City, Region and State Collaborate to Prepare Methodically for Growth
Published Feb 13, 2009
Downtown Portland plays to its strengths, including proximity to the Willamette River.
To say that planning is one of Portland’s hallmarks is to state the obvious - and then some.
Leaders of the city’s various economic development organizations are big on strategic planning, and they come together to work on areas of importance to the city and region – all the way up to the mother of all plans, the Oregon Business Plan.
“Planning is a strength of our community,” says Scott Andrews, president of Melvin Mark Properties, chairman of the Portland Business Alliance’s Regional Business Plan Steering Committee and a Portland Development Commission commissioner. “For the business community, this goes back to the mid-1970s downtown that was failing – and failing badly. A planning process began that defined development in terms of retail at the sidewalk level and the bigger pieces, like mass transit.”
That led to an influx of retail development as well as bus, light-rail and streetcar transportation options, with the end result being a downtown that is a true hub.
“The mass transit system goes out and back in every direction, so if your business or home is downtown, it’s very convenient,” Andrews says. “On a broader basis, the urban growth boundary is moving outward; we’ve ended up with a more logical development of the region, which allows for better planning from the transportation and infrastructure standpoints.”
That well-thought-out growth has positioned Portland to ride the current economic downturn fairly well.
“Our economy is amazingly strong, given what’s going on nationally, because we’ve become the kind of place where people want to live,” Andrews says. “The benefits of all that work are finally coming to fruition. A business can be located about anywhere now because of the communication infrastructure, and more and more are choosing to be here because it’s a community that cares about sustainability, has a strong mass-transit system and good infrastructure. And that’s because of the planning resources we have.”
A Competitive Advantage
Planning also is serious business at the state level, where the Oregon Business Council oversees the evolution and updating of the Oregon Business Plan, which was begun in 2002 and acts as a framework for development.
The state is fortunate to have so many organizations pulling together for frequent strategy sessions, says Jeremy Rogers, the council’s project director.
“Having so many planners gives us a strong competitive advantage,” he says.
The state organization has become quite adept at drilling down to the local level, creating the Oregon Cluster Network to help identify and grow targeted industries in specific locations.
“Whether we’re talking about land-use planning, transportation or regional government, everybody comes at it from the same place. We work with the governor’s office, our U.S. senators, all the various business associations in the state and on down,” Rogers says. “A lot of good comes out of all this talking and planning.”
Story by Joe Morris
Photo by Jeff Adkins
Current Weather Conditions In Portland, OR (97201)
Clear, and 56 ° F. For more details?
Click here...
