I took a final trip up to NW Cresap Lane on Monday to wrap up my series on the 2010 edition of the Portland Street of Dreams.  What I found wasn’t catastrophic but disappointing nonetheless.  Two of the three homes are now closed sales and are occupied evidenced by cars in the driveway and confirmed by RMLS (sales prices of $830,000 and $850,000).  The third shows as an active listing for $869,000 but there is no sign in the yard.

The three homes, the focal point of a month long celebration, now look like three islands in an otherwise barren and unkempt subdivision.  Where the event deck stood is now a pile of loose trash.  An OregonLive.com garbage can marks where the ticket booth was and the mature evergreens trees fronting Skyline BLVD are struggling.  I contacted the Home Builder’s Association to let them know what I found and hopefully they will let the responsible parties know that there are some issues to address.

Overall I have mixed feelings about the format of the show.  I felt that the only truly dreamy home was the $1.7M Forest Edge that was located down the street from the main site.  The other houses, even the IdeaBox, were neat and innovative but didn’t feel all that special.  There are 69 properties listed for $1.7M or more and 326 $800,000 or more.  With 5713 active listing in Portland does the $800,000 price range meet the expectation for the show?

In years past, the answer would be “No.”  Now I’m not so sure.  I think I would rather see a show than no show at all but the economy is going to dictate what is and isn’t realistic for the show.