PDX Planning Commissioner

The dates for the Phase II workshops are set!

This phase is all about setting direction:

In this phase, we will consider where we want to go. What are our targets, and how might we get there? What are the things we could do to move in the right direction?

Don’t miss the workshop near you:

Southeast April 26, 6:30–9 pm Central Catholic High School, Cafeteria 2401 SE Stark Street Portland, OR 97214 Northeast April 29, 6:30–9 pm Beaumont Middle School Cafeteria 4043 NE Fremont Street Portland, OR 97212 North May 1, 10 am–12:30 pm University Park Community Center Multi-purpose Gym 9009 N Foss Avenue Portland, OR 97203 *childcare provided in Cesar Chavez room Central City May 10, 6:30–9 pm University of Oregon, White Stag Block Rooms 142 & 144 70 NW Couch Street Portland, OR 97209 East May 15, 10 am–12:30 pm David Douglas High School, Cafeteria (North) 1001 SE 135th Ave Portland, OR 97233 *childcare provided in room #122 West May 18, 6:30–9 pm Jackson Middle School Cafeteria 10625 SW 35th Avenue Portland, OR 97219

For those of you who are pining for the last set of Portland Plan workshops and can’t wait for round 2 (more on that later) we’ve got a fix for you.

There’s a technical team for each of the 9 subject areas in the Portland Plan, and they’re holding workshop meetings that you can sit in on, and informally discuss the topics with the team.

Here’s the full set:

To prepare for Phase II, we have established nine Technical Action Groups (TAGs), one for each of the Portland Plan action areas. The TAGs include staff from City bureaus and our 19 partner agencies. They have synthesized the thousands of comments from the public meetings and surveys, the data from the VisionPDX process and information from the Portland Plan Background reports (http://www.portlandonline.com/portlandplan/index.cfm?c=51427). The result of this work will be the basis for the information shared during the Phase II workshops in April and May.

The TAGs are convening additional work sessions during March to review information that will help shape the development of the Phase II workshops. Each of you has special expertise in different arenas. We would appreciate your involvement in these workshops to help us set direction for the next steps for the Portland Plan.

Please join us at one or more of the meetings listed below. Be prepared to roll up your sleeves!

Sustainability and the Natural Environment

Wednesday, March 10, 2010, 6:00-8:00 p.m.

1900 SW 4^thAvenue, Portland, Oregon 97201 – Room 2500A (2^nd Floor)

Human Health, Food and Public Safety

Tuesday, March 16, 2010 6:00-8:00 p.m.

1900 SW 4^th Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97201 – Room 2500 (2^nd Floor)

Neighborhoods and Housing

Thursday, March 18, 2010, 6:00-8:00 p.m.

1900 SW 4^thAvenue, Portland, Oregon 97201 – Room 2500B (2^nd Floor)

Education and Skill Development

Wednesday, March 24, 2010, 6:00-8:00 p.m.

1900 SW 4^th Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97201 – Room 2500 (2^nd Floor)

Transportation, Technology and Access

Thursday, March 25, 2010, 6:00-8:00 p.m.

1120 SW 5th Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97204 – Room C (2^nd Floor)

Arts, Culture and Innovation

Monday, March 29, 2010, 6:00-8:00 p.m. Tuesday, March 23, 2010 6:00-8:oo p.m.

1900 SW 4^thAvenue, Portland, Oregon 97201 – Room 7A (7^th Floor)

Prosperity and Business Success

Tuesday, March 30, 2010, 7:30-9:30 a.m.

1900 SW 4^thAvenue, Portland, Oregon 97201 – Room 7A (7^th Floor)

Design, Planning and Public Spaces

Wednesday, March 31, 2010, 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Jean Vollum Natural Capital Center “Ecotrust” – Billy Frank, Jr. Conference Center

721 NW 9^th Avenue, Portland, Oregon  97209

Equity, Quality of Life and Civic Engagement

Thursday, April 1, 2010, 6:00-8:00 p.m.

1120 SW 5th Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97204 – Room C (2^nd Floor)

For more information, please visit: http://www.portlandonline.com/portlandplan/index.cfm?a=289660&c=50730.

As we process the Portland Plan background reports, one of the most fascinating in my opinion is the Economic Opportunities Analysis – Alternative Choices (PDF).

It sets up a series of choices about where we plan for jobs in the next 25 years.

As background, Portland has about 40% of the jobs in the region (excellent when compared to other cities that are centers of their regions). But during the period from 2000-2006, we only captured about 11% of new  jobs. Over the period the Portland Plan covers (through 2035), we want to do better and expect (hope?) that somewhere between 18% and 36% of new jobs will locate in the City.

The report looks at different types of spaces and locations where we might accommodate these jobs, and what kind of public investments and policies this would take. Some of the locations types are:

• Central City Office Space – there was relatively little new demand for this in the last decade, but we have lots of zoned capacity – what will the demand be in the next 25 years?
• Do we need an Office cluster outside the Central City? An office center at Gateway or the Airport might provide lower cost office space to compete with places like Kruse Way and help improve jobs/housing balance by providing employment locations in the eastern part of the City.
• Incubator space – inexpensive space where new companies can get started. Today the Central Eastside and Lower Albina play this role, but the projection is for more demand than these areas can handle. Should we upzone these areas or look for other areas for this function? Could this be an additional role that Gateway could fill?
• Town Centers, neighborhood commercial districts and commercial corridors – what kind of jobs could/should go here and how do we plan for them?
• Campus development – we have a few sites (Conway, Post Office site) that could work for new campus developments. What kinds of employers need it and how do they fit into the bigger picture?
• Industrial space – how much do we need and where does it need to go. Can some of it be built ‘up’ in multistory development, or does it all need to be single-story?

Of course, all of this only makes sense where and when the private sector creates these jobs. How do we create City plans that are flexible and responsive to what will surely be changing trends in the private sector over the new few decades?

Come tell us what you think! We have two more hearings on the background reports:

• Tuesday, February 9th, 1:15pm
• Tuesday, March 9th, 1:15pm

The meeting on March 9th will focus on land supply, so would be particularly apt for this topic, but you’re welcome to testify on any topic at either of the hearings.

Earlier in the week I enthused about all the great info in the Portland Plan background reports.

The project team has just put up summary document that takes the executive summary from each background report and combines them in one easy-to-download PDF file for those of you who used the Cliff Notes in college. All that policy squeezed into 75 pages…

A tonight’s Portland Plan workshop I sat in on a table discussion that turned to food supply.

One participant bemoaned that he went to a local outlet of a national grocery chain and found hazelnuts grown in Turkey and packaged in Thailand – when we know that 70% of the world’s hazelnuts are grown in Oregon!

The reason is that national chains often make national sourcing arrangements – usually to the lowest cost supplier. The result is that your food may travel hundreds if not thousands of miles to get to you.

The counter-example cited by another participant at the table was Burgerville – a regional chain that makes a point of buying local ingredients.

Draw you own conclusions…