Comments on: Downtown Needs a Booster Shot

By: Cosmic Charlie

Cosmic Charlie — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 18:28:44 +0000

I think of “Downtown” as Fareless Square on the west side of the river, bordered by the 405 freeway, PSU, sowhat district. Lloyd Center is its own entity.

If you live east of Gresham, anything west of 82nd is downtown. Yeehaw!

By: dieselboi

dieselboi — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 18:05:53 +0000

I agree that downtown is pretty quiet, but it has been like that for awhile. When you tear up whole streets, it makes it difficult for people to venture down…but I digress.

What is the definition of downtown? Some argue it is the area surrounding Pioneer Courthouse Square – all the tall buildings. Others would extend that south to PSU and North to the Fremont bridge and include NW (23rd and 21st etc.) Some even extend the definition of downtown Portland across the river to include the Lloyd business district. If you go that far, then downtown is pretty thriving IMHO.

Yeah, the quirky dive bars and places of yore like Hamburger Mary’s and The Metro and the original Virginia Cafe are gone, other locales for a different population have thrived – Henry’s; Silverado; Kell’s; Low Brow lounge; Saucebox. I just think the demographic has changed, not necessarily what is being offered.

For me, after 5pm, unless it is happy hour, I choose to stay in my neighborhood because they offer what I need within walking distance. If I were 20 again? Hmmm. Maybe I would be a regular at Barracuda or The Dixie…..maybe.

By: morganpdx

morganpdx — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 03:39:08 +0000

I remember Peterson’s being a mainstay of my late night social meanderings as a youth. If it weren’t for Peterson’s being open all hours, in fact…well I probably would have smoked a lot less. :/ But I’m all for supporting local businesses.

By: Aaron

Aaron — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 01:46:23 +0000

I attempted to stimulate the downtown economy last week. I needed to pick up several picture frames. In the ‘burbs I would’ve headed to Michael’s, but the nearest one was in Clackamas. On my lunch hour I went downtown and walked to three different stores (two chains plus one local).

I walked around for about 30 minutes. One store didn’t have what I needed. One didn’t have enough of what I needed (I needed six identical frames) and seemed overpriced. The third store was WAY overpriced. I was harassed by several people to sign up for whatever political agenda they were pushing and got to dodge a bunch of panhandlers.

After work, I drove straight to Michael’s, where I could park (for free), walk in the store, walk out with six frames for the price of what two would’ve cost me downtown, and be on my way in about 10 minutes.

I’d love to buy things downtown, if it wasn’t so hard and expensive.

By: radiogretchen

radiogretchen — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 01:27:31 +0000

I live and work downtown. I’m in total agreement that it needs a booster shot. It’s a complex issue. During the work week, aside from the food carts – there are no great lunching spots. The sidewalks are crowded with pan-handlers and chuggers (charity muggers.) The shopping choices are just Meh – nothing you can’t find at the mall, where you can park for free and won’t get accosted by people asking you for change. There aren’t a lot of family friendly things to do downtown either. If you are not into the bar scene – is there any reason to go downtown?

I hope someone in a Portland leadership position has a plan for downtown that does not involve more condos or streetcars…

By: Advice Guy

Advice Guy — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 01:23:56 +0000

I think the weather is the main culprit here. At least, I know it is for me and my family. Once the warmer weather makes a return, I see many more wanderings downtown. We even take the kids. The people watching is really fun and getting a doughnut each at VooDoo and adding snacking to our wanderings really makes for a fun night.

I agree that the recession has really hit the area hard, but I think Portland will recover quickly from this. We have a vibrant community that works hard to ensure everyone is supported.

By: jn

jn — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 01:10:48 +0000

The other night, @TheSquare floated a question about a proposed rule that would extend the pay-to-park hours to 9 PM and raise the per-hour fee to $1.50. Apparently, the goal is to raise funds to fix the roads.

While I agree that funds need to be raised in some way, it seems to me that something like this would only hurt the downtown economy even more, as people would be increasingly less likely to go out to eat, see a show, etc.

I try to do my part and go out, despite the troubling economic times – here’s hoping that downtown survives!