Peace and Quiet In The Pearl
When I moved into The Pearl I knew that new buildings would be going up that would block my view. I was OK with that. I also knew that with construction would be a certain amount of noise. I was also OK with that. But what my little dogs and I were not prepared for was the extreme noise and vibration caused by old fashioned pile drivers. Regular construction noise can be minimize just by closing the windows. Not pile drivers! The dishes shake. But like most people, I thought that there was nothing that could be done about this…..But then one day, I saw a flyer on a post, placed by a new group of citizen activists. It claimed that there is a new quiet technology. Imagine that! We were told that we had to “suck it up” and deal with it. Not true.
A group of residents, mostly located in The Sitka, lead by Patrice Hanson and Maura Jess started organizing. Their goal was to ban the extreme noise that the old style pile drivers created. They were not your typical screaming and shouting activists. They did their homework. They did the research necessary to create a compelling case. They contacted the City Counsel. On of the comments about their testimony to the City was “Your presentation was compelling and well-documented” Of course, government being government gave them the typical cold shoulder. Wait until later.. Well later wasn’t good enough. With 4 new buildings going in soon, something had to be done. NOW.
So they took their case directly to the developers. The result….Success. All 4 projects slated for 2014 have promised to use the new quiet technology. The piece of equipment shown in the photo is an auger type pile driver. High-Tech and super quiet.
However at this time, some developers don’t care. What is needed is a city wide change to the noise ordinance.
Contact “The Portland Coalition to Curb Construction Noise”, if you want to get involved with this important issue.
PearlPlaces by Tom Foster-Re/Max Equity Group 
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