Author: Rudy Owens

I have a professional background in journalism (MA from UNC-CH), public affairs, and more recently public health (MPH, University of Washington). I publish several online properties, including my web site www.rudyowens.com. I also am an author of the first-ever memoir and public health examination of the U.S. adoption system ("You Don't Know How Lucky You Are," BFD Press, 2018).

You know you made it when you move to University City Hills

 

Shot with a GoPro.
Shot with a GoPro.
Shot with a GoPro.
Shot with a GoPro.
Shot with a GoPro.
Shot with a GoPro.
Shot with a GoPro.
Shot with a GoPro.
Shot with a GoPro.
Shot with a GoPro.

I grew up in University City, Mo., a municipality next to St. Louis. It is a diverse community with a rich cultural and architectural history. It remains a racially diverse community with an incredible diversity of wealth, but has remained cohesive unlike other communities where the gap between the haves and haves not continues to widen because of growing and historic income inequality in the United States. The swankiest subdivision in this town is University City Hills, located on the south edge of the city next to much more affluent Clayton, Mo., a mini-financial hub for the St. Louis area. Homes date from the first half of the 20th century and span a wide variety of European styles. It exudes money and power, even though it is quaint as moneyed neighborhoods go.

Growing up in areas far less affluent than University City Hills, I always knew a giant gulf separated me and the kids who lived here. Many of them are the type of kids who went to the best private schools, whose parents were professional and upper-middle-class, and who had better opportunities and health then the less well-off in my community. Yes, many of the kids who grew up here went to my public high school, which was a bit rough and tumble, but many more went to private schools and never experienced the world just outside their leafy suburb. One of my college classmates grew up in one of these homes. We had absolutely nothing in common, and I do not think he ever had to worry about college loans, not doing holiday ski trips, and even thinking about what a security net means to success. He was a lot like many young people I knew at my private college.

I still love how pretty the homes are in University City Hills. I know many of the people who live here are likely good people. But they still remain in a place that is worlds apart from the lower-income areas about two miles north. However because these homes are in St. Louis, prices are ridiculously low compared to, say where I have lived, in Seattle. A three-story brick beauty here is actually less than a single story wood shack in parts of Seattle.

Under the off-ramp, eastside Portland
Home sweet underpass in Portland’s eastside industrial area.

This is the underside to one of the Interstate 5 off-ramps on the eastside of Portland. Many homeless residents stake out spaces here to escape the rain and camp, like you see in the distance here. Warehouse businesses are found here, along with produce distributors and other enterprises that need cheap land for rent. This is also known as the Central Eastside Industrial District. I have known this place for decades. Today many services for the homeless and mentally ill can be found just of Highway 99 and Martin Luther King Drive. There is now talk about how this section of town may be redeveloped. Change is inevitable, and Portland is seeing this all along its riverfront. (Click on the photo to see a larger photograph on a separate picture page.)

Christmastime at Concordia Seminary
Luther Tower stands majestically at the entrance to Concordia Seminary.
A scene from the campus of Concordia Seminary.
The photo was taken from the main courtyard at Concordia Seminary.

Concordia Seminary is one of the most beautiful academic campuses in the country, in my book. The seminary is affiliated with the more conservative branch of the Lutheran Church in the United Stated (Lutheran Church of the Missouri Synod), but that is not why I have an affinity for this place.

I used to live very close to here, and I always pay a visit when I visit family in the St. Louis area, mainly because I find the campus to be so lovely. The seminary was built like many homes, churches, and public buildings in the St. Louis area, with a sense of permanence and with stones and slate roofs. If I were to pick any place to shoot a film that needed an “elite university look,” this would be the place.

All of these photographs were taken with my GoPro.

(Click on each photograph to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

Extreme Nordic at Mt Hood’s Teacup ski trails

On the last day of 2014, Mt. Hood finally had great ski conditions. I headed up to Teacup Nordic, the closest groomed nordic trails near Portland and got my last good runs of the old year. To anyone out there who thinks Nordic is for geezers or losers, you should give skate skiing a try. It will kick your ass into shape on the flats and uphills and will have you grinning like a bear in a salmon stream when you rip down a groomed trail. Happy trails, skiers.

Tibetan carpet weaver, Darjeeling, India
This refugee was working on making Tibetan carpets in Darjeeling, India (1989).

When I visited the Indian hill station city of Darjeeling in 1989, I met many Tibetan refugees, who had made their home there, preserving their culture in exile from Chinese-occupied Tibet. You can see more photos I took on my India gallery. (Click on the photo to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

Bethlehem, how it looked about 2,004 years later
I took this photo of trash-strewn Bethlehem, then under a security lock-down after a fatal bombing in next-door Jerusalem that killed Israeli citizens. The alleged bomber came from Bethlehem.

I visited Israel and the Occupied Territories in February 2004. It was a tense time. There was a terrorist bombing in the Jewish area of Jerusalem, and the Al-Aqsa Intifada was taking place.

Bethlehem, the purported birthplace of Christendom’s name-sake savior, Jesus of Nazareth, was under lock down. I had to walk through the Israeli security perimeter, and there was almost no traffic getting in or out. Security forces almost prevented me from reentering back into Jerusalem.

Tourists were no where to be seen. Tourism businesses were shuttered. A pervasive gloom prevailed. Merchants were pleading with me to buy something, anything, when I came to see the supposed birthplace of Jesus, which is located in a grotto beneath the Church of the Nativity. Trash was everywhere, as the Palestinian Authority had no money or capacity to pick up the garbage. So this is what it looked like on my visit to the holy city we all sing about in carols around the world.

Today, Bethlehem and the West Bank remains isolated by the security perimeter, and tourism that supports many in Bethlehem is still suffering as a result of the last war in Gaza. All is not well in the Holy Land this Christmas season, again.

Here, kitty kitty … here, kitty kitty
Lions take a rest in the Serengeti, in Tanzania (1997).

This is an oldie, dating my from trip to Africa in 1997. I took this picture inside of the magnificent Serengeti National Park, in Tanzania. What you don’t see are the four other jeeps filled with Wazungus like me clicking away and gawking. Seeing them lick their paws makes you realize that a cat is a cat, and were your household cat any bigger, you might be fair game for a meal too. Maybe. (Click on the photo to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

Belmont Street, old meets new and with a bit of art thrown in
Taken with a GoPro.
Taken with a GoPro.
Taken with a GoPro.
Taken with a GoPro.

Belmont Street is one of those quintessential streets in Portland that fuses “weird Portland” and gentrifying Portland. Off the main drag one can find the old Portland wooden Victorian homes, painted in lovely colors. Sunnyside Plaza is quite boisterous, with an entire intersection painted, and I would like to see more of this. The upscale food store Zupan’s has an entire city block of Belmont, surrounded by businesses like the Anasasi Beat African drum and crafts store and Stumptown Roasters coffee shop. (Click on each photo to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

What half-million dollar and more Sellwood homes look like
Taken with a GoPro.
Taken with a GoPro.
These are the old beauties, with view of Downtown Portland and Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge.

I live in the Sellwood neighborhood of Portland. It is a lovely, walkable area. There are cool little cafes, a nice bakery where I buy fresh bread, a wine bar, an Italian restaurant, several Asian-themed restaurants, an art space, yoga studios, a library, a high-end grocery store, a spice shop, a tea shop, a bike shope, and more. And this is all within seven blocks. I live within a half mile of two nice parks, too. So you bet that walkability score is going through the roof. And with that, and nice old homes, comes hefty home prices. I did a quick scan on Zillow, and houses near me, not much different than the two smaller ones you see here, range from $500,000 to $800,000. These larger homes I have captured too would be well over $1 million.

One reason I left Seattle was because of out of control price escalation and the influx of flippers who had in several years literally priced out anyone lower class from my old neighborhood. Guess I have landed in the middle of that again in Portland. (Read and listen to this nice story by Marketplace on gentrification.) The problem is, I like walkable neighborhoods. I just will not ever be able to afford a home in one. So, I continue to rent, which is my choice, and I’m fine with that.

Click on each photograph to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.

Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge, Portland
A black and white study of some the scenes on the bluff above Oaks Bottom.
A trail takes visitors down to the Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge.

Oaks Bottom Widlife Refuge is a beautiful wetlands and nature preserve near my house, along the Willamette River in Southeast Portland. I cannot believe I live so close to it. Coyotes hang out here, and signs are up warning people their cats will be coyote nibblins if they do not pay attention and bring them indoors. People live down here too in tents. Next time I publish pictures of this place I will show you what it looks like up close, perhaps with the many resident waterfowl.

Click on each photograph to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.