hot and muggy trying to stuff into Crow Bar though. But, we made it!
Rob, you read my mind. I just wanted someone else to come to the same conclusion so it didn’t seem like I was being a negative nanny too.
As far as shopping there or not? Hmmm. That is tough. We just bought a record player and are in that fun search for good old vinyl. There are few stores in Portland that sell it, so we may end up at Mississippi Records after all. At least I am supporting a local business even though they may not like my money.
Hello,
This is a comment by Eric from Mississippi Records, written in hope of clearing up some misconceptions about my motivations for posting an angry cardboard sign during the Mississippi Street Fair. I normally do not participate in computer communication, but write this as an invitation to people in the community to come & speak with me if they are truly offended by my actions.
A few points I would like to make:
First- I apologize to Wanda, who was offended by the F word being in plain view of her children. Unfortunetly, I feel that sometimes an ugly swear word is the easiest way to get peoples attention. I only use such language when I feel that a statement deserves the immediacy that only profanity can give it.
Secondly- I admit to some complicity in the progress that I angrily damn on Mississippi. Yes- Mississippi Records is a white owned business. Yes- we did open during the first wave of serious gentrification on Mississippi. Yes- We do contribute to the overall reconfigeration of the neighborhood into a destination spot for shoppers all across Portand, instead of a “town center” for people directly in our neighborhood. Yes, at least 50% of our customers are young white consumers who could be dismissed as hipsters with a flick of the wrist.
I admit to all of this, & believe me when I say that I do have internal conflicts about being outspoken against a problem, when so obviously contributing to it on some levels.
Still- When I approached the Mississippi street fair this year with every intention of opening my doors & enjoying the day, as I have for the last 5 street fairs, I felt a certain level of rage at the rapid growth of this neighborhood. It has become a mall with no roof that poses as a community. At its base, it has been formed by people with a lot of money who want to make more money, not by people who want to live in a sustainable community where people help each other out.
I talked with many residents the morning of the street fair who saw their neighborhood as under siege by moneyed opportunists. We all felt impotent in our rage & I decided to give it a voice. The sign was not a particurly well thought out political statement, but rather an angry rant trying to give voice to what I will admit is a minority opinion about the direction of the neighborhood.
Even minority opinions have a right to be voiced.
As to the personal attacks on me as a “rich white boy” & my store being “a yuppie bastion of consumerism”- please come on in to my shop & pay attention to the kind of business I am running & the kind of community who shops their before making such a completely off base judgment. I think you will find that my customer base is actually very diverse racially, economically, & in age. I’m the idiot utopian who wrote “always- love over gold” over his door, & has tried to always live by that creed.(….& no, I am very far from rich.)
I’ve wanted my shop from day one to be a true community based spot, & am sorry if my radical politics & cussing have made some people in my neighborhood feel so antagonistic that they feel like they should dismiss dealing with me all together, but if thats the fallout I get for taking a stand against what I consider a major problem with the modern world, then I’ll take it.
Deal with the fact that not everyone wants squeeky clean, money talks & quality of life walks, “progress” in their neighborhood.
Please feel free to drop by & speak with me anytime. I’m at the sop on Saturday & Sunday consistently.
Eric,
Thank you Thank you Thank you for your comment regarding your sign and your feeling about the neighborhood. Your comments could have been completely different and I thank you for keeping it real. Like I said, I do plan on shopping there as I’m now on the lookout for some great vinyl.
yea, eric thanks for elaborating on your sign.
one aspect of mississippi development that eric brought up that i totally agree with is this concept of “town center” vs. “destination”. as someone who lives and works in mississippi i can totally sympathize. i live and work here because i love walking to most everything i need from businesses run by people who act like neighbors.
Eric — you lost me at “mall with no roof”. i’m guessing you were talking about the street fair rather than the street (though you seems to object to some aspects of the shops on the street as well), but what i saw when i was there was a bunch of local — if not directly Mississippi, still Portland-local — mostly independent peoples trying to sell cool things that THEY CREATED. i didn’t see a mcdonald’s or a GAP or anything of that nature.
there were a bunch of folks out there having a good time, nobody got in my face trying to sell me anything, the stores along the strip benefitted, so what is at all wrong with that?
i guess i don’t live directly in that neighborhood, but i shop there because it’s independent, because it’s a nice strip to walk along, because there are numerous “destination spots”, if you want to call independent shops and restaurants and such “destination spots” — does that make me a moneyed interloper ’cause i live more than half a mile away? i’m waiting for the progress in my direct neighborhood, where there’s a pizza hut and a mcdonalds and a mini-mart, and have adopted mississippi in the meantime.
geez, people, let’s have some perspective. “impotent in our rage,” give me a break. “money talks, quality of life walks”, ARGH!
my wife voiced a theory last week that anybody who was/is pissed off at the size/shape of portland needs to spend a year in los angeles or new york or chicago to get some perspective. my guess is you’d come back and kiss the ground of mississippi ave and be glad there are enough “moneyed opportunists”, white or otherwise, to allow you/us/them to keep a shop that i assume you’ve put your heart and soul into alive.
it’s great that people are anti-chain store and whatnot, but change is going to happen. we can help shape that change by being aware of who and how we buy and definitely having a voice in the way our neighborhood grows, but man, i still want it to GROW and CHANGE from what it is now and what it was five short years ago.
as for the street fair in particular (and this goes out to George a bit), how does the street fair take away from your love of your neighborhood and it’s town-centerness? you can still walk to everything you need, right? isn’t maybe the point of a street fair to say “hey, look how cool my neighborhood is” and maybe stick your tongue out at the people who come by just ’cause it’s “hip” or “cool” or whatnot while maybe, just maybe, gladly taking their money so you can continue to operate for your neighbors and your neighborhood?
because really, if it wasn’t for the out-of-hooders, the fair itself wouldn’t be much of a success… and don’t you WANT your little neighborhood strip to thrive? I think the once-a-year cash for the storefronts is great and hope it helps them all stay afloat– oh, and for the BENEFIT going on for the local neighborhood school as part of the fair — do you want to tell the school that they shouldn’t take that money ’cause it didn’t come from the neighborhood?
and as for business owners acting like neighbors, you are welcome to my neighbors. i’d much rather there was a growing business next door (or down the street) that was concerned with staying in business and yeah, treating people well whether they were from around the corner or across town.
ah, monday, day of venting.
Eric,
It seems to me that you could have avoided all this backlash if you’d simply omitted the “y” when you lettered your sign. That apparently would’ve been more accurate, too.
I kind of feel sorry for Eric. How can it be that he’s completely unaware of his role as a tool for those he despises?
You can look at the history of any gentrified neighborhood in Portland — be it Northwest, Hawthorne, Belmont, or Alberta — and talk about how cool it was when the bohemians ruled, before all the money came in, back when regular slackers could afford the rent. The “cool” phase never lasts all that long in relative terms. It’s only that way until the real estate mongers figure it out and start cashing in.
The hipsters, having served their role, are then priced out and sent packing to find the next undiscovered* neighborhood.
*Undiscovered, as in, only inhabited by the poor folks who have been living there in a state of economic neglect for generations.
Very astute, Himself. Prima facie example of the economic food chain. The fish eats the krill, only to be eaten by the shark.
“I kind of feel sorry for Eric. How can it be that he’s completely unaware of his role as a tool for those he despises?”
EXACTLY. He even admits that he is part of the problem, and yet he rails out against everyone ELSE for doing the same. Eric was part of gentrifying Mississippi. F HIS Progress.
He’s one of those “Do as I say, not as I do” people.
Eric says: “I admit to some complicity in the progress that I angrily damn on Mississippi.”
Absolutely.
I recommend he re-hang his “F Progress” sign and attach his own picture to it with a note that says “I Gentrify Mississippi.”
Again, using Eric’s own words. He said:
” Yes- Mississippi Records is a white owned business. Yes- we did open during the first wave of serious gentrification on Mississippi. Yes- We do contribute to the overall reconfigeration of the neighborhood into a destination spot for shoppers all across Portand, instead of a “town center” for people directly in our neighborhood. Yes, at least 50% of our customers are young white consumers who could be dismissed as hipsters with a flick of the wrist. I admit to all of this”
And then he said: “I felt a certain level of rage at the rapid growth of this neighborhood.”
He says: “Even minority opinions have a right to be voiced.”
Is that voice of the gentrified, or the gentrifier?
I’ve got a different F word for Eric. He is a fraud. He joins in the gentrification when it suits his own interest, and then rails against anyone else who does the same.
A fraud.
Hello again,
Eric from the record store writing again. I am not a regular on internet chat rooms, & so am not accustomed to the style of hateful cruel name calling that being an anonymous chatter on a message board such as this allows you to engage in. I don’t think anyone has said cruel things like I’ve read here to my face since Jr. High school. I suspect that all the folks sounding off about what a hypocrite & fraud I am have never even met me, & are basing their opinions on a admittedly not well thought out sign I posted, & a not well thought out email defense of said sign posted on this board. I also suspect that they would not have the courage to say such words to my face.
Well, this is my last communique on this or any other chat board, as these “diologues” are nothing but heart breaking & sad to me.
I will state the following in my defense-
1. I listed ways in which I am complicit in Mississippi streets’ soulless “progress” in order to point out that I am realistic in how my presence on the street has helped to create the situation which I criticize. I still consider myself a different type force in the Mississippi neighborhood overall than those I disdain. Just because I am white & own a business, does not mean that I can’t be a positive member of my community, & a vocal critic of what I see as economic & racial injustice in my neighborhood Call me a hypocrite if you wish, but I go to sleep well at night knowing that I have never screwed anyone over & have tried to run my business in a way that is respectful to the neighborhood I live in.
2.I actually agree with the history of gentrification as summed up by “Himself”…but I believe it is complicated enough to involve some of the “hipsters who discover the neighborhood” to be not entirely ignorant of there effect, & try to balance it with positive action. Just because I have inadvertantly opened the floodgates, does not mean I should not maintain a critical eye of other people & yes, my own actions. I guess the jury can still be out on whether my presence on the street has had an overall more negative than positive impact. I’d be lying if I said that there have not been times where I’ve been haunted by self doubt. Still- overall I have faith that I am not the monsterous hypocrite some seem to want to make me out to be, & that in the end my small store has been good for the neighborhood.
3. I realize that change is inevitable. I don’t expect the neighborhood to be sealed in amber at the point where I liked it & never change. I understand that my disdain for rapid progress that doesn’t take into account how unfair it is to lower income people who want to stay in this neighborhood is not the majority opinion.
Many people who I love & respect have been forced to leave this neighborhood, & many more are sure to go soon. Maybe I’m a romantic fool for even voicing how broken hearted this has made me. Maybe I should just surrender to the inevitability of economic & racial injustice disguising itself as progress.
Or, maybe not.
Keep love in your heart & don’t ever underestimate your enemies by assuming they are evil.
Shorter Eric:
The Internets are meaner than my jr. high school cafeteria, but I myself am a Renaissance Man because I put a sign in a window telling people to fuck off.
Eric, in his own words:
“Maybe I’m a romantic fool for even voicing how broken hearted this has made me.”
No, you are a hypocritical fool for not seeing that you are directly to blame.
Hypocrisy, not romance.
You might want to look those words up.
I know, I know, it’s easier to write middle school vulgarity and hang it in your window to scold everyone else, but look in the mirror, because your villain is YOU.
You gentrify Mississippi.
“we did open during the first wave of serious gentrification on Mississippi.”
That’s you.
“We do contribute to the overall reconfigeration of the neighborhood into a destination spot for shoppers all across Portand, instead of a “town center” for people directly in our neighborhood.”
That’s YOU.
“at least 50% of our customers are young white consumers who could be dismissed as hipsters with a flick of the wrist.”
You again.
“I admit to all of this”
But it’s cool for you to do it, eh? Just not anyone else. Right?
Gee, is the gentrification YOU help to cause also what those you vulgarly rail against refer to as PROGRESS?
Why, yes. Yes it is.
F your “progress.”
You gentrify Mississippi.
I’m guessing Eric must be young. I lived in NW when the first rowhouses started appearing (and a few torched) and before 23rd became the shopping extravaganza that it is today.
I moved to the cheap and funky Hawthorne district before it became the “Thai Restaurant, Coffee Shop, and Spendy Clothing Stores Blvd” that it is today. I’ve learned that this is just the natural progression of things. I guess condos over “cute” shops” is better than a McDonalds even without a drive up window!
All you can hope for when places change are some useful and decent shops. Nothing stays the same and it shouldn’t.
But man, I lament the demise of the NW Music Millennium. A trip there was my excuse to get a slice or 2 of Escape from NY. Even though SE Music Millennium is within walking distance. Now what?
“I’m the idiot utopian who wrote “always- love over gold” over his door, & has tried to always live by that creed.”
How does that jibe with closing your door and posting a sign to antagonize neighbors, strangers, and potential customers?
And please spare me the “diversity” and “neighborhood” nonsense. Diversity comes about when you’re nice to folks of all kinds.
I’m with Wanda. 100%. The arrogance, rudeness, entitlement, and gold-plated cluelessness on display here beggars belief.
Hello,
My name is Sarah Shaoul and I own Black Wagon. I’ve been an independent retailer in Portland for 15 years. In all of my time as a retailer, I can say that it has been less about the money and more for love of what I do AND a great desire to contribute positively to my community.
Big business has a great influence and control over the development of communities. They work with government to realize their profitable goals. It is important that more independent, local businesses get involved as do big businesses, meeting with local government, the community at large and other businesses.
I have spent a great deal of my time, as a retailer, advocating for communities and small business. Shopping locally strengthens a community, keeping dollars in the community.
There are so many businesses in this community that are working together, although they are not always in agreement, to improve this community. At business meeting there is always talk about how we can help out Boise Eliot School, AYOS and put on benefits for worthy charities. In the past year, Black Wagon donated to over 2 dozen school auctions.
I know that Eric wishes that we do not judge him, but I feel that he has judged me, my business and the many other businesses on this street that work hard to realize a vision along with the members of the community. Mississippi is a great street with great potential. It is a corridor used by many children to attend any of several schools and youth programs in the area. The businesses and community residents have made it a safe and friendly place for kids and families to walk and travel from school to home and back.
Lastly, I want to invite Eric to come and meet me and the other business owners that he has placed judgement upon. I invite Eric to work together with us to truly give back to the community. Now is also the time to unite, given the developments soon to start on the street. If we are united we can resist the kind of development, like chain stores and profit hungry businesses that don’t give a hoot about our community.