On the upswing? Downtown Portland grows and invests, sparking optimism
PORTLAND, Ore. — Is Portland turning the corner?
That's the question many people have asked and debated over the past few years, from kitchen tables to the office to the campaign trail as the city prepares to transition to a new form of government.
Some of the biggest investors in the city say there is no doubt: Stumptown is on the upswing.
"We're going to drink some strawberry mojitos," says Christine Walter.
Walter is tired but beaming as she pours a glass of cider at her taproom in Southeast Portland. Just hours before we stopped by, Bauman's Cider Company was awarded two more medals.
"It's the first time in the history of the competitions that a cider scored a perfect 50 on the judging," Walter adds.
The fact that Bauman's is here is a big win for the city of Portland.
Six months ago, the craft cidery moved its headquarters and production from Walter's family's farm in Marion County to the old Ecliptic Brewing space in the Buckman neighborhood. A decision, Walter says, some of the other Baumans down on the farm weren't too thrilled about.
"Well, I mean, I think they assumed I'd be murdered when I got here," she says.
That was January. Walter explains things were a little rough outside.
"When we got here, there were, every day, people sleeping on the back patio, and you know, a lot of garbage and everything like that," she says.
But Walter states the city and the Eastside Industrial Council circled the wagons and fixed the issues.
The sidewalks are now clear, and her cidery and the taproom and restaurant, Bauman's on Oak, are now thriving.
Scott Roth is also settling into a new Portland space.
"It was so great for the company to come in and have meetings together," Roth says.
Roth is the CEO of LegitScript, a software company that moved its headquarters from Slabtown to downtown in April. Roth says they considered places like Beaverton and Lake Oswego, but ultimately Portland's downtown core was the right vibe.
"People really wanted an engaging energetic place both in the office, but also in the surroundings," Roth tells KATU. "We really felt like we kind of checked all the boxes being here at Big Pink, and it's just been fantastic so far."
LegitScript is now leasing the entire 27th floor of the US Bancorp Tower. Roth says half of the company's 250 global workers are based here and he's proud of that.
"I believe that, you know, in order for Portland to regain its position as a premier west coast city, we need people coming to downtown for work. We need people coming to downtown for, you know, pleasure and hospitality. We need people traveling in,
That was something that was compelling to me. I really wanted to be part of that solution as well," Roth explains
That's exactly what Shea Flaherty-Betin loves to hear.
"We see important employers, important businesses recommitting to downtown, really for the first time since the pandemic, in new ways," says Flaherty-Betin.
Flaherty-Betin is the Economic Development Director for Prosper Portland, the economic and urban development agency for the city. He says Portland is turning the corner and the proof is in the pudding.
"We put together a core business retention team, an initiative with our business advancement team at Prosper Portland and Mayor Wheeler and Commissioner Rubio. Since then, we've done outreach visits, we've connected with employers, we've taken elected officials to the businesses, and we've done that with over 230 businesses in the city," Flaherty-Betin states.
Another feather in Portland's cap; Daimler Truck North America announced last month it's expanding its electric truck manufacturing operations on Swan Island.
The company is building a new 40-million-dollar engineering facility and a 3-million-dollar training center.
"That puts us on the map for electric vehicles and puts us on the map for sustainability. So, all of these things for us show that Portland is turning the corner. We're coming back in a really big way," says Flaherty-Betin.
But even the city's biggest cheerleaders admit Portland still has a long way to go. There are commercial vacancies all across the city. And livability issues; crime, homelessness, and high taxes. And there's the perception problem.
Portland's reputation needs major work, and the people trying to fix it say we're our own worst enemy right now.
"If folks in the suburbs, if folks in our surrounding areas don't come down and see the change for themselves, we're going to continue to hear those terrible narratives about our city - which we know are just not true," Flaherty-Betin tells us.
Andrew Fitzpatrick is Mayor Ted Wheeler's Economic Development Director. He says many different measures are looking very positive in terms of Portland's trajectory.
"The improvements on the street cannot be denied," says Fitzpatrick. "We are making those and we're seeing great progress there, but we're also trying to improve the reputation on that side as well. So, it's not an either-or just trying to market the city better. It's also trying to fix the real problems on the street by improving police response and cleaning up graffiti, and getting people connected to services so that they can stay off the street and get the help that they need."
Fitzpatrick tells KATU the city is now working to offer new economic incentives to small businesses who've had a challenging few years, especially downtown.
But foot traffic is up at places like the Midtown Beer Garden, which replaced Portland's oldest food cart pod that was plagued with problems.
Expensify, a financial company headquartered across the street, partnered with ChefStable, a Portland restaurant group, to open and run it. The manager says it's exceeded expectations, with crowds of people coming back, refusing to give up on the Rose City.
"This feels like Portland energy."
Back at Bauman's Cider, Christine Walter says she still can't wrap her head around how great things are going.
"Initially I thought, 'Oh we'll find a temporary place as a solution while we grow the new facility at the farm,' but now we love it here and I can't imagine ever not being here," she says.
Walter adds she's even winning over some of the cynics back home on the farm.
"They're certainly still some of them who are like, 'I'm not going to the city,' says Walter.