Hazardous Waste in Beaverton

I wondered how many hazardous waste sites there are in Washington County. There is just one, according to the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

The former View-Master factory supply well, at 8585 SW Hall Boulevard, is contaminated with a carcinogen called TCE and other toxic substances. This is next to (and/or under) Cascade Plaza, across 217 from Washington Square where Powell's Books is. Supposedly they cleaned up the site, which had contaminated groundwater. I don't know.

Those of a certain age will remember they used to make ViewMaster toys there, which we thought was pretty cool. Well, they used some bad stuff making those toys, and they didn't behave well. It's all detailed here and on Wikipedia. They don't know how this stuff may have affected people who worked at the site, but it seems there's been a lot of cancer.

So that's it. Just a bit of local history, unless someone knows of a continuing story here.

Cedar Mill

The place to be in Cedar Mill -- when the Farmer's Market isn't running -- is the library block, on Saltzman just off Cornell. For starters, the Cedar Mill Library is a great community hub. In addition to books, they have tons of CDs and DVDs. And meeting rooms. My favorite area is the entrance, where they sell surplus books, and there are lots and lots of free flyers and magazines so you can see what's up.

Next door is the Village Gallery, which I understand is actually a community of artists. Even if you're a bit of an art snob like me (enough with the pastels and landscapes!) you can find something to like here. It's a nice place for gift shopping.

Next door to that is the Second Edition Resale Shop. This is one of those great little thrift stores where excellent ladies (mostly) volunteer to raise funds -- in this case for the library. They have lots of clothes, and a few shoes, housewares and knick-knacks. Always worth checking out.

Being able to walk or bike to this spot is a saving grace of living in Cedar Mill!

Walking is good. When the days lengthen and the weather gets nicer, it's lots easier to get out there for five minutes or for hours. Can you go out your front door for a reasonably pleasant walk, or is your neighborhood designed for cars and not people? My neighborhood is a little on the hilly side for me, and there are too many no-shoulder thoroughfares and dead-end cul de sacs. But I've found a couple of routes that work even for a short walk.

They say its the best exercise for everything from mental health to preventing osteoporosis. I love seeing pedestrians in Washington County. I dream of walkers controlling the streets instead of cars!

Poverty in the Suburbs

I read an interesting article about suburban poverty the other day.

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070423/press.

In Washington County, 2003 census figures say we had 8.7% of persons living below the poverty line, which is over 42,000 people. The median household income was around $54,000. I don't know if there is a trend here one way or the other.

http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/41/41067.html

Keep in mind that the "poverty line" is very low. As an example, the poverty threshold is $10,160 for a person under 65 years of age with no related children under 18 years of age. For a three-person household, it's between $14,000-15,000.

What always strikes me about the suburbs is how shielded many of us are from "how the other half lives."