Metro to hear Hillsdale Nov. 29

The elected Metro Regional Council will meet in Hillsdale on Nov. 29 at 5 p.m. to listen community plans for making Hillsdale a "model town center." The meeting's location has yet to be determined, but Wilson High School is the expected choice.

Metro Councilor Robert Liberty, who represents our district, initiated the Council's meeting here after he broached the idea to the Hillsdale Alliance in early July.

Moreover, City Commissioner Erik Sten has asked to speak at the November session. Sten, who took a Hillsdale walking tour Thursday, wants to discuss his efforts to help families continue to live in neighborhoods they may no longer be able to afford. The city assistance would help reverse the flow of families to the suburbs and their crowded schools and would help keep Portland's schools open.

The threatened closure of Rieke Elementary School last year resulted, in part, from a shift in enrollments both to the suburbs and to private or religious schools.

Developing Portland town centers, like Hillsdale, will also boost school enrollment by providing more close-in housing located near the schools as well as businesses and transit.

Community leaders here argue that Hillsdale has all those desired elements, as well as an engaged citizenry. That makes Hillsdale an excellent candidate to be a "model" for what town centers can be.

The question to be decided between now and Nov. 29 is what needs to be done to maximize Hillsdale's potential?

And Liberty and his Metro colleagues are asking us how they can help.

Hillsdale's job is to tell them.