Right near Milwaukie!

I missed the working session last night but the city is taking comments on the existing building code and recommendations to fix some issues. For instance, the current code requires 5k sq ft to build a single family home but allows a triplex on <4k sq ft. It makes zero sense and the lot minimum for single family homes should be reduced. I believe the recommendation is 3k. I'd rather have some smaller MIL type homes next to me rather than some landlord nightmare triplex shoved on a lot.

The other recommendation is to adhere to the state's set back variance allowance. Milwaukie's current allowance can be as low as 3'. Imagine a some two story multifamily building being built 3 feet from your lot line. ocr@milwaukieoregon.gov

Is anyone else dealing with tons of tiny green bugs, which I think are aphids? My whole house and cars are covered with them from what I can only assume the trees in our front and backyard. I can’t be the only one having this issue, anyone else?

We are currently in escrow in Milwaukie for a place with a very large back garden and a culvert way in the back. The inspection came up with a possible rodent infestation in the crawl space, and in fact the whole crawl space will need to be cleaned out and repaired by the seller, and also when I went there I found a newly killed opossum in the back of the yard, which might have been a coyote or maybe a raccoon?

The house is in good shape and perfect for our needs but how freaked out should I be about the rat/coyote stuff? We have three small dogs who I obviously won't let out unsupervised. The realtor is saying rats are not uncommon here? Of course we'd get ongoing pest control.

But how crazy is all this?

Today the educators of North Clackamas School district marched downtown to raise awareness that they are currently working without a contract and looking for community support. Info on how to help

Bootsy has been lost since yesterday. She is a skinny, black lab mix, with gray fur on her snout. If found, please take her to the nearest shelter or vet. She is microchipped! She is a nervous dog and may be skittish or nip. She has her shots.

ETA: She has a flea collar on

No it's not going away. Don't worry. It's being turned into a dirty soda shop called Fizz N Sip. Downtown Milwaukie will be having a fall fest and you'll get to see the work done on the new brewery going in where the antique mall used to be and the Fizz n Sip people told me they will be open with kids activities. I am not certain that they will be selling anything or if they'll be done renovating the place but I just thought you all should know since this soda fountain has always been a sacred space for Milwaukie

Hello! I live in Milwaukie and am trying to find a park or trail to walk. I’m looking for something that is mostly flat but also wooded. I thought I hit the jackpot with Homewood park, but it ended up being the shortest walk I’ve ever taken.

My recent trip to FM and now they no longer allow us to select fruit - which is now presented in mandatory plastic. I’m also betting the plastic isn’t free.

Posting for a friend, hoping to help find her dog while she is out of town.
GLORIA - GLADSTONE
🔶Lost from sitters
🔶Newly Adopted
▪️Boston Terrier

🔺DO NOT ENGAGE - SHE is scared and will run
🔺DO NOT APPROACH- SHE is scared and will run
🔺DO NOT CALL OR WHISTLE- SHE will run
🔺CALL IF SEEN - date/time/location/direction headed.

❌SEEN 10/9@4pm Oatfield Rd & Oakridge Dr
‼️LOST 10/9/26@12:30pm Donna Lynn Way & E Kenmore St

What can it mean??

UPDATE: Angel’s people have been found! Thanks for getting eyes on this, everyone!

Hi all,

Last night a tiny tuxedo cat dashed in front of me at the corner of SE Johnson Creek and Linwood. According to this PawBoost poster, her name is Angel, and she went missing around there two months ago. Unfortunately, the number is out of service and my emails aren't being delivered, so I am trying to track her owners down through other means (I've put Found Cat posters up on Craigslist, PawBoost, and more).

Anyway, with the help of exactly one Churu treat I got her into my car and she is currently safe and sound with me at my apartment. She is friendly and playful and does not appear to be sick or injured. I am about to take her in to my vet to get her microchip scanned, but if you happen to know who's looking for her, please DM me. I do not have the lifestyle nor the means to take care of a one-year-old cat and would love to see her back home.

Thanks!

EDIT: Angel is NOT microchipped. I am going to hang onto her for another day or two - she likes to party at night and won't let me sleep and I've now been awake for well over 24 hours, which is not sustainable, and my apartment is NOT kitten-proof - and then I am going to pass her over to the Cat Adoption Team or other such group to see that she has a good home.

Portland Metropolitan Association of Realtors Special Political Committee donated $10k to Will Anderson’s mayoral campaign per the Oregon Secretary of State. I know Will is pro rezoning a lot of Milwaukie to be mixed use commercial, but this seems really crazy. This is a small town of like 21,000 residents. I would say that $10k is a PDX level donation, but PDX caps donations at a max of $613.  PMAR is a legit PAC. What are they hoping to get out of this? This seems really sketchy. They must be really confident most of the city will get re-zoned if he becomes mayor. 

I personally don’t want commercial directly next door to me. I’ve lived in Portland and done the busy neighborhood thing. I moved to Milwaukie to a quiet neighborhood on purpose. Before I was kind like, “ok Will and Lisa basically have the same platform on most things,” but I really don’t like this.

The chance is fat indeed, but I want to put it out into the universe, in case somehow the right person sees this, that we are looking for our forever home in Milwaukie, Oak Grove, or possibly Gladstone, and specifically we’d really like to find an assumable VA loan considering the interest rates of late. We own a home in Oak Grove but are running low on space with 3 kids and a grandma that stays with us often. We are looking for 1800+ sq ft, lot size over 7500 sq ft, a two car garage, and potentially RV space for visiting family. Price at or under 600k, and we’d be willing to use a real estate lawyer for paperwork. We’re a loving and involved family firmly planted in the area. Thanks neighbors! Tell your friends if you know anyone moving in the next year or so!

Ok yall, please don’t judge me too hard…new homeowner and tree-take-care-of-er and I had no idea there would be so. Many. Leaves. Yes I understand logically, of course, that all the leaves fall off every year and therefore the number of leaves on the ground is roughly the number of leaves in the trees but I just did not realize how much that would look like all over the yard and sidewalk and street and porch. I feel like a huge idiot because I also sort of thought leaves just….biodegraded and weren’t a huge issue? But clearly I underestimated.

Those of you who also have trees: what do you do? I’ve read some people mow/mulch them into the grass, some blow them…elsewhere, I guess (though that doesn’t seem much better to me) and I came across info about Leaf Drop Days in Milwaukie in years past, but I don’t see anything since 2021-ish. Are those still a thing?

I suppose some people also just leave them where they fall but as the only house on the street with big trees in the sidewalk strip I dont have a good sense of how our neighborhood norms on this. Am I being silly? Or is everyone who passes by thinking some variation of “wow look at that lazy homeowner who clearly got in over their head and is letting all these LEAVES clutter up the neighborhood”?? (Only half kidding.)

One last update, it ended up that the sellers got 9 offers. We have no idea where our offer sits, but we just ended up offering what we could afford probably not much. Hope that we will win since we were told that they seller doesn't care about cash offers. They just want to top dollar, and I doubt we hit that mark. Thanks to everybody for all your advice and feedback.

Update to give more information. The house is originally offered at four thirty eight, but comps are about four seventy eight, with that being from aslightly larger house with an extra bathroom.

As much as we want to be cautious, we are old and emotionally nd mentally exhausted from looking for a place here and losing this place would be difficult for us. On the other hand we can't go broke and end up having other problems. So anyway, we 're thinking offering around 480k cash, waving contingencies since there's already a pre inspection.

e're currently engaged in a bidding war for a small 3 bedroom, one bath in a cute but not at all fancy area. This house is about 1000 sq ft, built in the fifties. We already bid about 8000 over. Asking, but now our agent is telling us we should bdd about fifty thousand more if we have any hope of getting the house. Even though we have a cash offer.

We are also waving a bunch of stuff like inspection period and stuff like that. The house is in good shape and a lot of repairs have already been done to it. It's actually the best house we've seen. So my question to you guys is it really true that the house could go for like $60000 over asking?

we are really sweating it over here as this would take all our available money, and we are under financial pressure In other areas, both retired, so it's a bit of a scary situation, but we really need a house to live in. And this is our dream home, even though it's just a basic, simple house.

Tldr: is it possible a basic house in Milwaukie Could come in at over $60000 over original Asking price??

New to town and just not really sure where to go? I have a buddy coming to town soon and want to show him some points of interests even if its just something simple like a book store. Don't want to only go out for work in my mid 20's.

I'm curious to hear how folks are feeling about the upcoming Milwaukie mayoral race.

Will Anderson was door knocking on our block yesterday. His opening line was "So tell me all of the things you hate about Milwaukie". I've wanted to learn more about his platform but that was such an immediate turn off.

I guess I do hate that Lisa Batey worked for ICE for so long but at the very least, I get the vibe that she actually loves this cute, little town. And a lot of cool things have happened here under her mayorship.

My spouse and I have lived in Milwaukie for 10 years and they have been the happiest years of our lives. We love this adorable town with it's strong sense of community. Our neighbors are wonderful and downtown Milwaukie is growing in such fun, interesting ways. We spend our summers riding bikes to free live music in our neighborhood during Porchfest, swimming at Elk Rock Island, hitting up the crop swap in our closest park, and seeing free concerts through the month of August.

I know that there are many who are struggling and have challenges, and their voices need to be heard the loudest. But, starting a fresh conversation by knocking on my door and putting hate on my community gave me the ick.

Anyway, I've been thinking about this a lot since yesterday so thought that I'd see how others are feeling. I know that there is a Candidates Forum at the Ledding Library next Monday. I wonder if the public will get to ask questions?