This Monday I found myself in a swirl of the city’s most passionate leaders as the 21st annual Oregon Business Plan Leadership Summit got underway at Portland’s Moda Center.
Perhaps only in Oregon would a business summit include such a strong infusion of the arts. We opened with a New Orleans-style marching jazz band, the BundyBand. It was a rousing way to start the day. We also heard poetry composed and read by our poet Laureate, Anis Mojgani, and we viewed a thought-provoking dance from BodyVox. These events reminded me of the importance of arts, culture, creativity, and innovation to the renaissance of our city.
One of the highlights of the day was the Portland Central City Task Force releasing their top 10 priority recommendations to improve the experience of residents, businesses and visitors of Oregon’s largest city.
The list, which if you haven’t reviewed it can be found on the task force’s website, is strongly focused on the safety of our streets and residents calling for immediate action on the fentanyl crisis, more resources for unsheltered individuals and those facing mental health challenges, more safety patrols, more trash and graffiti abatement, the removal of plywood and fencing on downtown buildings and a moratorium on new taxes while the city studies its taxing structure.
It’s a pragmatic list of actionable items and I’m optimistic that the recommendations will be taken to heart leading to measurable, positive change on the streets of downtown.
But I also want to share that the top-line recommendations are only one part of the story.
I was thrilled to be tapped by the Governor in August to join the task force for the simple reason that Portland State needs a thriving downtown Portland as much as downtown Portland needs a thriving Portland State. PSU and Portland are synergistically related, our fates are intertwined, we rise or fall together — whatever metaphor you choose, the message is the same.
Throughout the task force process there were conversations with leaders about the best ways to tap into the city’s strengths in innovation, collaboration, art and culture. We were challenged to think boldly about Portland’s future and to consider unlikely partnerships that can move us forward.
My assigned subcommittee was looking at Portland’s Value Proposition. We nicknamed ourselves the “Optimism Committee” and for good reason: Our charge was to examine and look to shore up all of the things that make downtown Portland great — from the many places folks gather to cheer on sports or take in a cultural event to the concentration of entrepreneurial and innovative energy to the opportunities to live, work and travel easily throughout the central city.
Our subcommittee’s report is full of recommendations and ideas to support a vibrant downtown. Among them are items that PSU can play an important role including:
- Rethinking educational spaces throughout the city — including PSU’s own campus — to make them more engaging and connected to the community;
- Upgrade downtown buildings to make them more flexible and energy efficient;
- Expanding access to childcare by removing barriers and providing incentives to establish facilities in the central city;
- Supporting the development of affordable housing for students in the downtown core — an effort that will build on a feasibility study that PSU is already conducting on this topic.
None of these ideas are a particularly quick fix to our city’s challenges, but they all represent a bias toward action.
In the spirit of that focus, the task force website also includes a list of actions that any individual or any business can take to help support downtown Portland.
In the new year, I’ll continue to challenge us as an institution to keep thinking big about how we can play a part in revitalizing both our city and our campus. After all, as the creative minds at Wieden + Kennedy have coined for us: Portland is What We Make It.
Check out this video covering the outcomes of the task force!