The Neighborhood

Mississippi Avenue is located in North Portland, between the I5 and Martin Luther King Boulevard. Due to the close proximity to the east side docks, it was traditionally a working class neighborhood, where dockworkers and their families lived. It has been a low-income community since then. In the last 5 years Mississippi Ave has experienced fierce gentrification due to its relatively central location and the expanding Max light rail system on the North Interstate Avenue; rents are going up and the demographic is changing. What used to be an ethnically diverse low-income area is turning into a hip Caucasian cultural district, with displacement of minorities and a loss of affordable housing.

For more information on the Boise Neighborhood demographics, go to the PortlandMaps.Com website.

We hope our long-term commitment to community involvement will compensate for any initial contribution made on our part toward the gentrification of our future neighborhood. While hoping to promote cooperative housing in the neighborhoods, we recognize that the racial and educational profile of the Mississippi Collective may run the risk of contributing to gentrification by virtue of its presence in what is largely a low-income neighborhood. Based on the core values of social justice and open communication, the collective can, alternatively, become a valuable resource for the neighborhood by organizing educational activities and social support programs. Most importantly though, the collective has existed for five years plus and we ourselves are in danger of being displaced by the forces of gentrification. Working with existing community organizations and the city, the collective can affect positive political action to promote the cause of affordable housing, an item on the immediate agenda of the city of Portland.

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The House

Built in 1903, our house on Mississippi Ave has seen its share of owners and tenants. It was first rented in its current form 6 years ago when the current landlord bought it. During these six years it has developed into a prospering communal living situation.

When the house was rented to us, it was an old and worn house, and we have invested a lot of hard labor and care to make it our home. We have painted, repaired, built garden beds, constructed compost bins, small gray-water systems and rainwater catchment systems. It is still an old house, but it is in good working condition and has great potential.

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The Ideals

The members of the collective are as diverse in age as we are in professions. The mean income of the house is low, and to battle gentrification and strive towards a diverse neighborhood, we hope to keep it that way. We also strive to keep an equal gender balance.

All decisions concerning the house are made through a consensus decision-making process. We try to create a tolerant and caring community, while taking care to maintain and respect everyone’s need for personal space.

We enact recycling and reuse in our daily lives, regarding water, trash and clothes. By having free boxes for our superfluous clothes on our front yard we hope to share these thoughts with our neighborhood. The bicycle is the main form of transportation for collective members, and some of our members have been involved in the “Create a Commuter” project at the local CCC. Currently, none of us own a car; we are looking into the details of communally owning a house car.

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The Goals

We have many hopes and dreams for our home:

Vacancies

None right now. But here is our standard ad:

The Mississippi Co-op is seeking a new housemate starting XX. We prefer to be gender balanced. Now we are XX F and XX M. We are looking for someone who has progressive values and lifestyle.

You are: Mature, respectful of others, personal privacy, emotionally open, communicatively assertive, clean, queer friendly, responsible with commitments, reliable with house chores, and possibly interested in being involved with Portland Collective Housing.

The Mississippi house is a co-operativly owned and run living space with 7 current housemates. We have 3 cats and a dog; all are very friendly. We value the environment, diversity, sharing and communalism and personal autonomy within our house. All house decisions are made on a consensus basis. Our house is on N Mississippi and Shaver, directly on the #4 bus line. It is about a 15 minute bike ride to downtown, and a 5 minute ride to the nearest grocery(Big City Produce, yay!)..

Here are some features of our house:
Vegan Kitchen
Gray water system to save water and money
Large common spaces
Large garden and fruit trees
Fire pit
High-speed internet and communal computer
Public free porch
Basement Bike shop

If interested please send us an e-mail description of yourself with a phone number

We look forward to hearing from you.

	This is Trixie, one of our 5 cats.	This is Kansas, our only dog.

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