There are many reports going around about what downtowns are doing after the pandemic.
Studies are showing that cities around the country are dealing with white-collar workers’ reluctance to return to the office. Many continue to work from home, and some employers are happy to let them. Some employers are part-time with it and some are having a tough time. Portland seems to be having issues if you look are some of the studies done recently.
Technology has made it where remote work is possible. An academic study of downtowns nationwide this year found Portland was the third-slowest for activity compared to pre-pandemic levels. That study excluded the Pearl District and Portland State University from its geographic boundaries, so it may be a bit off. Another study found people are visiting downtown Portland a lot more than they were 14 months into the pandemic.
A Portland Business Alliance study last summer found downtown pedestrian counts remained far below 2019 levels, but up 64% from 2021. One poll from a media organization states that downtown Portland feels even less safe now than months into the pandemic.
A separate, city-funded DHM poll of Portland residents last spring found homelessness was the major issue keeping people away from downtown. Other issues were trash and graffiti, vandalism and violent crime. 52% of Portlanders said they’d feel safe or somewhat safe downtown during the day, and 21% said they would at night.
Despite the persistent fear about safety, though, people living in and around Portland say they are visiting downtown much more frequently. Sixty-two percent said they’d been downtown at least once in the last month. And a fifth of those respondents said they’d been downtown a half-dozen times or more in the prior month.
Portland is still recovering. However, it has major jobs coming it’s way in the I-5 Rose Quarter Improvement Project where one of the prime contractors is a Black-owned construction company known for it’s outreach to a diverse population of workers and business owners within the city.
