Guess what, We're all wrong, Portland, Oregon really sucks

The commercial district in Portland's Hawthorne neighborhood is anchored by the Baghdad Theater, which is complemented by local stalwarts such as two branches of Powell's Books and the Pastaworks fresh-made pasta operation, and a variety of other stores, along with some national chains. Portland probably has more functioning neighborhood movie theaters than any other U.S. city outside of NYC. Photo by Miles Hochstein, Portland Ground.

At least according to the conservative urban planner Richard Carson, in his piece "Another Tale of Two Cities," that lamentably appears on the Urbanicity website associated with the UN Habitat program. He claims that Portland, Oregon is on the verge of bankruptcy and that people are moving in droves to Vancouver, Washington, just across the border between Oregon and Washington States (the Columbia River).

I can hardly claim to be an expert but I've been to both places. Something interesting is that Oregon doesn't have sales tax, and Washington State doesn't have income tax. So it is true that people in that region do like to live in Washington State, but buy their retail-purchased goods in Oregon.

So Vancouver's "downtown" is pretty limited, a few blocks, a small amount of retail--a decent pizza place I recall. Portland over the last 20 years has added population, somewhat more than 160,000 people, unlike most every other center city in the United States.

On the other hand, Vancouver has grown from a population of 42,000 in 1980 to over 142,000 in population, so it too is experiencing a great deal of success. But as far as a community with a breadth of amenities, the two cities are very different.

Portland has a great transit system, riding is free on all modes (light rail, bus, streetcar) in the core of the city. It has one of the most thriving independent retail business sectors in the United States, especially for a city of its size. It has many thriving neighborhoods, thriving neighborhood commercial districts, and a wide variety of amenities.

The Portland economy does have issues. Historically, the region was based on manufacturing and extractive industries, which are trending downward, there and across the country. And even computing-related manufacturing that arrived in the 1970s and 1980s is declining there as well. Although the economy has tremendous entrepreneurial energy, in part based on extant production-manufacturing expertise.

It does rain a lot. But Portland shares that fact of life with Vancouver.

Conservatives like to rail on the Portland region, because it is the only region in the United States with regionally elected government (as well as local government), and it has strong land use and transportation planning practices, amongst the strongest in the U.S., as well as the famed and controversial "Urban Growth Boundaries."

While I am happy living in Washington, DC, Portland would be a great place to live. For me, while I like Hyattsville a lot for what it is, Vancouver felt more like Hyattsville vis-a-vis Portland, rather than a co-equivalent city with a (relatively) thriving Downtown and 500,000+ residents.

The Portland Bridges website describes Vancouver thusly: "As a place to live, Vancouver might be divided into three areas: downtown/uptown, some fairly new, sprawling suburbs on the outskirts of town, and in between."

That's what it comes down to, what kind of city or community do you want to live in? If you want a more suburban experience, I suppose that's fine, but you shouldn't have to tear down the center city to justify your choice.

Check out great photos of Portland, Oregon at Portland Ground.

Index Keywords: urban-revitalization