More than four years ago Allan and Tyanne Wilmath were renters in Southwest Portland. They decided to start house-hunting when their rent went up. The couple had just welcomed their first child, so the timing felt right to start looking for their own home. The Wilmaths plan to keep their house until their two daughters are out of school.
The Wilmaths are transit-dependent because they are legally blind. They picked a home that’s walking distance to bus lines, schools and shopping. They’d like to age in it, too. But it's still challenging to get around sometimes.
We talked to Allan and Tyanne about their transition from renting to owning. The interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
Metro: What resources did you seek when you were house-hunting?
"Disabled people don't have the option to drive," Allan Wilmath said. "They probably really need housing next to the transit hubs, MAX stops and stuff. But ironically the MAX stops increase property values, which prices out the people who need it the most."
Tyanne: Someone referred us to a program called Proud Ground. Proud Ground is a nonprofit. They help people with low incomes buy affordable homes. So we started looking at that and at first-time homebuyers programs.
Allan: We were seventh on Proud Ground’s waiting list. The nonprofit went through a period where it just didn't have any homes. So we thought we'd try to buy a house without them. We found the Portland Housing Center. And we took advantage of a couple different first-time homebuyers programs. And that's what enabled us to do it.
Tyanne: It took us about a month or two to find our house.
Metro: What was the most important criteria you wanted your new home to meet?
Tyanne: One of the main criteria is that it be accessible to public transportation.
Allan: We don't drive. We're both legally blind. One of the reasons we picked this house is that it’s close to three different buses. We wanted to live closer to downtown but this is where we could afford to buy. It's just too expensive to be closer to be downtown.
Tyanne: We needed at least three bedrooms; I had (sic) two children. We’re not going to have any more, so this is the perfect size for our family needs. We needed it to be accessible to school and shopping. And it will be nice [to live here] because our children will be going to the elementary school that's right across the park from us.
Metro: What’s working well?
Allan: This house is within walking distance to Safeway. So if we need something we can just walk down get it. There's a hardware store on the street here and some other local businesses. Also, our house is at the back of this little complex. So it turns out that we get better at TriMet paratransit.
Tyanne: The driveway is L-shaped and narrow. The paratransit buses don’t fit down here and they can only back up so far. So we luck out and they have to send the smaller vehicles, the vans or the cabs. So when we use them, we pretty much get straight to and from where we need to go.
Metro: What could be better?
"We do not have straight sidewalks, which Adrian [my guide dog] is mostly trained to walk on the sidewalks," Tyanne Wilmath said. "So it's really hard for me to stay on the side of the street because he's not fond of walking without a sidewalk."
Allan: So there are some things about the house that we would like to be different. It looks like a house but it's technically become a detached condominium. As a result, we don't own the ground it sits on. There are some issues with being a part of a homeowner’s association, like having a shared water bill. The other issue is a parking. Each of these units has only one official parking space out front and in the garage. And these are three or four-bedroom homes. We've actually had people double park and totally block off the the driveway and think nothing of it. So even when we have the paratransit show up in smaller vehicles, they can’t get through. Emergency vehicles can't get through.
Tyanne: Yeah, we've had people blocking off where you turn around the corner. And I have come home with a ride with a car full of groceries. Another downside is we do not have straight sidewalks, which Adrian [my guide dog] is mostly trained to walk on the sidewalks. So it's really hard for me to stay on the side of the street because he's not fond of walking without a sidewalk.
Allan: When there's no sidewalks, Adrian defaults to the middle of the road.
Metro: What safety precautions do you take around your neighborhood?
Allan: I try to not go out when it's dark, because my eyesight is devastatingly bad in the dark. That avoids the way people drive down Boise. They make left-hand turns at pretty significant speeds without slowing down. Of course there's nowhere to go if you're walking on the shoulder. This is not the greatest side of town. There are shootings and stuff. So I tend to think it's better to not travel any more than I have to, especially at night in the neighborhood just to avoid those problems.
Tyanne: Yeah, I don't go out at night. As a woman, I do not feel safe walking in the dark anywhere.
Metro: Describe your ideal housing situation if money were not a factor?
Tyanne: I would love to live downtown or close to downtown so that way it wouldn't take forever to get anywhere just to go from here to downtown. It takes 40 minutes on the bus to get to my dragon boat practices.
Allan: I'd be quite happy in a large large condominium somewhere ideally downtown near the Trimet Transit Mall. You could be anywhere you want, just get on the MAX and 15-20 minutes later you could be shopping or whatever. Even going to Vancouver would be quick because there are express buses going to Vancouver from downtown.
Metro: What do you want decisionmakers to know about you and people like you?
Allan: You know, disabled people don't have the option to drive. They probably really need housing next to the transit hubs, MAX stops and stuff. But ironically the MAX stops increase property values, which prices out the people who need it the most. So it's kind of just the way the market forces work, I guess. I don't know how to fix that.