Book 1, Page 110
Added 2019-07-17 09:02:28 +0000 UTCBecky here!
Turtle City is in the Pacific Northwest (off I-5, if you noticed the highway sign on page 107). So a lot of Portland and Seattle details end up in my drawings.
Soon after I moved to Portland, I took a biking tour of the Northwest quadrant of the city, and was struck by this sight:
(Sorry the photo is sideways; I don't know why it's loading sideways)
This is only a few blocks from Nob Hill's gorgeously-preserved Victorian homes to the west, and the Pearl District's boutiques and reclaimed-warehouse-bistros to the east. Apparently this strip of I-405 used to be an immigrant neighborhood--Portland's oldest Catholic church is still right around here--but they built a highway through it, so now it's mostly empty lots and warehouses. However, there are new apartment buildings going up, and the warehouses and cab companies now share the streets with a pet hotel and a dog-friendly beer hall. This tour definitely piqued my interest in neighborhood history, and how/why the neighborhoods change over time.
The Albina area, on the east side of the Willamette river, was the home of 20th-century Portland's black community. In the '60s, hundreds of homes and businesses were razed to make room for highways and the Emanuel Hospital. The effects of these decisions are still being felt today. In Harriet Tubman Middle School, next to I-5 and the hospital, students are advised to stay inside at recess due to air pollution.
Freeway construction and "involuntary displacement" and racist city planning are embedded in a lot of city histories. For Turtle City to feel like a real, "lived-in" American city, these issues would have to be in the background, even if they don't get much page time. When I first drew Lillian's house in the '80s, a freeway overpass seemed like a great shorthand to get all of that across. (I'm writing this post a lot later at night than I'd planned, so I hope this makes sense!)
To end this post on a lighter note, please enjoy this cute 80's baby outfit:
Thanks as always for your support, and I hope you enjoy these peeks behind the scenes!
