On Change and Voodoo

Milwaukie has seen a fair amount of change over the past few years.  The Orange Max Line connected this quaint town to the rest of PDX in September of 2015 and Portlanders started moving here in droves.  The landscape of Downtown changed when The Axletree Apartments broke ground a few years back.  Construction projects have been constant: the Farmer’s Market is getting a new location, Ledding Library is getting a new building… the list goes on.  Some Milwaukie natives welcome the changes while others haven’t been as happy.

Enter: Voodoo Donut.  Portlanders have a love/hate relationship with this wacky donut chain anyway.  Tourists love it and I bet more Oregonians would also love it if the lines weren’t as crazy.  Well, word just came out that the newest location for this chain is going to be in Milwaukie.  The new location will be around the corner from Fred Meyer.  Click here for a link to an article about it.

I live in the neighborhood.  So what do I think about all of this change?  Personally, I’m excited to have Downtown Milwaukie become more of a destination.  New buildings mean new storefront space, which means new businesses will move into the area.  As that happens people will be more likely to spend their money enjoying our own community instead of heading to Sellwood or Oregon City or Woodstock when they want to grab dinner out.  The landscape of Downtown is changing and the quaint little town of years ago is definitely different.  While I ultimately think this change is good it’s important that we work to preserve the character of our community too.

What I love most about Milwaukie is the people.  There is a real sense of community here.  People look out for one another.  We enjoy our parks and our green space and the quiet of the neighborhoods.  It’s a place where you are likely to run into friends at the grocery store or get into a conversation with a stranger on the street.  It’s a community where neighbors lend tools, helping hands, and warm company on cool evenings.

So no, I’m not worried about Voodoo Donut and the changes to Milwaukie.  The people who live here already are active participants in our community and I trust that we will preserve the things we love.  And anyway, who doesn’t love a donut?

Kim Parmon

Principal Broker | Earth Advantage Certified | OR

She/Her

Kim Parmon Principal Broker  Lead Listing Agent Earth Advantage Certified | OR kim@livingroomre.com Oregon is the fifth state that Kim has called home in her life, and this one is sticking!  After moving multiple times in her childhood, Kim fully understands how empowering homeownership and having roots is.  She loves waking up every day in this beautiful place and wants everyone to experience what it feels like to live in their dream home. As a kid, Kim spent her free time wandering through open houses and exploring construction sites for the fun of it.  After careers in the professional ballroom dance world, the entertainment industry, and the service industry, Kim stumbled into real estate as both a passion and a profession through the purchase of her first bungalow.  After renovating it with her husband and selling it for enough of a profit to pay off their debt as well as buy a new house to live in, everything clicked: she decided to get her real estate license and help her community experience the emotional and financial benefits of homeownership.  Kim put down roots in Portland in 2015 and has cultivated a referrals-based business throughout the years.  She understands that real estate is a service and the experience she gives her clients is first-rate.  She works hard to anticipate needs.  She is responsive, thorough, empathic, and a skilled negotiator who enjoys market analytics and strategy as much as she enjoys connecting with her clients.  Her ethics and reputation are the cornerstones of her business and the happiness of her clients is the yardstick that she measures success against. Kim merged her business with the best agents in Portland at the beginning of 2022, which has allowed her to give her clients more resources, more advocacy, and a top-notch real estate experience.  She is honored to be a part of her incredible team and feels lucky to go to work every day. In her free time, you'll find Kim enjoying lazy evenings by the fire with her husband, daughter, and rescue dogs.  She loves dancing, live music, exploring all of the beautiful places around us in the PNW, enjoying a cider and a good meal with friends, and browsing Powell's for a great new book. Andee Ziegler  Licensed Listing Team Operations Manager andee@livingroomre.com Loving where you live will change your life. Everyone deserves that joy. For me, real estate has been a way of nurturing my community and doing what I can to help people find stability, grow generational wealth, and create a little space of their own in the world. For 15 years I found the most joy in helping first-time homebuyers, guiding my peers through their first major investment and dreaming up what home means for them. I’ve done restoration work on homes from a variety of eras, 1894 Victorian farmhouse to classic 1950’s ranch. I enjoy empowering new homeowners with the knowledge I’ve garnered over the years, from systems to finishes.  In 2022 I joined forces with some of the best realtors in the biz and shifted my focus to operation management for listings. This welcome change opened up space in my life: more cake, less pants.   Andee Zeigler | Licensed Listing Team Operations Manager | andee@livingroomre.com Jessica LeDoux | Lead Buyer Agent | Broker Licensed in Oregon | jessica@livingroomre.com  Karim Alaeddine | Operations | Principal Broker Licensed in Oregon | karim@livingroomre.com  Jenessa VanZutphen | Buyer Operations Manager | Licensed in Oregon | jenessa@livingroomre.com 

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