Andrew Marsters’ Aug. 22 op-ed (“Views are intrinsic to the Portland park experience”) supports preserving “significant views” for future generations. However, for there to be future generations of Portlanders, we need to avoid layering restriction after restriction on our ability to build the housing those generations will so desperately need.

I find the level of vitriol and backlash against the project specifically mentioned in the op-ed, the proposed building that will provide 324 homes at 165 Washington Ave., to be particularly over the top. Opponents make (now debunked) claims of shading or displacement of a nearby orchard as a rallying cry, even as the orchard stewards have come out in support of adding new neighbors and potential volunteers. Now there is hyperbolic pearl-clutching about lost views. The reality is that from select locations, when looking back toward the peninsula, you might see more of a new building and less of older buildings. Mountain and water views will be preserved, the future is in good hands.

Those of us lucky enough to be Portland’s current citizens must remember that cities are dynamic organisms that evolve and adapt. None of us have the right to dictate that the current version is the only proper or correct state. We should not try to freeze it in time like a mosquito trapped in amber. That mosquito may look pretty, but it is still dead. We must acknowledge that what we love about our city attracts others, and we need to make reasonable accommodations for our future friends and neighbors.

Nathan Miller
Portland