November 2005 Archives

Grand Central Bowl stands empty. Where bowlers once rolled on 28 lanes, dust now settles on the pins. This spot was active for most of the 20th century, originally as a public market in the 1930s and '40s, and then as the bowling alley you and I know from the '50s on.

But Grand Central has a future. Concept Entertainment Group, the folks that brought you the Gypsy, the Lotus, and Barracuda, have bought the building. Why should you be excited that the owners of these meat-market-frat-boy nightspots are the new owners of Grand Central? Because they plan to make it awesome.

They're going to restore the exterior of the Grand Central Public Market, revealing the original large arched windows visible in historic photographs, long covered by metal siding. They're going to create about a dozen retail spaces around the exterior. And they're going to tear out about half the lanes, and put in a restaurant and two bars, creating a spot for more than just bowling.

I think a development like this can be an anchor for a revitalization of the whole neighborhood. Outward-facing retail spots are a huge improvement over the solid, monolithic quality the building has now. And let's not tear up over the loss of a few lanes — 28 was pretty excessive to begin with.

Read more and see the development brochure at Urban Works Real Estate. Grand Central Market is planned to open in early 2007.

The aerial tram is a very important (and awesome) part of the future of Portland. As the city begins to expand into the South Waterfront District, the aerial tram will link this area to OHSU. OHSU has already started construction on one of the four planned buildings they will have in the district, and the aerial tram will connect these new facilities to OHSU's Marquam Hill location, or 'pill hill' as it is called.

The plan is to use some of the new waterfront location to support the burgeoning biotechnology research market. Since 1997 OHSU discoveries have created 51 spinoff companies, and this site will allow for the creation of biotech incubators, which will help grow new companies that will be using OHSU licensed discoveries and bring in more revenue to OHSU, which is getting less money from the state all the time.

The design, by Angelil/Graham/Pfenninger/Scholl, will make the aerial tram a Portland landmark. They explain, The Portland Aerial Tramway will connect the Oregon Health & Science University Hospital, located at the top of a canyon hillside, with a proposed medical research redevelopment neighborhood on the bank of the Willamette River, just south of downtown Portland.

The project proposes a kit of strategies that will be deployed over time, an open system adaptable to change and development. The tram and a pedestrian bridge will serve to link disparate communities. The project, accordingly, will address issues from technical design issues to urbanism.
Three types of connections are to be created between the top and the bottom of the hill: an air connection, a land connection, and a green connection. The upper station is of the air, a steel frame with photovoltaic screen. The tram car is a curvilinear form intended to disappear against the sky.

A lot of people are concerned with the cost, as the estimates seem to be about $45 million right now on the high end. With the construction already started on both the terminals and an intermediate tower, we are committed to paying whatever it's going to cost. The Oregonian explains, "A funding formula approved by the City Council in April relied on property assessments on land at both ends of the project, tax increment urban renewal money from the South Waterfront, energy tax credits and a $4 million contribution from OHSU. The formula did not include any city general fund money."

Sam Adams has a very nice general history of the project on his blog which also points out the taxpayers costs have thus far DECREASED even though the cost of the project has increased. Oregon Health Sciences University has picked up the bulk of the tram cost increases to date.

I've been thinking about this organization for a while: the Tobacco-Free Coalition of Oregon, as I really want Portland to be smoke free. I have an admittedly petty and selfish reason I am pro-smoke-free. I just don't want to have my clothes reek like stale cigarettes every time I go out for a beer. For example, I love the Horse Brass, but I can't ever go there in the evening because the air is a thick fog of nasty.

TOFCO lists some better reasons.
Every Day In Oregon:

• 18 Oregonians DIE from tobacco use
• 20 Oregon kids start smoking
• 35,000 Oregonians are still exposed to secondhand smoke at work
• Big Tobacco spends nearly $400,000 on advertising its deadly products

So I am excited about TOFCO, and TOFCO is excited about Washington citizens voting to ban smoking in all public places, including restaurants and bars. Washington is the 10th state to go smoke free (we could be #11!), which makes our northern and southern neighbors able to breath easier (and have less stinky clothes).

In the TOFCO press release they say, In 2001, Oregon banned smoking in most public places, but loopholes in the law leave over 35,000 restaurant and bar workers unprotected from secondhand smoke. “The law is inadequate and too many people are breathing harmful air,” said Sue Fratt, Executive Director of the American Lung Association of Oregon. “Oregon Legislators should provide the same health standards as those afforded to our neighboring states,” commented Fratt.

TOFCO and their allies will seek endorsement from businesses, labor unions, community leaders, candidates and other health groups to remove exemptions in the current law through the 2007 legislative session. “If we cannot reach an agreement with lawmakers, we are prepared to take the issue directly to the voters,” said Tauman.

I'm going to give TOFCO some money to help make Portland's Future Awesome.

More on the idea of the Portland's creative class: Fast Company magazine reports that Portland is one of 15 "up-and-coming hubs for creative workers--places that draw people who are talented, tech savvy, and tolerant." Fast Company does a nice job of explaining the methodology of their list of 15 as well.

Portland, Oregon

Poster Child: Jeffrey Butters sold his Xterra SUV a little over a year ago. "It was senseless driving into downtown Portland," he says of his commute to work that now takes 12 minutes on his bike. A native of Oregon, he and several members of his family founded the Butters Gallery--an international contemporary-art gallery that has showcased everything from gold-leafed cow dung to sophisticated modern sculpture and paintings--in 1988. "Maybe five or six years ago people would've been surprised to find a modern gallery like ours in Portland, but not today." Butters, 42, is an artist as well as a gallery owner and has his own downtown studio for painting. His passion for the city matches his passion for art. "I think we've developed a sense of city pride that revolves around being creative," he says. "The city is a wonderful, vibrant place to be."

Creative-Class Cred

Cornerstones: The Pearl District, an 80-year-old warehouse area, has seen more than 50 residential and commercial projects in just over a decade, transforming it into a hip place to live. It's a mix of 19th-century industrial buildings and modern condos and art galleries. Home to the largest wooded city park (Forest Park) in the country, the Portland area is lush with outdoor opportunities.

Caveats: As real-estate prices continue to rise, residents have been fleeing to the suburbs. Big-box stores such as Pier One have been cropping up on the fringes, drawing shoppers from inside the city and stalling development of the downtown shopping district.

Chris Coleman, Artistic Director of Portland Center Stage, delivered a speech at Northwest Business for Culture & the Arts' annual Arts Breakfast of Champions and it's been published on Sam Adams' blog:

Creativity: The Fuel in our Engine

Some excerpts:

"... the local companies competing most effectively in the global marketplace are those innovating at the leading edge of their industry."

"Think about it for a second: you are recruiting a ‘genius’ computer whiz at the top of her field. She can choose to work anywhere in the world. Money is an incentive, but she is going to weigh many factors, one of the most important being how interesting, how stimulating the place is to live in."

"The Creative Worker wants a creative city because it is more interesting to live in; and he needs a creative city because the stimulation it affords is required in order to perform at his peak."

"... many of the advantages a community needs to thrive economically are already here, alive and kicking. And our job as leaders is to look in the right direction, seek out the connective tissue, remove the obstacles, connect talent to capital – and most critically – to reframe the story of who Portland is becoming."

Everyone loves IKEA. No, everyone does! Some people don't know that they love it, but they do. Fairly priced modern furniture... what's not to love? Sure, occasionally you'll end up with the same set of bookshelves as a friend, but isn't that a small price to pay to have a living space that isn't milk crates and a futon?

The Portland IKEA rumors had been swirling for so long it was getting a little awkward. We all knew they were coming, and they knew they were coming, but no one knew anything official. And then, finally, the news broke: IKEA is Coming to Portland.

(Rendering from PDC)

The news first broke on October 20th on the Hispanic PR Wire (nice scoop!) where pending permits, construction of the future IKEA Portland can begin next spring, with an anticipated opening in Spring 2007.

Almost as exciting about the news itself, including the idea that IKEA will be featuring four model homes, a 250-seat restaurant, and 75 bicycle racks, is that the location they settled on is the desolate MAX stop, Cascade Station, out by the airport. The MAX was extended out to the airport in 2001, and finally, six years later, they'll have a reason to open the doors at that stop!

It's interesting that Portlanders are so excited and welcoming to such a giant "big box retailer" considering all the anger recently over a proposed Wal-Mart. Mayor Tom Potter was quoted as saying that IKEA "shares Portland’s values," as reflected in its liberal benefits for employees, environmental practices and encouragement of public transit use. AP) It will also be interesting to see how many Washingtonian's head south to purchase at the tax-free IKEA to avoid the 6.5% sales tax.

I was looking at the praise we got for being "America's Cleanest City" as chosen by Reader's Digest, and on the page specifically about Portland's number one status they list a few of the problems Portland faces. One of the issues they mention is that our sewer system is ancient and poorly designed and it combines storm runoff with sewage in the same piping system.

Commissioner Sam Adams recently highlighted the old sewer system in his blog. He has some great history and images and mentions that "Much of Portland’s sewer infrastructure is close to 100 years old."

Back to Reader's Digest, and to Portland's Future Awesome, they explain, "To resolve the sewage problem, Portland has invested over a billion dollars in the "Big Pipe Project," which will lay massive pipes alongside the Willamette to carry waste to a treatment plant."

There is a great image on Portlandonline.com's Big Pipe site and a dizzying amount of photos available. And OMSI has an exhibit right now about the Big Pipe in the Earth Science Hall.

The actual details of this project seem beyond comprehension. For example, under Projects/Swan Island there is a page for the Peninsular Force Mains, which "will run from the Swan Island Pump Station to the Peninsular Tunnel." They do mention some pretty awesome things about microtunneling, boring and jacking, and plain old open trench methods. And of course, plenty of pictures.

Due to be completed in 2006, the West Side Big Pipe Project will bring wastewater to the new Swan Island Pump Station, and then be pumped to the Columbia Boulevard Wastewater Treatment Plant. I am having a hard time finding any numbers related to the project, for example, how much wastewater was getting dumped in the willamette and how much damage was it causing, and how much will the Big Pipe help? They do mention that "The West Side Big Pipe Project is part of the Bureau of Environmental Services’ 20 year program to reduce combined sewer overflows (CSOs) into the Willamette River and Columbia Slough." But I can't seem to find by how much they will reduce overflows, which for a billion dollar project I would think they have calculated already.

I definitely applaud the taking of so many pictures and I can appreciate that it is difficult to present the whole scope of this project to people like myself who have no background in engineering, sewage, construction, city planning, and all that. However, I am pretty disappointed in the city's presentation of the Big Pipe Project. It feels like a big happy PR campaign website with no mentions of the problems, issues, and even full timetable of the entire project. In fact, listed in Community Relations/Presentations it gives the briefest of overviews and then says:

The West Side Big Pipe presentations are held at the construction site office, 2730 NW Front Avenue. The presentations provide an overview of the project, project schedule and other interesting information about the largest City infrastructure project in the history of Portland. We will also show many pictures of the previous and ongoing construction.

There are no presentations scheduled at this time.
Pre-registration is required.

Over on the Portland City's Club Citizen Blog I found a much more complete and realistic view on the project. And it seems my feelings of not getting the whole story are not unique:

"... several questions posed by City Club members during the tour received less than complete answers by project staff."

"... project staff were dismissive of the question."

"... questions regarding the explosive growth in the project’s price tag and the ability of the reconstruction to handle the increase in Portland’s population over the next several decades all met with somewhat patronizing responses..."

"... the City appears to have done little if anything to address the concerns of project critics during the past half-dozen years..."

I think perhaps the people in charge of the Big Pipe need to stop with all the picture taking and OMSI exhibits and just give the facts about the project. The Portlandonline.com overview of the project is a mess of nested folders and too many images with not enough simple explanation and very little updates. I hate to sound like a broken record, but a simple blog staffed by a twenty-something with a little engineering background and a digital camera would solve this information problem much cheaper than the mess we're presented with. Hey, City Hall, drop me an email. :)

Robert Lang, an urban planning professor at Virgina Tech's The Brookings Institute, predicts in the Nov. 2005 issue of Business 2.0 that Portland and Seattle will merge into a "megaregion" or "megapolitan" called Cascadia by 2030.

The Business 2.0 article, The Next Real Estate Boom is about these mega-places and how a savvy real-estate speculator can make some money predicting where sprawl will go.

(note: I'm not sure a megapolitan sprawl from Eugene to Seattle by 2030 is really that awesome.)

There is also a blurb about "edge cities" that will mint millionaires faster than others, and in the "Cascadia" region, they target Beaverton: It is home to Nike’s headquarters, and Intel employs 12,000 people in the county. A light-rail train that went online in the late 1990s is driving development, which has been growing at a rate of $100 million per year.