NATHAN IN THE COMMUNITY
[OWNED PHOTO PLACEHOLDER — courtside, City Club, or a Portland candid]
Writing about affordable housing
I have an engineer’s need to see the ledger. If a home costs what it costs, I want to know where every dollar went—land, materials, labor, financing, permits, infrastructure, and time. That curiosity led me to write about affordable housing for the Portland Business Journal and to keep researching the mechanics behind Portland’s housing costs.
[DETAIL REQUIRED: publication dates, article titles, additional venues, panels, or talks.] I’m interested in the numbers before the argument. Reasonable people can disagree about what a city should fund and how. I want the cost stack clear enough that the disagreement is at least about the same facts.
City Club of Portland
I joined City Club because I like hearing smart people make the best version of arguments I may or may not agree with. It scratches the same itch as the housing writing: how does this city actually work, and what happens when good intentions meet budgets, systems, and tradeoffs? [DETAIL REQUIRED: year joined, committees, research groups, Friday Forums, or other specific participation.]
[OWNED PHOTO: USTA team or courtside]
USTA captain
Captaining is mostly recruiting, lineups, schedule herding, and talking someone off the ledge after a third-set tiebreak. Occasionally there is tennis. [DETAIL REQUIRED: years, league levels, team names, results worth mentioning, and one real anecdote.] I keep doing it because a good team turns a solitary sport into a community.
Junior Team Tennis, with my son
For several years I captained my son’s Junior Team Tennis teams as he grew up. [DETAIL REQUIRED: rough years, ages, and team names.] The parts I remember are not the scores. They are the vans, the snacks, the last-minute lineup changes, and watching kids learn how to compete hard and still shake hands afterward. Parenting gives you very few chances to stand close while pretending not to hover. Tennis gave me a few more than I deserved.
[PHOTO WITH PERMISSION: Junior Team Tennis]
[OWNED / PERMISSION-APPROVED PHOTO: MAC tennis]
The Multnomah Athletic Club
I’ve spent years on the MAC tennis committee and currently serve as Tennis Chair. [DETAIL REQUIRED: year joined the committee, chair term, programs, events, courts, and responsibilities worth naming.] I care because clubs only feel like communities when people keep showing up to do the unglamorous work—planning, listening, fixing small problems, and making it easier for the next person to join a game.
PHOTO NOTE: Use only photos Nathan owns or has permission to publish. Photos containing juniors or other club members require explicit permission.
Courtside · [caption]
Team huddle · [caption]
MAC event · [caption]
City Club · [caption]
Portland candid · [caption]
Why it shows up in my work
After decades of teams and committees, a surprising number of my clients arrive as friends-of-friends from the tennis world. That keeps me honest. I work as if I’m going to see you at the club next week, because there is a decent chance I will. Portland still feels small that way.