1KF Internship: Week 10

My last week at 1000 Friends saw my report come together in its entirety. There are still areas that will have to be edited and perhaps one more section to be written, but I am proud of 26 pages of text, charts, and graphs I have created. The working title of the report is Novel Networks: Oregon’s Food System in Transition.

Throughout this internship I have constantly been confronted with new and unexpected experiences. From my first week of working in an office environment to my last witnessing my work come together, this summer has been full of valuable lessons.

Moreover, living in Portland itself has given me a new perspective on a variety of issues. The city has incredible biking infrastructure such that not owning a car here has not been an issue. Returning to the suburbs of Omaha, where driving is a requirement for getting anywhere, will not be an easy transition.

However, Portland, like many cities in Oregon and elsewhere along the Pacific coast, is experiencing a housing shortage that is driving rents up fast and pricing residents out. There are organizations, like 1000 Friends, and people that would like to see a greater variety of housing built, such as duplexes and accessory dwelling units, throughout Portland. This would require changing zoning from single-family residential to a more accommodating designation in some areas. Conversely, some organizations and people do not want to see housing that isn’t single-family built in their neighborhoods and there has been strong push-back. Observing this conflict first-hand has been highly educational.

This has been the best summer of my life and I would do it again in a heartbeat.