A few of us on the City Council, including Eric Zimmerman, are working to make behavioral health our #1 issue for the 2027 state legislative session. While Multnomah County is responsible for public and behavioral health, the City must advocate for solutions to this crisis on our streets.
Yes, we were so much better off when the Portland City Council was controlled by real estate and business interests. They didn't care so much about power because they already had it -- all they wanted was to bring their "folks" together to make deals and make more money. If we bring these guys back they could solve Portland's substance abuse problem by converting the Power & Light building into a big prison and putting all the drug users in it. Then maybe people would start going downtown again -- who knows why! Seriously, maybe its time to start rethinking about what "downtown" is for a society in decline.
One of the great unanswered questions about today's Portland is why the town's real estate and business interests have abandoned their historic role in city politics. We're great at hashing over all our other problems, but this one has yet to garner serious and informed commentary.
Any thoughts about why the grownups have ceded control to the progressive social-services / nonprofit / activist sector who are running Portland into the ground?
I had a moment of hope five years ago when it was reported that Jordan Schnitzer and other grandees took the leftist Mike Schmidt, then Multnomah County's DA, to the woodshed at the Arlington Club [1], but it did not change the balance of power in City Hall or the County.
Data would like a word with “nobody comes to downtown hotels anymore.”
We’re getting comfortably close to the booking numbers from 2019. And all during a year where convention bookings for Portland are being artificially suppressed by a temporary drop-off in 2022 due to civil unrest. 2027-2029 bookings are basically back to full capacity.
We need foot traffic at night and weekdays during the day. What are the stats there. I have lived downtown 20 years. There is some “lying with statistics” going on here. I see the City 24/7 and those statistics don’t tell the whole truth.
When I think of weekday downtown "foot traffic," I automatically think of the tortured ranters who wander the sidewalks and drift across the streets scaring the bejeezus out of the normies within hearing distance.
I don’t believe the formula for reviving the downtown area is as complicated as many people seem to be making it. My wife and I bought a condo in 937 Condos in the Pearl District in 2009 when the streets were safe day and night. Heck, I walked through Old Town almost daily and never had any concern for my personal safety. The area was vibrant and bustling with young and old, heading to work, shopping at local retailers, dining at numerous cafes and restaurants. The Streetcar was always full taking residents all over the city, without drugged out folks slumped over or screaming while on meth. Then things changed in 2015, when more and more young punks with backpacks and scary dogs started camping out in the North Park Blocks, in front of the Ecotrust building and Pearl Safeway, followed by older folks sitting on sidewalks and doing drugs openly. Car break-ins became rampant. Year by year, it got worse, but the City did NOTHING AT ALL to arrest this decline. Meanwhile, retail shops and eating establishments began closing, property values declined, and people began leaving for greener pastures. We left in 2023, incurring a gigantic loss on our condo investment, and we don’t return much at all except to visit PAM or the Japanese Garden. My take, after living in Clackamas County for the past three years and seeing how clean and safe streets are fundamental to the vibrancy in our new home region, is that Portland must first and foremost focus on ridding its sidewalks and other public areas of all tents and graffiti, ensuring that repeat criminals are incarcerated rather than released to repeat their crimes, arresting open drug use as was evident at the recent Art in the Pearl event, enlarging the number of uniformed police by at least 50% and putting them on the street on foot rather than riding around in patrol cars, and taking lessons from cities such as Beaverton, Lake Oswego, Hillsboro in what is required to attract people in the first place. Just because Portland is a densely populated area is no excuse; there are many U.S. cities of even greater population with safe downtowns that are vibrant and filled with residents, where public safety is not a major issue. I don’t honestly think a scholar in urban planning is needed to address the fact that Portland’s downtown is simply not minding the basics.
Lots of all or none statements and opinions in the essay, some of which are true and some of which are not. I live in the central city, and do encounter plenty of visitors staying at the hotels, and this is increasing. But well worth reading.
A few of us on the City Council, including Eric Zimmerman, are working to make behavioral health our #1 issue for the 2027 state legislative session. While Multnomah County is responsible for public and behavioral health, the City must advocate for solutions to this crisis on our streets.
Richard, I read your essay and share your sadness.
Yes, we were so much better off when the Portland City Council was controlled by real estate and business interests. They didn't care so much about power because they already had it -- all they wanted was to bring their "folks" together to make deals and make more money. If we bring these guys back they could solve Portland's substance abuse problem by converting the Power & Light building into a big prison and putting all the drug users in it. Then maybe people would start going downtown again -- who knows why! Seriously, maybe its time to start rethinking about what "downtown" is for a society in decline.
One of the great unanswered questions about today's Portland is why the town's real estate and business interests have abandoned their historic role in city politics. We're great at hashing over all our other problems, but this one has yet to garner serious and informed commentary.
Any thoughts about why the grownups have ceded control to the progressive social-services / nonprofit / activist sector who are running Portland into the ground?
I had a moment of hope five years ago when it was reported that Jordan Schnitzer and other grandees took the leftist Mike Schmidt, then Multnomah County's DA, to the woodshed at the Arlington Club [1], but it did not change the balance of power in City Hall or the County.
[1] Kavanaugh, Shane Dixon. "Portland power brokers pressured DA Mike Schmidt during private club lunch." The Oregonian. 22 July 2021. https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2021/07/portland-power-brokers-pressured-da-mike-schmidt-during-private-club-lunch.html
Data would like a word with “nobody comes to downtown hotels anymore.”
We’re getting comfortably close to the booking numbers from 2019. And all during a year where convention bookings for Portland are being artificially suppressed by a temporary drop-off in 2022 due to civil unrest. 2027-2029 bookings are basically back to full capacity.
https://downtownportland.org/research-reports/downtown-recovery-tracker/
With that said, I agree with your city council and county chair recommendations.
At an average daily room rate sustainable for the owner?
We need foot traffic at night and weekdays during the day. What are the stats there. I have lived downtown 20 years. There is some “lying with statistics” going on here. I see the City 24/7 and those statistics don’t tell the whole truth.
When I think of weekday downtown "foot traffic," I automatically think of the tortured ranters who wander the sidewalks and drift across the streets scaring the bejeezus out of the normies within hearing distance.
At an average daily room rate that is sustainable for an owner? Why are most hotels being run by lender’s Recievers?
I don’t believe the formula for reviving the downtown area is as complicated as many people seem to be making it. My wife and I bought a condo in 937 Condos in the Pearl District in 2009 when the streets were safe day and night. Heck, I walked through Old Town almost daily and never had any concern for my personal safety. The area was vibrant and bustling with young and old, heading to work, shopping at local retailers, dining at numerous cafes and restaurants. The Streetcar was always full taking residents all over the city, without drugged out folks slumped over or screaming while on meth. Then things changed in 2015, when more and more young punks with backpacks and scary dogs started camping out in the North Park Blocks, in front of the Ecotrust building and Pearl Safeway, followed by older folks sitting on sidewalks and doing drugs openly. Car break-ins became rampant. Year by year, it got worse, but the City did NOTHING AT ALL to arrest this decline. Meanwhile, retail shops and eating establishments began closing, property values declined, and people began leaving for greener pastures. We left in 2023, incurring a gigantic loss on our condo investment, and we don’t return much at all except to visit PAM or the Japanese Garden. My take, after living in Clackamas County for the past three years and seeing how clean and safe streets are fundamental to the vibrancy in our new home region, is that Portland must first and foremost focus on ridding its sidewalks and other public areas of all tents and graffiti, ensuring that repeat criminals are incarcerated rather than released to repeat their crimes, arresting open drug use as was evident at the recent Art in the Pearl event, enlarging the number of uniformed police by at least 50% and putting them on the street on foot rather than riding around in patrol cars, and taking lessons from cities such as Beaverton, Lake Oswego, Hillsboro in what is required to attract people in the first place. Just because Portland is a densely populated area is no excuse; there are many U.S. cities of even greater population with safe downtowns that are vibrant and filled with residents, where public safety is not a major issue. I don’t honestly think a scholar in urban planning is needed to address the fact that Portland’s downtown is simply not minding the basics.
Lots of all or none statements and opinions in the essay, some of which are true and some of which are not. I live in the central city, and do encounter plenty of visitors staying at the hotels, and this is increasing. But well worth reading.
https://downtownportland.org/research-reports/downtown-recovery-tracker/