Brief History of Urban Renewal in

Portland, Oregon

By

C r a i g Wo l l n e r

John Provo

Julie Schablisky
 Urban Renewal spaces, and the renovation or construction of buildings to meet the
economic, housing, and social needs of the community, and to sustain
In America or increase the base of property values.
The values and objectives associated with the policy of urban
renewal provided funding for hundreds of projects nationwide includ-
ing 17 major redevelopment areas in the city of Portland since 1958.
Context & Perspective The basic strategies associated with
these val-
“From the day slum entered the language of social reform, its mere ues and
mention was enough to revolt the good citizen, win the support of objectives
the crusading press, and dedicate official action to its extinction.” in the
United
–Charles Abrams,
The City is the Frontier, (1965), p. 19 States gen-
erally have
ranklin Roosevelt, in his second inaugural address in produced, a

F 1937, described the economic condition of families after

the Great Depression. He saw “one-third of a nation ill-
housed, ill-fed, ill-clothed,” and challenged the United
States to do better. However, it was not until after World
variety of
outcomes
ranging
from great
War II that meaningful action was possible. The Housing Act of 1949 triumphs to
WATERFRONT AREA OF SOUTHWEST
was Congress’s first post-war attempt to make good on FDR’s prom- markedly unsuccessful PRIOR TO S OUTH AUDITORIUM U RBAN
ise. The act reemphasized the national commitment to adequate undertakings. RENEWAL AREA DESIGNATION.
housing that Roosevelt had enunciated in his 1937 address. It states
As federal urban renewal funds were
that the general welfare and security of the nation and the health and
replaced by block grant programs, urban
living standards of its people require housing production and related
renewal became less a tool of national strategy and more a response to
community development sufficient to remedy the serious housing
local needs and priorities. Portland has taken FDR’s vision and given
shortage, the elimination of substandard and other inadequate housing
it a uniquely local flavor.
through the clearance of slums and blighted areas, and the realization
as soon as feasible of the goal of a decent home and suitable living
environment for every American family. The Portland Context
s in the rest of the nation, the record of urban renewal in Portland
The Housing Act offered federal funds to municipalities for urban
redevelopment. At the time, the lack of investment in real property A is best judged by its contemporary social and economic context.
Following World War II, the Pacific Northwest generally grew only
had devastated large cities all over the United States, leaving proper-
ties that were unfit for occupancy and abandoned. slowly in contrast to the rest of the West, particularly the southwest-
ern states. Between 1950 and 1980, Washington and Oregon’s popula-
As projects were completed, and as analyses of the social and tion grew at a rate of about 20 percent per decade, far below the rates
economic factors leading to slum conditions became more sophisticat- of Arizona (an average of 54 percent growth in the same period),
ed, urban renewal activities to address blight have changed. However, California (57 percent), and Nevada (71 percent). After 1980, because
the fundamental principles of urban renewal have remained the same of sluggish economies, the two states grew only slowly, with
as the goals Roosevelt articulated: to address economic disinvestment Washington at 13 percent and Oregon at a meager four. Indeed,
in communities by providing targeted funds for infrastructure, public Oregon’s urban center, Portland (like Seattle), lost population in the

1
 1970s, although its metropolitan area kept growing, even as the state Portland’s citizens during these years were not unlike other
of Oregon itself lost 43,000 inhabitants between 1980 and 1984. The American city dwellers. Favored, as they and other Americans saw it,
significance of this slow and relatively homogeneous population by the development of the automobile and the booming economy of
growth is that as urban renewal came into focus and was implemented the early post-war era which conferred on them higher incomes than
as the cornerstone of redevel- their parents had achieved, as well as the GI Bill, FHA loans, and
opment in Portland, it was in other devices of income and status growth, they desired more living
a community that did not space, and more pastoral and pleasant surroundings, than the core area
experience the high level of of the city offered. With the aid of the Eisenhower administration,
social conflict that occurred these aspirations were put within reach of many in the middle class.
elsewhere at the same time in Under the guise of national security, the administration began a mas-
terms of the racial politics and sive highway building program that enabled more efficient commut-
social tensions of the era. ing to take place and clearly put the automobile in play as the pre-
Portland in the 1950s was a ferred mode of transportation for most Americans. One symptom of
quiet town of 373,628 inhabi- this in Portland was the quick decline of the privately owned bus line,
tants. It had grown only slowly the Rose City Traction Company which, as the fifties progressed,
since World War II, primarily limped into insolvency as Portlanders took to the streets in their cars
because of a consistent policy in ever-increasing numbers.
of resistance by its city leaders The exodus to the outer areas of the city in the 1950s– they could
to the post-war industrializa- not yet be called suburbs as most of these places, such as Hillsdale in
tion that characterized the the southwestern quadrant, were actually well within the city limits –
development of other large in the Portland region mirrored the movement of the white middle
U.S. cities. The values by class in other metropolitan areas of the United States, and it was to
which business and political have similar consequences for the city of Portland as it would have
leaders lived and acted, and that a foremost historian of the city, E. elsewhere. For one thing, the departure from the core immediately
Kimbark McColl, asserted were shared by the general public at the divided the urban center in the minds of the white middle-class popu-
mid-point of the twentieth century were summarized by him in the lation from their new home places. The core area had become, as a
second volume of his two-part history of the city. He characterized whole, a place to work and do various kinds of business. The city and
these notions in a terse list. county administrations, police headquarters, and the courts were locat-
n Portlanders considered the rights of ed there, as well as the largest banks and other major institutions.
private property to be sacred. However, it was not a place for recreation or shopping. Indeed, for
shopping there were new shopping centers, conveniently situated
n Portlanders were rurally oriented.
near outer neighborhoods. The first was a modest place in Hillsdale
n Portlanders had a deep-seated Anglo-Saxon bias. opened in 1955. It was followed by Eastport Plaza on 82nd Avenue in
n Portlanders viewed their city as a center of problems: the southeast and then the massive Lloyd Center mall. Initially adver-
crime, rising taxes, minorities and welfare recipients. tised as the largest shopping center in the nation, Lloyd Center began
n Portlanders wanted above all else to keep their construction in the fifties and was opened in 1960. These were acces-
neighborhoods familiar and unchanging. sible by automobile and, in fact, could accommodate hundreds of cars
n
in their spacious parking lots. Slowly, the inner core of the city
Portlanders wanted to improve their lives by moving on.
became less dynamic and then stagnated with shopping trips dropping
off dramatically by the end of the decade of the fifties. It would be an
exaggeration to describe the center of the city as being abandoned as

2
happened in many other urban centers over the same period, but it is outcomes of the city’s urban renewal program were affected by race
accurate to say that it became far less attractive to many, indeed, politics, with the general exception of the Emanuel Hospital District
somewhat unattractive with its run-down stores and restaurants, project, and initial participation in Model Cities. This fact would
crime, and elderly and poor residents. Meier & Frank had opened a make Portland one of the few large cities to escape the intense racial
store in the Lloyd Center as had other
traditional merchants so consumers
felt less and less necessity to make
the trip to downtown for their needs.
In the classic storyline of urban
decline, the stable middle class was
abandoning the core for the fringes.
Urban renewal in Portland must
also be considered within the city’s
racial context. African-Americans were
the only significant minority in
Portland in 1950, whose numbers in
that year were 11,529 and made up
only about .8 percent of Oregon’s
population and
4.2 percent (at 9,529) of the city’s –
with only very limited growth from
1950 to 1980. In 1950 more than 50
percent of the black population lived
in Census Tracts 22 and 23 in the
Albina neighborhood. Their isolation
left the impression with many white
Portland residents that there were no
significant minority problems to speak
of in the city. Sustaining this impres-
sion, city officials in 1968 carefully
edited the word “ghetto” out of early
planning documents in the Model
Cities program. This occurred over a period when most other major turmoil that characterized the urban renewal efforts of many other
metropolitan areas experienced interracial strife based on tensions places. It would also have the effect of gradually turning the city’s
between the much larger populations of blacks living in poverty in program from one with a mildly socio-political mission, as it was in its
central cities and whites, particularly working class whites unable to origins (with a few exceptions, the largest being, again, Emanuel), as
afford suburban living, and middle class whites who had the means to was the case in most other large cities, to one based on the preserva-
decamp for the suburbs. tion of neighborhood integrity and latterly the economic develop-
ment needs of the entire city.
The result of this superficial lack of a racial dimension to
Portland’s social and political life meant that few designs and

3
 PORTLAND’S FIRST URBAN At the time, the City Planning Commission identified areas of resi-
dential blight. For example, during a meeting in February 1945, the
RENEWAL AGENDA: Planning Commission stated, “the Albina area is one of the most
decayed residential areas in the city and

Ira Keller and

The Era of Grand Projects
“Keller was an amateur bureaucrat, but he resembled
redevelopment entrepreneurs such as Edward Logue of
New Haven and Boston, and Robert Moses of New York in his
willingness to use appointive office and personal prestige to
impose his own vision on a changing city.”
–Carl Abbott on Ira Keller, first chairman of the Portland
Development Commission, in Portland: Planning, Politics,
and Growth in a Twentieth-Century City, (1983), p. 171

he history of urban renewal in Portland is distin-

T guished by three phases of development. The

first period ran roughly from 1958 to the late six-
ties. It was an era of grand projects, projects that
were often undertaken with an urgency suggest-
yet one of the most convenient
areas from the standpoint of getting
to the downtown area.”
IRA KELLER, AND THE
IRA KELLER FOUNTAIN

ing the crises of larger, more racially divided Portland’s post-war boom lasted through 1948, when wartime
cities. The second lasted from the late sixties to industrial jobs began to disappear, and the economy began to slow.
the end of the 80s and focused urban renewal efforts on the preserva- The city paused to reflect on ways to revitalize itself. The Housing
tion of Portland’s neighborhoods and a vital downtown. The third and Act of 1949 provided funds to replace sub-standard housing with new
current phase, which began in the late 80s and early 90s, is character- low-income residences. Under the act, federal funding was also
ized by its entrepreneurial spirit, its insistence on citizen involvement, offered to local public agencies to buy, clear, and re-sell the land for
and its adherence to the values of evolving what might be called additional housing ventures. Only ten percent of the redevelopment
“post-modern” urban planning theory. on the newly acquired property could serve nonresidential purposes.
Urban renewal’s roots in Portland reach back to World War II. The By 1950 city officials had met with Portland’s civic leaders to deter-
war had a tremendous impact on Portland. In 1940 the Commercial mine what projects would be eligible under the Housing Act. After
Iron Company was granted federal contracts for shipbuilding. Other reviewing maps and tables illustrating the central decay of Portland,
local companies received orders for Liberty and Victory ships, cargo the Urban Redevelopment Committee under the Planning
ships, escort carriers, minesweepers, and patrol crafts. The frenzy of Commission chose Vaughn Street in northwest, south Portland (near
wartime industrial activity created thousands of jobs. An influx of the Civic Auditorium), and the Stephens Addition (an inner southeast
workers and their families from the rural Northwest infiltrated the area near Hawthorne Boulevard), as candidates for federal assistance.
city creating an impact on facilities, an increase in retail sales, and a Based on the desire to quickly convert a dilapidated residential
strain on the housing market. neighborhood to meet the need of an industrializing Portland, the

4
Housing Authority approved the Vaughn Street project for further industrial development.” Using urban renewal as their tool, the
study in September 1951. In 1952 the City Council placed a $2 mil- PDC’s mission was to elevate and stabilize property values and in
lion bond for the so-called “Vaughn Street Plan” on the ballot. The turn increase property tax returns. In addition, they were to protect
project referred to a 44-block area in the mixed residential-industrial public and private
area in the city’s northwestern quadrant. The Housing Authority of investments in urban
Portland (HAP) called for removing dilapidated housing to make way renewal areas.
for light industry and warehousing. The measure lost by over 18,000 Carl Abbott remarks
votes as western Portland and inner east side residents feared elevat- in his development his-
ed housing prices and tax increases. In addition, politicians, such as tory of the city that
Multnomah County Commissioner Frank Shull, voiced concern over Portland “fell head over
the upheaval of a neighborhood and the “invitation of the federal heels for urban renewal
octopus into Portland.” Recognizing that the city of Portland would at the end of the
need to sell the idea of urban renewal to the people, they proposed a 1950s.” The reasons for
self-funded pilot demonstration on two blocks during a meeting in the infatuation can be
1955. Furthermore, the proposal recommended that the City Council traced to the city’s eco-
appoint an urban renewal committee. The Council approved the pro- nomic decline. When
posal, but they made no further attempts to implement the project or Terry Schrunk moved
to organize a committee to oversee urban renewal projects. Eventually, into the mayor’s office
a petition of 963 residents of the city’s northwest section, which con- in 1957, he found the
tained an ethnic community of protesting Croatians, the predicted local economy was slug-
absence of money for housing after industrial development, and the gish, construction activ-
voters’ concern over the $2 million worth of bonds that would be ity had fallen off, and
Portland’s share of the cost, killed the Vaughn Street project. unemployment was rising. Moreover,
Notwithstanding the disappointment of the 1952 vote, there was the municipal planning agencies, Using urban renewal
still a sense among city leaders that redevelopment should be under- including the Planning Commission as their tool, the PDC’s mis-
taken in Portland. A discussion to develop a committee to oversee and HAP, were in need of re-energiz- sion was to elevate and stabi-
urban renewal was suggested in 1955. However, Portland was not ing. In 1957, the Oregon Legislature, lize property values and in
ready to transfer demolition power to a single agency. Using a plan- acting on the recommendation of a turn increase property tax
ning grant of $84,000, the Housing Authority nevertheless contracted Mayor’s Advisory Committee, had
returns. In addition, they
with the Planning Commission to create an urban renewal sector in enacted the state’s urban renewal law.
the Planning Bureau a year later. The city charter provisions empower-
were to protect public and
ing PDC named it as the “Department private investments in urban
A popular new mayor, Terry Shrunk, elected in 1956, actively
educated the public on the economic benefits of an urban renewal of Development and Civic Promotion,” renewal areas.
program for Portland. The city also informed residents that if urban designating it as a Department of the
renewal was not employed in Portland, home values were at stake. city and as the city’s urban renewal and
redevelopment agency. PDC’s dual task
On May 16, 1958, the voters approved the creation of an urban
was urban renewal under the state law, and civic promotion under
renewal agency (by a slim margin) and the Portland Development
the Charter.
Commission (PDC) was born. The new agency claimed, “the men of
Portland business and civic organizations will see their reward in the On July 14, 1958, the first meeting of the PDC was held. PDC’s
future elimination and prevention of blight and the promotion of first chairman was a Chicago transplant named Ira Keller, the chief
executive and founder of Western Kraft Corporation, a wood products
5
 firm. Its first executive director was John Kenward, formerly a mem- Commission. His proudest accomplishment was the South
ber of the city’s planning staff and before that in the planning depart- Auditorium project, which he characterized, with typical enthusiasm,
ment of Santa Barbara, California. Kenward had worked energetically as “the greatest downtown project in the country.”
to promote the view that a development agency was necessary. He Despite Keller’s energetic leadership, the pieces of the city’s urban
saw it as a medium by which public and private interests could be renewal program fell into place only slowly. But it was not because
harnessed together to take advantage of federal funds available for citizens were left to wonder about the urgency of the situation. The
civic improvement. Urban renewal received a significant boost in threat to the city posed by blight was, at least to municipal officials,
1961 when state voters granted the agency the most important tool of clear and they did their best to make property owners aware of it. In a
urban renewal, tax increment financing. 1962 promotional piece from the Bureau of Buildings entitled “Meet
In Keller, PDC had a tireless champi- Creepy Blight,” the effects of blight on the city were graphically out-
on of its mis- lined. In the brochure, Creepy Blight, depicted as an ogreish cartoon
sion. The son character, speaking for himself, claimed:
of an army I destroy houses, neighborhoods, and cities. I’m not really happy
general, Ira unless I’m tearing down a house or two. You’ve probably seen my work
Keller had in Portland–those places that look old before their time? Not too long
traveled ago they were in good condition. How do I do it?
extensively
Simple! I make a little neglect go a long ways! You know–all those
and lived in
little things that are going to be fixed “tomorrow.”
many places
during his Well, I get there before “tomorrow” comes! Don’t they see me com-
life. He had ing? Some do, but most don’t! They don’t call me “Creepy” for noth-
came to ing, you know!
Portland
from
Chicago,
The South Auditorium
where he was Urban Renewal Area
a Vice
he first project that PDC undertook was in a 109.3-acre area on
AERIAL VIEW OF THE SOUTH
AUDITORIUMURBAN RENEWAL AREA
President of the Container Corporation
of America, the largest paper and corru- T the southern fringe of the downtown that became known as the
South Auditorium Renewal Project, because the well known land-
gated box company in the United States.
mark, the Civic Auditorium, was within its boundaries. The South
Keller was the archetype of the civic booster who had the best
Portland Auditorium area had been eyed for clearance and redevelop-
interest of the city in mind during his leadership. Although the city
ment since 1950. John Kenward characterized the district as “blight-
did not involve its citizens in many of their early projects, Keller took
ed” and “economically isolated.” The plan was to turn this old
the initiative to go door-to-door on Sunday afternoons with his wife
“stopover” neighborhood into a place of offices and businesses, a plan
and grandson, Richard Keller. He hoped to sell the city’s plan to the
that was confirmed when the state highway department ratified a
communities and determine their stance on current projects.
plan for a foothills freeway that would run across the southwestern
Politically, Keller was sensitive to social issues and concerned with
and western edge of the downtown area. This freeway encompassed
controversy; he never let anything go to a vote without a consensus.
the urban renewal district within its bounds, making it natural to inte-
Quiet, steely, and recognizable by his bow tie and red Cadillac, Keller
grate South Portland into downtown.
served 13 years as chairman of the Portland Development

6
 Initially, Keller believed public housing should be built on the of an entire subculture remained in South Portland. On S.W. First
periphery of the renewal district not within its boundaries; “…no resi- Avenue there was a kosher shopping district and, dispersed through-
dential housing was contemplated in the initial South Auditorium out the designated area, five synagogues, and the Jewish Community
Redevelopment Plan,” he said. By 1961 a professional analysis by an Center, a meeting and recreation place for the community, especially
outside consultant determined the area would best serve Portland as a important to those in the younger generation who had left the core,
mixed-use of offices, apartments, and retail stores. Between 1965 and but wished to remain in touch with their roots.
1966, the urban renewal area was expanded to include the The project also had displacement effects on the area’s Chinese,
southern end of downtown and a 26-acre extension between Market Greek, Italian, and Irish residents.
and Jefferson streets.
Many of the South Auditorium residents banded together, calling
With its $12 million in federal money, the city moved forward with themselves the Property Owners Committee, and
its plan to reinvent South Portland. The project area was bordered by testified against the pro-
S.W. Market Street, Harbor Drive, Arthur Street and Fourth Avenue. posed plans. They were
The neighborhood was experiencing a notably growing crime rate, also concerned that emi-
substandard housing, and crowding. Compared with Portland as a nent domain was uncon-
whole, South Portland had three times the juvenile delinquency rate, stitutional and they wor-
two and a half times the adult crime rate, and four times the number ried that PDC was not
of welfare cases. The obvious answer to PDC was to acquire, clear, paying a fair price for
and re-build the entire area. At least 349 parcels were secured, 1,573 land. However, ulti-
residents, including 336 families and 289 businesses were relocated, mately, city leaders
and 445 buildings were demolished. The plan was to erect offices, determined the area was
commercial and retail services, high-rise apartments, a hotel, parks, seriously blighted, and
malls, and transportation routes. Keller foresaw South Auditorium urban renewal was the
serving commercial and light business uses. only known cure.
The relocation of the South Auditorium neighborhood has been By 1963, all of the
likened to the upheaval of Vanport city in 1948. The neighborhood land had been cleared
supported a variety of businesses such as drug stores, grocery stores, for new development. PUBLIC ART SCULPTURE
barber shops, taverns, fish and meat markets, and ethnic delicatessens The relocation staff aided families who requested BY M ANUEL I SQUERDO
as well as churches and synagogues. Father James P. O’Flynn, an Irish help in finding standard housing that included
immigrant, served at St. Lawrence Church at the time urban renewal referrals of sale or rental property based on their
swept through the neighborhood. In 1910 the church served an afflu- specifications. The eight-person relocation staff offered “additional
ent congregation; however, by the 1930s Portland had changed and St. assistance” to relocated citizens, but in many cases they were refused.
Lawrence became one of the poorer churches in the area.
One of the most noteworthy and successful projects born out of the
The South Portland Auditorium project area contained an ethnical- South Auditorium Plan was the Forecourt Fountain (now the Ira
ly heterogeneous lower class neighborhood. Most of the residents Keller Fountain). Hailed as one of the finest, the fountain was
were older Jewish and Italian immigrants who had come to America designed by Angela Danadjieva of Lawrence Halprin’s San Francisco
between 1890 and 1920. landscape architecture firm and is located in front of the auditorium.
The project perhaps had the greatest effect on some of the city’s Later renamed for Ira Keller, the fountain was a radical departure in
eastern Jewish community. The second and third generations of the the arts, a playful experiment in the plasticity of concrete and water
immigrants, who had established the community, had begun to make that drew workers from the newly built nearby office towers at lunch
their own migration—to the suburbs this time—but the infrastructure and concert goers at intermissions of performances in the evening, in

7
 order to create a sense of com- area suffering from stagnating property values and blight and desig-
munity and excitement in the nates that area as an urban renewal plan area. The renewal agency
downtown district. It was, in fact, sells bonds to finance various projects. Projects are planned to address
famously pronounced by Ada first the most pressing reasons for disinvestment in the area. Private
Louise Huxtable, the New York investment leveraged by urban renewal improvements increases tax
Times architecture critic, “the revenues to pay debt service on the urban renewal bonds. Private
most important urban space since developers are attracted to the area. After the bonds are paid off, the
the Renaissance.” city is able to enjoy the fruits of a vibrant area and a stronger tax base.
Despite the removal of a The mechanism approved by the voters in 1961 had originally been
unique urban ethnic enclave and
historic cast iron buildings, the
South Auditorium project was
hailed as a success. Keller
summed up the local consensus:
“the project is particularly impor-
tant because it has begun to stem
NEW APARTMENTS ABOVE AND IN THE the flow of middle and upper income
AERIAL PHOTO, RIGHT.
families from the downtown area to the
suburbs”.
Whatever its chief sponsor’s view, the project was actually an ambi-
tious first attempt to change the fate of the core city. Its slate of proj-
ects of multi-family housing, offices, business and jobs development,
retail establishments, as well as parks and plazas, were fresh, exciting
additions to the city. Its most notable ornament, the Forecourt
Fountain, became a source of civic pride for years. Ninety-seven per-
cent of the funding for the redevelopment in the district came from
private sources. The result added $394 million of assessed property
value to the tax rolls by 1974.
One aspect of the South Auditorium project has rippled through
the history of PDC’s urban renewal program. Financing of the project
was done on a formula of two-thirds federal funding and one-third
local match. The local match was generated by the tax increment
financing method (TIF), authorized by voters in 1961. New construc-
used in Sacramento, California for its urban renewal program. Oregon
tion and renovated buildings increase property values in urban renew-
was only the second jurisdiction in the country to employ it to fund
al districts. Higher property values generate some additional property
urban renewal and South Auditorium was the first instance in the
tax revenues. Under TIF, those additional revenues are used to pay
state.
off bonds for improvements to streets, sewers and other public facili-
ties in the urban renewal district. Once urban renewal improvements This financing scheme is important because in the early phases of
are paid for, all tax revenues go back to normal property tax collection Portland’s urban renewal program, such as South Auditorium, it was a
and distribution. TIF is used when a municipality identifies a renewal significant source of money, providing the local match at virtually no

8
cost to the jurisdiction. In later projects that were primarily oriented The Albina Neighborhood
to rehabilitation of existing structures and neighborhoods, such as in
Albina and Model Cities, it was irrelevant because such projects did Improvement Program
not generate much new development. TIF was thus basically a tool of
eanwhile, TIF worked well for the South Auditorium project
the large-scale redevelopment plans.
In the1980s, however, when federal M because it was essentially a land clearance operation. But PDC
wanted to undertake a real neighborhood rehabilitation exercise in
“PDC does not monies began gradually to disappear,
which an existing neighborhood would be transformed to prosperity.
plan, program or it became the key financing compo-
nent of PDC’s redevelopment Fortunately, it was presented with an opportunity by the availability
execute prior to of new federal monies for
programs.
expression of the
wishes of the In the 1990s, pas-
sage of Measure 5,
neighborhood.”
which limited prop-
Ted Parker, erty tax rates, had a
director of the ANIP significant impact
on PDC and other
Oregon urban renewal agencies. Measure 5 dramati-
cally reduced revenues to schools and most local
governments. If a local government’s tax levy would
result in taxes that exceeded the limit, then the local
government could not collect all of its levy. The
amount of the uncollected levy was said to be “com-
pressed.” The city of Portland and Multnomah
County experienced significant compression shortly
after the passage of Measure 5. They voluntarily cur-
tailed tax increment collections, foregoing urban
rehabilitation of existing UNION AVENUE NOW MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. BLVD.
renewal funding in order to finance other municipal budget items.
housing. Keller and
As property values in Portland naturally increased, the city gradual- Kenward chose the Albina
ly experienced less Measure 5 compression and reinstituted some neighborhood for this effort, with the development of the Albina
urban renewal funding. In 1997, the adoption of Measure 50 constitut- Neighborhood Improvement Plan (ANIP) in 1961. A traditional blue
ed a tax revolution in Oregon. The Measure converted the state’s tax collar section of the city, Albina after World War II became the area in
system from a levy-based system to a rate-based system and added which the largest concentration of African-Americans lived, although
new limits on the rate of assessed value growth. The impact on urban the fact that they composed only fifty percent of the district’s popula-
renewal funding was two-fold: first, the Measure included constitu- tion was thought to be propitious. Albina was neither as extensively
tional protections for continued urban renewal funding with special nor as uniformly blighted as similar enclaves in larger cities through-
levy authority, and second, it caused urban renewal funding to be paid out the nation, although the area was characterized by mixed uses of
from divisions of future taxes that other jurisdictions might otherwise the land and, in pockets, its housing stock was seriously dilapidated.
receive, not from a general levy for urban renewal. For the first time,
The neighborhood consisted of pre-World War I housing, small
in general, the presence of an urban renewal plan did not increase
African-American churches, and a handful of small businesses. The
taxes paid by a property owner.
neighborhood had been deteriorating since the 1940s and was in dire

9
 need of improved streets, sidewalks, street lighting, and structural adjoining streets extending as far west as Interstate 5 and east toward
rehabilitation. The project area included 33 blocks bounded by N.E. Union Avenue.” Even with the aesthetic problems of Albina,
Fremont, Vancouver, Mississippi, and Skidmore. Portland businesses continued to expand northward into the district.
Historically, Albina had been in part an upscale suburb that The arrival of furniture and automobile shops in the late seventies and
responded poorly to the freedom of the automobile during the 1940s 80s threatened the African-American identity of the neighborhood.
and 1950s. The “white flight” to the suburbs had left many large Carl Abbott has written that the Albina effort was “devised by the
older homes to the poor and minority community members who did agency and sold to the community.” However, PDC staff felt that it
not have the wherewithal to keep them up to former standards. By stepped back and let the neighborhood make the decisions. Ted Parker,
1957 at least 50 percent of Portland’s African-American community director of the Albina ANIP, stated “The PDC does not plan, program
lived in the Albina Neighborhood. Within five years two-thirds of the or execute prior to expression of the wishes of the neighborhood.”
area housed an African-American population and the elderly. At its conclusion, the Albina project encompassed a 48-block area
The Albina Neighborhood Improvement Project was Portland’s in which approximately $2 million was spent to rehabilitate and
first attempt at rehabilitating rather than clearing a neighborhood. improve existing homes. The project eventually renovated 585 homes
Active Albina residents met with PDC representatives on a regular and also included repairs to streets, curbs, and sidewalks. Additionally,
basis to determine the neighborhoods blighted areas and how to solve it paved alleys and paid for lighting to be installed in them.
those problems. Oliver Norville, a lawyer who worked extensively on
bonding for Portland’s urban renewal projects over a period of about
forty years, remembered, “they were the first real active neighborhood
Portland State
group and committee.” Urban Renewal
A year later the Albina Neighborhood Improvement Committee
nother signifi-
(ANIC) was established and chaired by Reverend Cortland Cambric.
The newly-formed program organized citizens in efforts to improve
A cant project took
a number of years to
Albina through home renovation, new sidewalks, improved streets,
develop. In 1958,
and tree planting. Funded by grants and loans, over 90 percent of the
Portland State
homes were “rehabilitated” by 1972. Although 117 structurally unsound
College (PSC), react-
homes were demolished, 56 affordable units, leased by the HAP, were
ing to special urban
built in the neighborhood. Forty-two buildings, that included 83 single-
renewal monies set
and multi-family housing units constructed in the urban renewal area,
aside for universities,
were made possible by HUD and FHA programs. In order to foster a
contacted PDC to
sense of community, a five-acre park filled with playground equipment
seek urban renewal
and a baseball diamond was built and dedicated to Dr. DeNorval
funding for the acqui-
Unthank, a revered civic leader of the African-American community
sition of additional
and member of the Emanuel Hospital medical staff.
land for the campus.
Despite the efforts of the Model Cities program of the seventies Six years later, a fea-
and diligent neighborhood participation, Albina was still considered a sibility study was
problem area in the mid-1970s. Although much improved, many PORTLAND STATE
completed and the project was UNIVERSITY CAMPUS
streetscapes were still considered eyesores. While PDC claimed over approved for funding by the Portland
90 percent of the homes were rehabilitated, most of the work was Planning Commission and City Council.
internal. The Oregon Journal reported in 1976, “The glaring decay is The application was then forwarded on to HUD and also approved.
most prevalent along N. Williams and N. Vancouver avenues and in Without protest, the City Council approved the demolition of all
10
buildings, except university structures, in the project area. The PDC
planned to relocate 117 families, 835 single people, and 52 businesses.
Lair
The urban renewal activities included site improvements and re- Hill
designing and landscaping the south park blocks. Several non-univer-
or a variety of reasons, a
sity buildings – Ione Plaza and Park Plaza apartments, the Campus
Christian Center, and the Division of Continuing Education head- F pivotal project in the
early history of urban renew-
quarters – were never acquired due to expense.
al in Portland was the Lair
The only concern voiced by the residents was over the demolition
Hill Plan. Encompassed in
of apartment buildings. Some were concerned that the elderly and
twenty city blocks south of
students would be competing for housing in the area. In response to
downtown largely between
this finding, a group of Portland State College students suggested
Barbur Boulevard and
keeping some vacant apartments for student housing. The student
Corbett Street. Lair Hill
group, then called Portland Student Services, Inc. (now College
was, during the 1950s, a
Housing Northwest), was given the responsibility of managing 440
neighborhood composed of
student housing units on campus.
100 historic homes from the
As part of the campus plan, the re-creation of the South Park late 19th and early 20th cen-
Blocks cost $700,000 and involved a face lift of six blocks located turies and approximately 36
between S.W. Park and Ninth avenues and S.W. Mill and College commercial businesses. The
streets. The park was rehabilitated to create a more usable and viable city of Portland believed the
area for the student campus and residents. The park blocks were Lair Hill neighborhood
improved by adding over 50 percent more grass, an additional 107 should be cleared and re-
trees, lighting, new diagonal walkways and benches. built with low density apart-
The Portland State Urban Renewal Project turned out to be an ments or possibly large
early object lesson for Portland in the ambiguous impact urban renew- apartments for the elderly or
al projects could have on the nature and character of the city. As Portland State University
Gordon B. Dodds, the school’s historian put it, “a mixed blessing.” In students. In 1968 the clear-
his book, The College That Would Not Die, he stated dismay among ance project for Lair Hill
many about the loss of the “traditional” campus “...There was a range was scheduled, albeit as a
of lodgings... The local fraternities had their own quarters... The thirsty low priority owing to its
gathered at the Montgomery Gardens and the Chocolate Moose... The anticipated high costs. The
all-time favorite coffee shop was Bianca’s, whose warm and colorful plan would have included
owner endured several moves as the campus expanded.” the leveling of all of the buildings including the displacement of 20
businesses, 45 families, and 95 individuals.
Yet, without urban renewal, Dodds muses, it seems impossible a
university could have emerged. There was no land for a campus any- However residents and other community activists, including a
where else in the metropolitan community to be acquired at a price young lawyer named Neil Goldschmidt, spoke out against the project
the state board [of higher education] could pay. The original land on and it did not go forward. In fact, in 1977, the City Council designated
the Park Blocks could never contain the buildings necessary for a the Lair Hill neighborhood one of the first historic conservation
growing college, let alone the university that would arise in the future. districts in Portland. They found that the architecture and the
Only expansion within the area surrounding Park Blocks, and only community were historically significant to the people of Oregon.
expansion with the aid of the federal government, was possible.
Portland State would either grow or wither downtown.
11
 Emanuel Hospital residents welcomed relocation to newer and better homes. The
Federal Relocation Act of 1970 provided programs that provided for
Urban Renewal purchase at fair home market value, moving costs, up to $15,000 if a
comparable home could not be found, and up to $4,000 to help renters
he Emanuel Hospital urban renewal project, begun in 1970,
T included 55 acres bounded by the junction of the Fremont
Bridge and Interstate 5, North Russell Street and Williams and
with their rent or towards a new home. Initially, for instance, Mr. and
Mrs. T.C. Williams were upset that they had nothing to say about their
relocation. After they moved to a home twice the value of their old
Vancouver avenues. In 1963 PDC met with the home the Williams were very happy. Indeed, PDC claimed, “On the
Planning Commission, average, the families in the Emanuel Project are moving into homes
Emanuel Hospital, and twice the value of their previous home.”
other interested parties to
In April 1973, after 200 people and 20 businesses were relocated,
discuss the possible urban
Emanuel Hospital stopped work on the project because Hill-Burton
renewal of Emanuel with
funds were relinquished following federal budget cuts. Former resi-
newly available federal
dents expressed anger and frustration over their community being for-
monies under the Hill-
ever altered for a plan that never reached fruition.
Burton program. The pro-
gram was named for the The Emanuel community’s disappointment in the process and
Senate sponsors of the the ultimate result of the project is easily understood and may well
Hospital Survey and have been reflected in the social and economic conditions of minor-
Construction Act of 1946, ity residents on the city’s eastside. Their disappointment also may
which, among other things, reflect a confusing period in which urban renewal was implemented
mandated funds to build with public involvement in ANIP at the same time as substantive
access to community hos- conflict between the Emanuel project managers and the public was
pitals for low-income areas. occurring. The experience with this project would affect Portland’s
The plan was to remedy application of urban renewal for much of the next decade during the
the substandard housing life of the federal Model Cities program.
and poor environment in Congress had passed the Demonstration Cities and Metropolitan
the area by expanding the Development Act of 1966, known as Model Cities, to allow inner city
DAWSON PARK hospital and constructing residents to manage and participate in programs to improve their own
related facilities, parking, employee housing, lives. Under the umbrella of this act, the Model Cities Program prom-
offices and housing for the elderly. ised “supplemental funds and preferred treatment for existing federal
During the Emanuel planning process, deep concern arose about programs such as urban renewal, in exchange for creation of a local
the degree of citizen involvement. As a result Albina citizens, along mechanism for an integrated attack on the various social, economic,
with a member of the American Friends Service Committee, created and physical problems of troubled neighborhoods.” However, the pub-
the Emanuel Displaced Persons Association (EDPA) in 1970. Multiple lic was to have the last and decisive word as public participation
meetings with PDC followed in subsequent years to discuss the dis- became the standard of federal participation through Model Cities in
satisfaction of many of the displaced citizens. urban renewal.
Yet, amid highly vocalized concerns about poor treatment and
getting fair market value for homes and moving costs, many area

12
 ERA OF ACTIVISM: PDC now emphasized funding of neighborhood conservation proj-
ects. By 1978, the agency was funding 24 such enterprises and by
then, PDC had rehabilitated more homes than any other American
city. This focus was greatly assisted by the increased availability of
From Model Cities to Measure Five federal funds. The Housing and Community Development Act
(HCD) of 1974 had made it possible, in conjunction with urban
“I really want this understood. We want people to talk at these meet- renewal, to assist twelve neighborhoods through the HCD Block
ings. The name of the game is public participation.” Grant Program. In fact, from 1975 to 1978, Portland received $25 mil-
E. J. Basket, of the Model Cities Citizen’s Planning Board, lion. The money was used, as PDC put it, “for maximum impact on
quoted in Dennis West, “A Case Study of the Planning neighborhood livability...“ This meant street paving, traffic control
Process in the Portland, Oregon Model Cities Program,” (1969), p. 68 improvement, street lighting, tree planting, and improvements to
“We just believed that if we worked hard enough and had enough community centers.”
money we were going to do great things.” From 1973 to 1979, when Neil
Goldschmidt was Mayor, the city initi-
Elaine Cogan, Former Chair Portland Development Commission, quoted in D. T.
Hemminger “The History of the Portland Development Commission,” (1990), p. 28
ated or completed numerous planning
and development projects that did
reat social forces were at work in the 1960s and 70s, much to define Portland’s character

G changing the relationship between citizens and their

government. Beyond the Civil Rights Movement and the
Vietnam War, the War on Poverty was turning the federal
government’s response to the physical manifestations of
around vibrant neighborhoods and a
thriving downtown, a period that saw
the creation of the Office of
Neighborhood Associations and the
urban blight away from expert-driven urban renewal of the type implementation of the landmark
of Ira Keller. Instead, a new approach, one addressing a broader range Downtown Plan of 1972, as well as
of associated social and economic problems that were defined in large the establishment of the Downtown
part by those living in the affected communities, was the order of Waterfront Urban Renewal Area in
the day. 1974. Intertwined with this vision for
Specifically, changes in categorical federal urban renewal programs the city, was a new view of urban renewal. It emphasized rehabilita-
were encouraging a move from large-scale clearance projects to neigh- tion work in neighborhoods and work in downtown districts on ameni-
borhood rehabilitation. Low-interest loans and grants for low-income ties and parks, including numerous high profile projects in the
individuals had already come into play in the Albina Neighborhood Downtown Waterfront District. Other projects were geared toward
Improvement Plan (ANIP). Model Cities and the Neighborhood economic development, such as the industrial park in the N.W Front
Development Program (NDP) offered these tools for housing rehabili- Avenue Urban Renewal Area that became home to Wacker Siltronic.
tation to a much larger part of Portland. Further, Model Cities and Much of the neighborhood work relied on some form of urban
NDP went beyond ANIP in elevating public participation to the renewal funding, shaped by federal requirements that were changing
forefront of the urban renewal agenda. Along with the social changes with the times, and institutionalizing public participation and leading
of the time, the program’s clear focus on citizen involvement in the the turn away from the earlier paradigm of expert-driven planning.
planning process meant that public participation would now be a key
From the standpoint of urban renewal, an important precedent was
component for evaluation of federally-funded urban renewal pro-
set by this era of activism. Early projects such as South Auditorium
grams. In light of these changes nationally, the earlier era of the
and the Albina Neighborhood Improvement Plan, while benefiting
largely unopposed clearance project had come to a conclusive end.
the city, had also been shaped and molded by specific changes in fed-

13
 eral legislation, first favoring clearance, then rehabilitation or provid- legislation called for citizen boards to be elected from the project
ing special funds for institutions like colleges. What the neighborhood areas. These boards were typically provided with a consultative role
and downtown projects of the 1970s established was that post-federal and veto over projects. As a supplement, the money involved was tied
urban renewal in Portland could serve as a powerful not to population characteristics but to existing federal funding
tool to advance a local agenda, sources already at play in a locality. This meant that the resulting local
rather than simply to shape local implementation of the program focused on planning and process
agendas around funding opportuni- reform rather than creating dramatic institutional changes in the man-
ties. While the PDC would still agement of urban renewal.
receive some federal funds through In Portland, given the focus of the federal legislation, the imple-
Community Development Block mentation of Model Cities meant that the physical manifestations of
Grants, these monies came through urban renewal and redevelopment would largely continue as a func-
the city with few federal strings tion of the PDC. Focusing on the planning process may be key to
attached. The funding source that understanding the changes that occurred during this period of urban
would drive urban renewal was TIF, renewal in Portland.
which had provided the local match
Looking back on the 1970s, former Portland Development
in the South Auditorium project.
Commission (PDC) Executive Director Pat LaCrosse described
Portland as a “process town” and said that “it became one during
Model Cities those days.” The new federal program ensured that this would be tak-
ing place through a significantly different process that would lead the
and the Neighborhood PDC and the city into new partnerships with the public.
Development Program Model Cities and its legislative companion, the Neighborhood
oldschmidt’s political style was Development Program, required a quality and quantity of public par-
G one of insurgency. Ironically,
the era began fraught with a match-
ticipation that was well outside the realm of experience of any arm of
Portland’s government. While the PDC had gained some experience
ing effort by the federal government with a neighborhood focus through the earlier Albina Neighborhood
to aid in wresting a measure of Improvement Plan, current practice on public participation would no
power from urban establishment longer be sufficient.
GOVERNOR TOM MCCALL leadership and handing a greater Model Cities targeted a four-and-one-half square mile area of
WATERFRONT PARK role to urban minority communities. That set a new Portland’s eastside neighborhoods whose approximately 40,000 resi-
tone in urban renewal and attacks on urban blight dents were almost 50 percent African-American. The program got off
through the Johnson Administration’s Model Cities to a rocky start with protests over City Council’s selection of a white
Program. Model Cities provided funding to certain cities to supple- executive director to head the program. Community sensitivities were
ment and coordinate existing federal funds, primarily urban renewal further aroused by the ongoing controversy over the nearby Emanuel
money received through the Department of Housing and Urban Hospital project. For many in the neighborhood this tainted any
Development (HUD). This would go to a locally directed effort on a program associated with urban renewal or the PDC, which would
comprehensive range of issues affecting urban poverty, adding educa- serve as fiscal agent for Model Cities and staff for the program’s rede-
tion and social services to traditional urban renewal concerns with velopment and housing activities. Model Cities’ elected Citizens
physical problems of housing and redevelopment. Planning Board, while not given any control over funds, was given a
This represented a dramatic shift in emphasis, requiring “wide- veto power over projects. No plans from the target area, which after
spread public participation” in every stage of the local programs. The some discussion included ANIP and the Emanuel Hospital Project,

14
were to be sent to City Council without prior approval of the board . The bulk of project spending, which included almost $14 million in
Working with the Citizen Board, professional staff on loan or con- federal money, occurred from 1970-1975. This was disbursed with the
tract from the PDC, Planning Commission, and other entities includ- approval of the Citizen Planning Board and through the neighborhood
ing Portland State’s Urban Center, drew up a first year planning planning processes initiated by the program. However, departing from
document that created much debate among city and PDC officials. past urban renewal practice, Model Cities funding was not limited to
Saddled with an ongoing disagreement and discussion, the program capital improvements. Expenditures included youth development
saw three executive directors in its first three years, with the result programs, expanded pre-school and education aides for schools, as
that it was put on notice from well as technical assistance for neighborhood business in contract
HUD that it was not progressing management and capital access. NDP funding
With the creation of satisfactorily. Charles Jordan, included typical urban renewal expenditures
the Office of later Portland’s first African- for neighborhood infrastructure and new or
Neighborhood American member of City expanded public facilities. Further, as was the
Associations in 1974, Council, was the program’s third case in ANIP, funds went to citizens directly
and final director. Hired from in the form of home rehabilitation loans and
the city would come at repair grants. Throughout this range of activi-
one point to support Palm Springs, California, he
recalls surprise when he arrived ties different neighborhoods expressed differ-
and facilitate the in town to interview with the ent priorities.
activities of sixty Citizen Planning Board for the The Woodlawn Improvement Association,
neighborhood job of director. Television cam- organized in 1969, represented one of the first
associations across eras and vocal protests greeted neighborhoods to undertake NDP planning.
Portland. him, questioning plans to hire an Residents identified as major problems inade-
outsider to head the program. quate recreation areas and vacant land and
That chaotic scene ended with abandoned houses. In response, their highest
protesters “kicking in the door and Board priority project was the creation of the nine-
members diving out the windows.” Such excitement notwithstanding, acre Woodlawn Park located in the center of
Jordan reveled in the vigorous participation from the neighborhoods the neighborhood next to Woodlawn School. ALBERTA NEIGHBORHOOD
involved in the program. “Different meetings were held sometimes Significant money also went to housing rehabilita-
seven days a week,” where black and white residents worked closely tion and to support the creation of new multi-family housing aimed at
together to deal with “...planning for...millions of dollars for people retaining a mix of ages and income levels in the neighborhood.
who had never had anything like this.” Many of these neighborhood Additional projects included street improvements, tree planting, and
residents went to work for the program where they learned new skills, the construction of a new traffic signal at N.E. 15th and Dekum.
an investment that the city was able to recoup when they were transi- Irvington was the other neighborhood to initially engage in NDP
tioned into city employment at the end of Model Cities. planning. Irvington’s Community Association was organized in 1965,
As mentioned, there were actually two programs under the umbrel- well in advance of Model Cities. Described in PDC literature as
la of the federal authorizing legislation. Model Cities dealt primarily “…one of Portland’s finest and most stable older residential areas…”
with provision of a variety of educational, social, and planning services Containing much of the white and relatively middle class population
for the five-neighborhood target area which included Boise-Humbolt, who it was feared were departing the city, the neighborhood was clear-
Elliot, Irvington, King-Vernon-Sabin, and Woodlawn. The ly on the margins of more blighted areas. With no need for or interest
Neighborhood Development Program (NDP), staffed by the Portland in massive restructuring of the neighborhood, they looked for support
Development Commission, handled physical redevelopment projects for improving and maintaining their existing neighborhood structure.
for each of these neighborhoods. This involved significant use of housing rehabilitation loans, as well as
15
 the addition of supportive infrastructure like bus shelters and drink- Late In 1972, Eliot was the last of these neighborhoods to engage
ing fountains. Former City Commissioner Gretchen Kafoury recalls in NDP planning. The city of Portland had previously slated the
getting one of the loans when she and her husband were young neighborhood as a commercial and institutional area during the early
teachers living in the neighborhood. They also sought increased street to mid 1960s. Eliot had already been impacted through the Emanuel
lighting throughout the neighborhood, as well as a traffic diverter at Hospital urban renewal project, excluded from the Model Cities pro-
N.E. Tillamook and 16th Avenue. Further projects involved upgrading gram, and the Memorial Coliseum project which took place outside of
their park by building a baseball diamond, running paths, the installa- urban renewal. NDP funds went into relocation services to address
tion of lighting, playground equipment, and additional ball facilities. these issues. Rehabilitation and replacement of substandard housing
Part of the original remained a priority. The program’s physical legacy can easily be seen in
Model Cities area, more than 1,000 rehabilitated homes on the city’s eastside. The success-
King, Vernon, and ful precedent of this work solidified a turn by PDC toward repair and
Sabin neighborhoods rehabilitation work in their use of later federal Community
began their involve- Development Block Grants and other private sources by PDC. This
ment with NDP in continues through various residential and commercial programs to this
1972. Housing rehabili- day.
tation through grants An organizational legacy exists as well. The roots of Portland’s
and loans, and the image as a city of neighborhoods can be seen in Model Cities and
replacement of existing what followed. For example, Southeast Uplift began in 1968 as an ad
substandard units were hoc coalition of neighborhood groups protesting their exclusion from
the number one priori- the Model Cities target area. With the creation of the Office of
ty of a coordinating Neighborhood Associations in 1974 during Neil Goldschmidt’s term as
committee representing Mayor, the city would come at one point to support and facilitate the
the three neighborhood activities of sixty neighborhood associations across Portland.
associations. Funding Discussing the challenges this atmosphere presented to policymak-
also went to street ers, Pat Lacrosse observed “you almost can’t be seen in this communi-
improvements that saw ty as both a neighborhood guy and a downtown guy.” After one term
the installation of traf- on City Council Neil Goldschmidt ran for Mayor in 1972 as a candi-
fic signals at N.E. 7th date of the neighborhoods. Although Goldschmidt ran as a “neighbor-
and Prescott, and N.E. 7th and Alberta. In addition to planning for the hood guy” talk of abolishing PDC over its handling of urban renewal,
construction of a community center, the King Neighborhood Facility as was recommended in a City Club Report co-authored by one of
near King School, providing a range of social services and recreational Goldschmidt’s chief aides, came to an end once he was in office. Both
activities, one of the major projects realized through the program was downtown and the tools available through the PDC came to have a
the redesign of Alberta Park and a construction of pedestrian bridge great significance in the work that would come to epitomize his term
over Killingsworth in order to connect the Park and Vernon School. of office.
Boise-Humbolt’s neighborhood associations, which also began work His first visits to the PDC met with a certain amount of trepidation
with NDP in 1972, similarly prioritized housing rehabilitation and the among staff members. Taking the reins of city administration, he
replacement of substandard units. Rehabilitation grants and loans asked for the resignation of most city bureau chiefs as well as the res-
were a major activity. Further support went to street improvements, ignation of all members of the Planning Commission and PDC, two of
pedestrian crossings and tree plantings. Residents were also involved whom did not comply. In the end he replaced a majority of PDC
in improvements to Peninsula Park. Commissioners, including Ira Keller and the Executive Director John

16
Kenward, two men who over decades had a singular hand in manag- the quality of neighborhood life. The cornerstone of this strategy
ing urban renewal in Portland. To head the PDC and recast its most would be advanced through the implementation of the landmark
powerful financing tool, urban renewal, Goldschmidt brought in fel- Downtown Plan of 1972. The vital center city would protect property
low Eugene native J. David Hunt whose background and interests values in adjacent districts, as well as serve and be supported by a
were in downtown development, to replace Kenward as PDC mix of residential neighborhoods. The resultant rising property values
Executive Director. all around would support enhanced public services. This would in
Goldschmidt also cre- turn stimulate a virtual circle of growth, renewal, and redevelopment
ated the Office of for the downtown and neighborhoods alike.
Planning and This vision was sold not only to Portland, but the surrounding
Development (OPD) region, which would participate in public transit
This office would review when the Mt.
and coordinate citywide Hood Freeway was
policies, comprehensive “traded” for light
rail. Another audi-
ence, planning
professionals
across the nation,
would also become
enthralled with
the intersection of
DEMOLITION MAKES WAY
FOR P IONEER P LACE .
Portland’s down-
town, neighbor-
hood, and trans-
portation planning.
planning, and development decisions of the PDC, Housing Authority, John Southgate,
Planning Commission, and Bureau of Buildings. Mike Lindberg, Portland Planning
OPDs second director, described his functions as coordination and Bureau veteran
management. Acting in that capacity, he created an Office of Policy and current man-
and Research, under a young planner named Don Mazziotti, to work ager of PDC’s
on long range planning problems on a variety of issues. (Mazziotti Interstate Urban
returned to Portland after working in Washington, D.C. and other U.S. Renewal District,
cities and became PDC’s Executive Director in 2001.) noted the water-
Controlling project selection for future urban renewal areas, these shed represented
changes significantly enhanced the capacity of the city to shape its by these events,
own urban renewal agenda when categorical federal funds and their “...stopping Mt.
ability to influence local plans for urban renewal came to an end. Hood Freeway
w[as] an expression that there would be no more OLD HARBOR DRIVE 1971
Bringing new coordination across policy spheres was also signifi-
Emanuels or mega-projects…the focus on down-
cant in developing what Carl Abbott describes as a “population
town was embellishing, not destroying...”
strategy,” that reacted to a flight of middle-class families seen in the
1970 Census and the impact this would have on the city budget and

17
 The Downtown Waterfront nesses would not locate downtown because of a lack of customers.
The PDC assembled and cleared land for the four block development
Urban Renewal Area and worked with the Rouse Company to build a retail and office com-
plex. PDC maintained a high level of design control, and control over
rban renewal enters this process in 1974 with the adoption of the
U Downtown Waterfront Urban Renewal District covering approxi-
mately 300 acres of the center city from Union Station to the
the identity and nature of business conducted by tenants of the proj-
ect. The goal was to create a unique attractor that would draw mem-
bers of the public downtown for shopping and recreation during the
Marquam Bridge. Downtown’s deteriorated conditions were described evenings and on weekends, to create a base of customers who would
by Barbara Bennet, a secretary at support service businesses downtown. The project is one of PDC’s
Centennial Mills, Inc. located along Front more notable successes, both for economic activity on the premises
Avenue in 1964, “The pavement is in and for the synergistic effects it achieved in the downtown business
unbearable condition-my poor car-the and retail market.
approaches are almost impassable due to
Other major projects included three new parking garages support-
trains, there is a tremendous amount of traf-
ing retail development and mass transit facilities, such as the expan-
fic at commuting hours, and besides all of
sion of the transit mall and improvements to Union Station.
this, there is no bus service in case we can’t
Additional money went into Historic Restoration Loans and Historic
drive.” Responding to clogged traffic arter-
District improvements and Multi-Family Housing Rehabilitation and
ies, inadequate public transportation, and
Downtown Housing Preservation for low-income and special needs
questionable air quality urban renewal dol-
housing. The district has helped generate a $618 million increase in
lars funded projects and leveraged addition-
assessed value since its formation.
al private and public dollars for a dizzying
array of projects that addressed the coher-
ent themes of turning downtown into an Northwest Front Avenue
area that favored pedestrians and human
scale activities. Urban Renewal Area
Among many projects created in the dis- contrasting example to the deliberate integration between plan-
trict, urban renewal dollars supported new
public open space in the construction of
A ning and downtown urban renewal appears in the economic
development project undertaken in the Northwest Front Avenue
Pioneer Courthouse Square and develop- Urban Renewal Area established in 1978. In 1977, Governor Robert
ment of the former Harbor Drive into the Straub, Mayor Goldschmidt, the Department of Environmental
PIONEER PLACE
Governor Tom McCall Waterfront Park which allowed Quality and other city representatives visited Wacker Siltronic, a
public access and family events along the west side of German semiconductor manufacturer presenting an invitation to
the Willamette River. Support also went to new development in the construct a plant along the Willamette River within the Portland city
South Waterfront, called RiverPlace. The nationally acclaimed project limits.
included a mix of new housing, retail and office uses, a marina, hotel
The project provided $14 million in tax increment financing for
and fitness center and helped reclaim a former industrial area along
road, sewer, and site improvement creating a multi-tenant industrial
the Willamette Riverfront.
park. The move received some criticism, occurring as it did at the
The Pioneer Place Project in the district is a significant example of same time that Hillsboro was recruiting California-based chip maker
PDC’s focus on a strong downtown core. The project was designed to Intel without the use financial incentives. This example represents an
respond to a need to revitalize the downtown in a systemic way. early lesson in the cost of so-called “brownfield” redevelopment, land
Businesses were hesitant to locate in the downtown because of an burdened by past industrial use, versus “greenfield” development in
absence of services for customers and employees, and service busi- suburban locations. In addition to returning more than ten times
18
Portland’s urban renewal investment in enhanced property tax value, The Saint Johns
the plant provided 800 jobs. Jobs were made available to unemployed
Portland residents through the region’s first, “first-source” hiring Urban Renewal Area
agreement.
his period saw not only the closeout of categorical federal fund-
The projects of this era differed from earlier urban renewal not
only in avoiding the controversial neighborhood displacement of earli-
T ing for urban renewal in 1975, but also the decline in other direct
federal support for housing and economic development by 1980. This
er projects. They also represented a departure from the federal fund-
played a significant role in at least one of Portland’s urban renewal
ing and regulatory umbrella, and were funded largely through locally
districts. During the late 1970s, responding to a general business
issued tax increment financing (TIF) bonds. Following the departure
decline in the St. John’s area, the PDC was carrying out a series of
of Goldschmidt in 1979 to head Jimmy Carter’s U. S. Transportation
commercial revitalization plans. By 1978, they had established a new
Department, urban renewal continued through TIF Bonds with
traffic circulation system,
varying degrees of success and enthusiasm under Mayors McCready,
purchased street furniture,
Ivancie, and Clark. Examples include moderate to affordable down-
rehabilitated the old City
town housing as a part of the Central City Plan in the South Park
Hall and Fire Station. Plans
Blocks Urban Renewal District formed in 1985.
were also in development to
construct a Central Plaza
The South Park Blocks and Welcome Island, cov-
ered public tennis courts,
Urban Renewal Area and improve the St. Johns
Community Center. It was
he South Park Blocks Urban Renewal Area comprises approxi-
T mately 161 acres in the western half of downtown and current
redevelopment there focuses on a broad range of housing, parking to
hoped that a combination of
public and private invest-
ments would revive the area
service older buildings, retail shops, cultural attractions and addressing
into a booming business dis-
transportation challenges.
trict. The complete vision
Urban was never realized. Along
renewal was with high interest rates that
also used, in a undermined private sector interest in the project, the end of federal
time of Urban Development Action Grants crippled the public funding
statewide eco- scheme underlying urban renewal plans for the district.
nomic stress,
Portland’s urban renewal program ground to a conclusive, if tempo-
for economic
rary, halt in 1990 with the passage by state voters of Measure 5. Its
development
property tax rate cap forced the TIF mechanism underlying urban
projects that
renewal financing off the table until later initiatives revived it in a
were far dis-
new form. Urban renewal and TIF may not have driven the Measure
persed from
5 debate. In fact it fell to the Oregon Supreme Court to finally inter-
Portland’s
pret the effects of Measure 5 and rule that TIF fell under the
Downtown.
Measure 5 limits. This setback marks an important milestone in the
Examples include job development in the Airport Way Urban
evolution of urban renewal and a fitting place to mark the close of this
Renewal District, facade, streetscape and infrastructure in the Central
era of activism.
Eastside and Convention Center Urban Renewal Districts.
19
 THE LATE 1980s, trian-friendly streets lined with key retail establishments, such as gro-
ceries and dry cleaners, would afford a high level of intimacy and
the 1990s AND BEYOND: interdependence among residents and business owners. This ambi-
ence would be conducive to a sound micro-economy, lower occur-
rences of crime, and greater neighborhood cohesion which, in turn,
would induce better civic health generally. Later planners added to
PDC and the Post-Modern Paradigm the mixed-use other considerations such as keeping vehicle miles of
travel below the average; contributing to the area’s jobs-housing bal-
of Portland Planning ance; mixing uses at the finest grain the market would bear and
including civic uses in the mix; placing higher density and senior
“The best future for a community is the one it plans for itself.”
housing near commercial centers, transit lines, and community facili-
Sheila Holden, quoted in ties; creating neighborhoods
“Interstate Corridor Plan,” (16 August 2000), p. 3 with well-defined centers and
n the late 1980s and 1990s, PDC’s urban renewal agenda took on edges; offering life-cycle hous- PDC now emphasized

I characteristics which, in retrospect, harmonized with the evolving ing; supplying affordable hous- funding of
core values of the planning profession which, in turn, responded to ing for moderate and low- neighborhood
the post-war history of urban America. The impact of the change on income households; tapping conservation projects.
the nature and shape of PDC’s renewal initiatives in the most recent government housing programs
to broaden and deepen the
By 1978, the agency
period makes it possible easily to differentiate the projects of the late was funding 24 such
80s and 90s from the two previous eras. housing/income mix; and mix-
ing housing to the extent the enterprises and by
There were three distinct strands to this evolution: 1) the develop- then, PDC had
market could absorb.
ment of a mixed use planning philosophy; 2) the necessity of reliance
on entrepreneurial vision with strategies to identify and shape proj- The second strand, entrepre- rehabilitated more
ects; and 3) the recognition of the ever growing necessity of true com- neurism, had roots in develop- homes than any other
munity involvement in renewal programming, coupled with the ments nationally and locally in American city.
implementation of practices to effect it. Portland itself. By the end of
the twentieth century, the
Where mixed-use was concerned, by the end of the 80s, urban
nature of Portland, like many large
planning had come to a different vision of what the good city is than
American cities, had changed. Although there is controversy among
it had worked from previously. The basis of this vision can be
economists and other social scientists about the nature of the “new
described as a devotion to community and reverence for “mixed-use”
economy” on which the United States supposedly operates today, it is
projects as the necessary ingredients of successful, healthy cities.
clear that urban economies have undergone a metamorphosis. By the
The straightforward slum clearance and bricks-and-mortar approach
late 80s and 90s, Portland and other cities were no longer the indus-
to redevelopment, which was the core of the planning agenda of the
trial centers they had once been. Rather, their employment mixes had
fifties, sixties, and seventies–that is, the classic attack on blight–
become more reliant on service and technical jobs than ever before.
became obsolete, while the sense of the neighborhood or the
The middle class exodus to the suburbs, as well as the loss of federal
self-contained community as the supreme planning value, drove to
monies for urban areas as Democratic and Republican administrations
completion many of the projects undertaken in this period.
alike from Nixon through Clinton withdrew funds in the processes
Underlying the theory of mixed-use was the basic assumption that already discussed, forced cities into new strategic initiatives to keep
the compact, self-contained, self-sufficient neighborhood or commu- themselves viable. Under increasing fiscal pressure to provide
nity providing single- and multi-family housing, employment, pedes- resources for citizen needs and their demands for services, jobs, social

20
stability, and cultural amenities, cities were forced to find ways to property tax rates and cut property tax revenues to most local govern-
strengthen their overall economic footing and widen and deepen ments and schools substantially. It passed at a time when, in Portland
their tax base. Whatever they chose, it was obvious that the devices especially, proper-
had to be resistant to economic flux and political vagaries. The ty taxes seemed
most logical and attractive options typically involved making the to be going up
city once again a magnet for the affluent middle class and for desir- precipitously.
able businesses, largely by making it possible for the target resi- Passage of
dents to live in safe, attractive, and affordable environments and to Measure 5 had a
work nearby in accessible districts with the amenities necessary for crippling effect on
full productivity and profit. This is an entrepreneurial model in urban renewal
which cities, as one planning scholar Edward Blakely, has described bonding when the
it, “compete for talented and skilled workers as the resource to state Supreme
attract or nurture the new economy.” Court ruled it
In order to pay for the initiatives to turn the city in this new strate- applied to proper-
gic direction, municipal governments across the nation became more ty taxes collected
entrepreneurial in more than just the search for human capital. In to pay off urban
order to embark on such a venture, they had to identify, aggressively renewal bonds.
seek, and tap into the funds available to attract the businesses that The situation
would draw these desirable workers and residents. Increasingly, this was made even
has meant using urban renewal as a vehicle for economic develop- more complex
ment. Two examples of this elsewhere are what Blakely calls the when, in 1993,
“amazing redevelopment of San Francisco’s South of Market area and voters decisively
Greenwich Village in New York City’s so-called Silicon Alley,” where rejected Measure
the sought-after workers have been added to the city’s work force, as 1, an attempt to
much by transforming declining neighborhoods into residential exempt urban
lifestyle magnets as by the attractiveness of the available jobs. renewal bonds
Following this approach in Portland, as elsewhere, has largely from Measure 5’s
meant transforming the traditional urban renewal agenda into one of strictures. In 1996, voters passed Measure 47, a new property tax limit
redevelopment by leveraging private investment, along with funds on the rate of growth of assessed value. The confusing language of
available from federal or other sources applicable to the ultimate goals Measure 47 exempted taxes used to pay bond debt, but didn’t define
of the city to sustain itself in the “new economy.” bonded indebtedness leaving questions about its effects on urban
renewal bonds. Measure 47’s effects were so unclear that legislators
But more than a structural change in the economy, let alone in
and the Measure 47’s author, Bill Sizemore, agreed to a revised ver-
planning philosophy, occurred as PDC and the city of Portland moved
sion – Measure 50 – sent to a statewide vote and approved by voters
toward the end of the twentieth century. There were other signals
in April, 1997. Measure 50 immediately reduced tax revenues to 1995-
that complicated the picture of how urban renewal would, or for that
96 levels less 17 percent and limited the growth of property tax
matter, could, be done in the city. They suggested the necessity of a
assessments to three percent a year in most cases.
more aggressive, entrepreneurial tack. A significant one was the stern
challenge to the entire concept of urban renewal financing that took In the end, the passage of Measure 50 minimized the impact of
shape in Oregon’s political milieu in 1990. In the general election of Measure 5 on urban renewal funding. In fact, by the time the City
that year, voters passed Measure 5. Measure 5 limited increases in Council had approved the Gateway Project in the summer of 2001, it

21
 was the fifth new district in the city, established following the passage The Central Eastside
of Measure 50. Furthermore, it is one of ten current districts engross-
ing a total of 12.3 percent of the city’s land area. Urban Renewal Area
Another dimension of the entrepreneurial ethic that PDC
erhaps the first plan that symbolized this shift in focus was the
embraced in the 90s is the absence of a comprehensive social agenda
for its urban renewal programming. One reason for this is the lack of a
P Central Eastside project adopted in 1986. The plan encompasses a
681-acre warehousing, distribution, and manufacturing area near the
prominent figure with a missionary zeal for urban renewal as a primary
Willamette River, employing some
tool for eradication of blight as the vector of poverty, social disloca-
21,000 persons drawn from four
tion, or neighborhood disintegration. In the conservative political
adjacent neighborhoods. The
environment of the 90s, there was little political advantage to be
narrative describing the plan
gained from such approaches. The prevailing political culture of the
indicated the transition. It
decade nationally, statewide, and locally dictated an approach to such
called for “maintaining a good
problems that would not smack to voters of profligate expenditures of
business environment for exist-
tax money.
ing businesses,” including early
The third strand of urban renewal in the 90s was community redevelopment activities in a
involvement. As the decade unfolded, citizen participation in the district in a part of the area
decisions made by government that affected daily life became an arti- known as Produce Row. The
cle of faith in planning practice. There were several significant histori- first activities involved the
cal reasons for this. One was that the nation’s political culture had expenditure of $9 million of
crossed a great divide in the perception of how democracy should new investment and 275 new
work in the roughly twenty-year period between 1954 and 1975. jobs. Almost $1 million was
Nationally, this time span encompassed the arc of the civil rights invested in public street and
movement, the entirety of the American phase of the Vietnam War, access improvements to facili-
and the Watergate episode. Each of these events conveyed powerful EASTBANK ESPLANADE 2001 tate car travel to the new campus
lessons to citizens, political theorists, reformers, and officials about the of the Oregon Museum of Science
arrogance of power, governmental deceit, and the importance of scru- and Industry (OMSI), formerly the
tinizing authority and official institutions. Government agencies at all Station L power generating site of the utility Portland General
levels suddenly became subject to energetic questioning by citizens Electric. More than fifteen acres of vacant or underutilized land was
who also demanded and achieved, especially at the local level, inte- also earmarked for industrial and commercial redevelopment within
gration into the decision making process in many phases of official the district. The Central Eastside undertaking clearly marks the
functioning. movement away from the more socially focused projects of the two
In urban planning, a whole school of thought and practice grew up earlier stages of urban renewal to one focused on creating and main-
around the concept of citizen involvement. In Oregon, because plan- taining jobs in the targeted area. The focus was on business develop-
ning has become such an important tool of the state’s political culture, ment assistance and redevelopment financing. For example, one proj-
citizen participation has become a routine, if carefully nurtured, fea- ect in the area took a four-block area employing six people and rede-
ture of economic development, land use planning, and urban renewal veloped it into a retail and employment center employing 121. Other
activities. The impact these developments had on the urban renewal current objectives for the area include transportation and pedestrian
function were readily apparent throughout the decade of the 90s in safety improvements for improved traffic circulation, extensive
Portland’s renewal programming. streetscape improvements, and the creation of the Eastbank
Esplanade on the eastside riverfront. The Esplanade is a response to
the east bank section of the I-5 freeway, the placement of which, hard
22
by the river, had otherwise compromised all attempts over the years to employers to provide opportunities to residents of economically disad-
create for the eastside, the recreational opportunities available at vantaged communities.
Waterfront Park on the Willamette’s west bank. The Esplanade was From 1994 to 2001, $30.4 million was invested in the public
made to extend from the Steel Bridge to OMSI, and was completed in improvements in the area. This, combined with the private invest-
2001. ment, helped generate a $516.7 million increase in assessed value by
2001. Perhaps the most significant project in the Airport Way Urban
Airport Way Renewal Area is the 5.5-mile extension of the region’s light rail line to
the Airport and a complementary mixed-use development of hotel,
Urban Renewal Area retail and office facilities near the Airport section of the line, called
CascadeStation. Employment in the Cascade Station project is pro-
nother significant proj-
A ect illustrating the
trend in PDC’s increasing
jected to be 8,000 by the year 2020. The light rail line to the airport
opens in September 2001.

view of urban renewal as a

planning and economic Oregon Convention Center
development tool, was
Airport Way. The Airport
Urban Renewal Area
Way plan was adopted in nother plan, adopt-
1986. The purpose of the
project was to increase the
A ed in 1989, that
reinforced the theme
city’s inventory of devel- was the Oregon
opable industrial lands by Convention Center
providing planning, coordi- Urban Renewal Area.
nation, and infrastructure The goal of the plan is
for the 2,780 acres within to bring economic
the project’s boundaries. development and
CONSTRUCTION AT RIVERSIDE By 1992, the main access road had employment opportuni-
PARKWAY CORPORATE CENTER been extended four miles to the ties to the area sur-
east of the airport, and also rounding the
widened. This opened up 1,000 acres of new land for development Convention Center, by
and resulted in $6 million in private investment. Projects included capitalizing on the
water, sanitary sewer, electric, telephone, and storm sewer facilities. activity it generates.
More than 250,000 square feet of improvements were constructed by Key projects there
that year. It included new warehouse, distribution, manufacturing, and included the construc-
office facilities. tion of the Oregon
As the narrative on the objective of the revitalized project in the Convention Center,
“Adopted Five Year Business Plan, 2000-01 through 2004-05” stated it, several new multi-family housing projects and public improvements
the project was to facilitate development of Columbia Corridor as a constructed to support the new Rose Garden Arena.
major employment center with a diverse economy by attracting and The Convention Center Plan was amended in 1993 to add the com-
retaining business and by supporting development of infrastructure, mercial area along Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard to Portland Blvd.
transit and protection of natural and cultural resources. Encourage Lines were purposefully drawn to exclude residential properties
23
 because of residents’ negative perceptions of urban renewal stemming system. To help foster a “24-hour city” environment for residents, visi-
from the Emanuel project and other efforts. When the area was incor- tors, and employees.
porated into the plan, it included some of the highest violent crime Adopted in 1998, the plan features the construction of the Central
rates in the city. One of the areas was referred to as “Crack Alley” City Streetcar on N. W. 10th and 11th avenues, and N. W. Lovejoy and
because of the volume of drug trafficking activity in the neighbor- Northrup streets circulating through the district’s core (completed in
hood. “Crack Alley” is now the location of several affordable housing the summer of 2001). It will eventually have three new parks and
projects, and successful retail and services development called Walnut 5,000 new housing units in a mix reflecting the income demographics
Park, a community policing office, and the local Boys and Girls Club. of the city generally, with density of more than 100 units per acre.
The incidence of police activity decreased by 24 percent from 1990 to Some 2,000 to 3,000 of these will be affordable units. It will be, in the
2000. Improvements were also made to the boulevard itself to create a description of PDC’s Five Year Plan, “a vital mix of multi-family hous-
more safe and inviting pedestrian environment. Other projects in the ing, major office facilities, regional attractions [such as the new
area, accomplished in conjunction with PDC’s administration of block Chinese Garden on SW 3rd Avenue and Everett Street in Old Town],
grant funds, include loans to small businesses for equipment, facility supporting service, retail businesses, parks and open spaces.” . Private
improvements, and new storefronts and new or rehabilitated housing development in the district has occurred at a rapid pace. Since 1994
units up and down Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. Since its formation, more than 3,000 new housing units have been built in the district—
assessed value in the Oregon Convention Center Urban Renewal Area more than halfway to the 20-year goal of 5,500 new units. In its first
has increased by $424 million. two years the River District Urban Renewal Area growth in assessed
value was $182.2 million.
The River District
Urban Renewal Area The Lents Town Center
he importance of economic development considerations was also
Urban Renewal Area
T seen in the River District Plan, which closely resembled the et another urban renewal area, Lents Town Center, adopted in
South of Market and Silicon Alley projects mentioned above. A west-
side area that abuts the Willamette River to the east and I-405 to the
Y 1998, is perhaps most symbolic of the post-modern planning para-
digm. Its objective, as part of Metro’s 2040 Framework Plan, is to
south, the River District is nestled near the downtown core area. The make the Lents district, a distressed area in Southeast Portland, into a
objective of the plan is stated in language in keeping with the entre- key Town Center for the Portland metropolitan region. Meeting this
pre- goal includes plans for transportation management in the area’s busi-
neur- ness district, a redevelopment implementation strategy that will
ial include revitalization projects for the area’s businesses, a street paving
program for Lents neighborhoods that will include sidewalk and inter-
section improvements, a housing strategy involving financial assis-
tance programs to support the purchase, and the rehabilitation of
homes, rental repair, and the development of new housing stock. The
Lents plan also calls for a redevelopment strategy for the Springwater
agenda and the mixed-use paradigm: to generate new corridor area, the spine of which is an abandoned rail line converted to
private investment and an improved tax base on vacant and underuti- hiking and biking, which runs to Gresham. The Springwater Trail is
lized land by developing a wide range of new housing units, new part of a 40-mile loop that will ultimately connect to the riverfront.
commercial opportunities and open space, all oriented to the Finally there is also a parks and recreation capital improvement pro-
Willamette River. To retain and enhance Union Station’s function as a gram. Citizen involvement in the Lents urban renewal efforts has
critical public asset and transportation center for the regional transit
24
been intense and extensive. It was PDC’s first urban renewal area to The Gateway
exclude the right of condemnation from the plan at the insistence of
the citizens on the urban renewal committee. Urban Renewal Area
nother urban renewal area with a high degree of citizen involve-
The North Macadam A ment is Gateway Regional Center. The ambitious plan is primari-
ly a redevelopment package designed to turn the area, the perimeter
Urban Renewal Area of which includes roughly I-84,
et another significant plan is South Waterfront/North Macadam, N.E. Halsey, and N.E. 102nd and
Y adopted in August, 1999. In this area PDC is seeking meaningful
commercial and housing development in this westside Willamette
122nd avenues, into a regional cen-
ter with improved housing and
riverfront locale. While the River District’s focus is on housing devel- employment, as well as greater
opment near employment centers, North Macadam’s emphasis is on recreational and cultural opportuni-
creating a new center for jobs. It is hoped that more than 10,000 jobs ties. Gateway contains the highest
will be created and that Oregon Health & Science University will be a density zoning designations in the
city–CX, EX, and RH.
The Gateway area is projected
by 2015 to be “the most accessible
location in the Portland metropoli-
tan region,” as PDC’s five-year plan
document put it. The district is
served by two interstate freeways,
light rail transit to the west and to
the east, and will have light rail service to the airport. Thirteen bus
lines also converge on it. It has become, as a result, a focus of new
investment and development. Since 1999, over 1,000 new housing
units have been built or slated for construction–a tenfold increase
compared to the total of the period from 1989-99.
The area’s redevelopment strategy further includes the creation of
VACANT LAND WILL BECOME public spaces, transportation improvements, design enhancements to
major employer there with an
THE SOUTH WATERFRONT stimulate pedestrian traffic, and other projects, including an education
expansion of its Marquam Hill
CENTRAL DISTRICT center and a performing arts center that “demonstrate Gateway’s via-
campus.
bility as a livable center of activity.”
Formerly an industrial area, the North Macadam Urban Renewal
The process of creating the Opportunity Gateway Concept Plan
Area encompasses 417 acres with 206 acres of developable land. An
and Redevelopment Strategy, the blueprint for the transformation of
extensive public involvement process led to the development of a
the region that these projects embody, was accepted by PDC and the
Framework and Urban Renewal Plans that deal with transportation,
City Council in February 2000. The Concept Plan was the product of
open space, and greenway problems, and issues of creating a new
two years of public meetings attended by hundreds of residents, busi-
neighborhood in the heart of the city on former industrial lands. The
ness owners, and workers in the Gateway district.
implementation of the plan began in 2000.

25
 PDC and the City Council adopted the Gateway Plan June 21, 2001. The Interstate
Implementation of the framework plan is supervised by a 40-member
Program Advisory Committee, appointed by Mayor Vera Katz. Urban Renewal Area
The intrinsic significance of 2040 to the Gateway and Lents frame-
inally, one interesting project which, in many important respects,
work plans indicates a new dimension to PDC’s urban renewal activi-
ties. They suggest that the commissioners and staff have begun to
F looks Janus-like back to the era of the original social engineering
imperatives of urban renewal, while, at the same time, remaining
think of the urban renewal tool as a part of a regional strategy for the
focused on the current values mainly of economic development, is the
metropolitan area. The 2040 Framework Plan is the preferred model
Interstate Corridor Urban Renewal Area which was approved August
of growth for the Portland metropolitan region, identified by its
16, 2000. It covers an area that encompasses nine north and northeast
regional governmental body, Metro. The intrinsic significance of 2040
neighborhoods from near the Rose Quarter arena to North Portland
to the Gateway and Lents framework plans indicates a new dimension
Harbor, making it the largest redevelopment project in the city’s his-
to PDC’s urban renewal activities. They suggest that the commission-
tory at 3,710 acres. As the Interstate Renewal Plan document puts it,
ers and staff have begun to think of the urban renewal tool as part of a
the district is “a diverse and fascinating collection of neighborhoods.”
However, it also soberly notes that “these areas suffer from a variety
of characteristics which, taken together, form a compelling argument
for the formation of an urban renewal area.”
Interstate’s sprawl encompasses nine inner north and northeast
neighborhoods (ten if a part of King where activity will occur is
included), including such landmarks as the I-5 freeway and the
Columbia Slough. Over the 25-year life of the project, it’s maximum
tax increment funding could be as much as $335 million in funds for
its various elements. Again citizen involvement was extensive in the
formation of the urban renewal area. Inasmuch as the project area cov-
regional strategy for the metropolitan area. The 2040 Framework ers some of the city’s most heavily African-American areas and has
Plan’s Growth Concept includes a major role for mixed use centers. one of the highest concentrations of minority and low-income citizens
It states: in its census tracts, and at the same time attempts to accomplish so
many different things, it is a striking microcosm of the evolution in
Mixed-use centers inside the UGB (Urban Growth Boundary) are one
philosophy that PDC has undergone over the 43 years covering South
key to the [2040] Growth Concept. Creating higher density
Auditorium, Albina, and Emanuel and Model Cities, the neighbor-
centers of employment and housing and transit service with compact
hood movement, and the era of economic development of the last two
development, retail. Cultural and recreational activities, in a walkable
decades. In that sense, the Interstate plan seems to bring PDC and
environment is intended to provide efficient access to goods and servic-
the enterprise of urban renewal in Portland full circle. Its general
es, enhance multi-modal transportation and create vital, attractive
principles reflect an all-embracing and ambitious agenda including
neighborhoods and communities... Regional centers serve large market
outreach, in that, in the language of the guiding document, the plan-
areas outside the central city, connected to it by high capacity transit
ning and implementation of the Interstate Corridor Urban Renewal
and highways. Connected to each regional center, by road and transit,
Area will be founded on a thorough, ongoing, and inclusive communi-
are smaller town centers with local shopping and employment opportu-
ty involvement process. This process will build capacity by providing
nities within a local market area. Planning for all these centers will
specific, consistent, and culturally appropriate opportunities for all
seek a balance between jobs, housing and unique blends of urban
community residents, businesses, and organizations to access and
amenities so that more transportation trips are likely to remain local
impact urban renewal decision-making, and by providing educational
and become more multi-modal.
26
resources necessary to an informed decision. The plan document also business district. We had restaurants, clothing stores, pharmacies...
promises to benefit primarily existing residents and businesses within small business shops, barbershops, nightclubs... And they were all
the urban renewal area through the creation of wealth, revitalization of wiped out–like...a breeze just came through and we no longer exist!”
neighborhoods, expansion of housing choices, creation of business and Williams then went on to serve as a valuable and vocal member of one
job opportunities, provision of transportation linkages, protection of of the implementation committees for the Interstate Urban Renewal
residents and businesses from threats posed by gentrification and dis- Area. The Interstate plan also excludes the right of condemnation as a
placement, and through the creation and enhancement of those fea- result of citizen concerns.
tures which enhance the quality of life within the urban renewal area. City Council member Charlie Hales, speaking through Ron Paul,
The Interstate plan also calls for close cooperation and integration his Executive Assistant, expressed his support of the project: “By
of efforts with the advisory committee, TRI-MET, the Oregon rejuvenating an area, both through a transit system like the Interstate
Department of Transportation, other agencies, and the private and Light Rail and through its economic development efforts that will
nonprofit sectors in the development of the Interstate light rail line – parallel that, the overall tax base over time will certainly increase to
the key project of the urban renewal area. The plan intends to “opti- everyone’s benefit.”
mize light rail investment by ensuring that the entire area Felicia Trader, then PDC’s Executive Director, suggested in August
benefits...by the creation of catalyst projects near light rail stations 2000, that Interstate was “more a traditional community development
and other key locations..;” and to focus investment along Interstate. project” than an urban renewal district in which land is combined for
The Interstate project is an index and microcosm of the promise housing projects, industrial uses, or
and pitfalls of urban renewal in the 21st century. Oregonians, no less retail complexes. “We are looking
than other Americans, have learned over the last half century that the to help people living there now to
economics of public policy can be a zero sum game and that therefore improve their circumstances. That
care must be taken in making even the most obviously positive will happen by creating jobs and by
expenditures, because good done in one venue might mean harm in increasing the value of the houses
another. Thus, the commissioners of Multnomah County, for example, that are already there, and by pro-
were troubled in 2000 by the Interstate proposal. While the municipal viding new affordable housing.”
government manages the infrastructure of Portland, the county is Carl Abbott, commenting on
responsible for the region’s human needs. So the district’s frozen base Interstate, seconded this view, not-
during the life of the urban renewal area would, they said, profoundly ing that the proposal reflected a
shape the county’s ability to deliver community services. The county more conservative approach as well as the continuing evolution of
asked the Portland City Council to provide it $2 million per year to renewal as a tool for emphasizing economic and community develop-
help cover the expected shortfall. ment rather than the “intense block-busting developments” of an ear-
Many residents were opposed to the light rail line and protested its lier day.
construction at the various community meetings. In addition, some in The Interstate Plan, however, suggested to some both the matura-
the community were suspicious of the project because of the history tion and the dangers of urban renewal as an implement of community
of urban renewal in the area and feared gentrification and displace- development. As a result, some observers and students of urban
ment would result. Harold Williams, head of the Chamber of renewal and of PDC were not as sanguine as Hales. Oliver Norville,
Commerce of Portland in 2000, at one point contemplated initiating a for instance, observed that the largeness of the district worked against
lawsuit to halt it. Recalling how North Portland had changed in the 41 other projects. Reporting on his concerns, the Oregonian noted in the
years since he had moved into the area before I-5, the Memorial summer of 2000 that the size of Interstate would bring the city “closer
Coliseum, and the convention center were put in and prior to the to a state-imposed limit on renewal districts, which could restrict some
three urban renewal districts, he noted, “...it wiped out the whole renewal options in the next several years.” Norville and the paper

27
 were alluding to the fact that, by statute, cities may only put a maxi- CONCLUSION:
mum of 15 percent of their acreage or total assessed value in a tax
increment urban renewal district. Interstate placed Portland’s total at
11,403 acres, or 12.3 percent of total city area, leaving approximately
2,500 acres for other projects. The assessed value of property in new
districts is 10.1 percent of the city’s assessed value, though because of
How to Renew a City
some nuances of urban renewal law, not all of the taxes attributable to “I have seen a lot of scenery in my life, but I have seen nothing so
this amount of assessed value are actually paid to PDC. PDC general- tempting as a home for man as this Oregon country.... You have
ly foregoes approximately forty percent of the taxes that it could be here a basis for civilization on its highest scale, and I am going to
eligible to receive. This election mitigates impacts on Multnomah ask you a question which you may not like.
County and other taxing entities.
Are you good enough to have this country in your possession?
PDC officials such as Trader and John Southgate, Interstate project Have you got enough intelligence, imagination and cooperation
manager, were satisfied with both the shape and size of the district among you to make the best of these opportunities?”
and the plan agenda and confident it would succeed, in large part
Lewis Mumford, in a speech to the City Club of Portland,
because of the level of citizen partici-
July 1938
pation. As
Southgate put it, “it rban renewal is an activity that unfolds in cycles of ini-
[the Interstate Plan
District] looks like
it’s gerrymandered,
but there’s a ration-
U tiatives that play out over twenty to thirty years. Thus,
events predicated on a set of values and assumptions in
one era may develop only slowly under another value set
and come to fruition under yet another set, even as another constella-
ale to it. The tion of planning values creates a different series of plans.
boundaries reflect This does not mean that we cannot distinguish between periods in
the will of the the urban renewal history of Portland. Of course, we already have.
neighborhoods.” Nearly half a century after the program began, an assessment might
The neighborhoods be fairly sanguine about what happened. Clearly, there have been
had firm ideas and some triumphs, but, amazingly, there have been no disasters. Partly
a large “wish list” this is due to the fact that some important lessons of the past were
of projects that ulti- learned on the spot and in retrospect. One of the main ones, as Stan
mately dictated the Jones, a 30-year PDC employee, pointed out, was that PDC did not
size of the district. perform bypass surgery on the heart of the city–the central business
The citizens advi- district–as happened in so many other places. Instead, especially early
sory committee, on, it concentrated on the transition zone with activities that func-
RENDERING FOR FUTURE LIGHT RAIL
more than 50 tioned almost as demonstration projects, allowing citizens to see what
STATION AT N. KILLINGSWORTH AND strong, recommended a formula that it could accomplish in relatively small increments. Few, if any, of
INTERSTATE AVENUE. called for 25 percent of the Interstate these projects were utter failures, although some were far less success-
funding to be spent on housing; 24 ful than others.
percent on light rail and other transportation-related projects; and 19
percent on economic development. A second lesson is that the nature of available funding has played a
critical role in Portland’s urban renewal history, both as largesse and
also as shaper of project selection and the type of the project activities

28
undertaken. On project selection, to take one instance, South As we contemplate its contemporary state, it is clear that the entre-
Auditorium would probably not have been a clearance activity had preneurial spirit, the application of the mixed-use philosophy, and the
that not been what the federal government was funding. For that much more intensive involvement of the community in the 90s form
matter, Albina, Portland
State, and Emanuel were
all decided and done on
the basis of the available
Portland, Oregon 2003
type of funding. The
withdrawal of federal
monies, of course, crip-
pled St. Johns. Measure 5
halted urban renewal in
its tracks. The inability to
fund through TIF was a
short-term disaster.
A third lesson is in the
process by which urban
renewal has been carried
out. Process is a cardinal
legacy of Portland’s expe-
rience. The public and
their urban renewal
agency in Portland have
moved upward togeth-
er–not always at the same
pace, nor always very
steadily. Model Cities was
a turning point in this
development. ANIP
notwithstanding, it
brought citizen planning
for the first time in urban
renewal in Portland. It also engendered an infrastructure of citizen the basis of the current slate of improvements. But it is also obvious
participation organizations across the city. Neil Goldschmidt used the that the social, political, and economic forces, not to mention planning
emerging neighborhood movement to energize people to participate fashions, at play in Portland history over the last half century have
in the planning of PDC’s projects and in the creation of a broader also constrained and liberated policy makers as they craft redevelop-
vision of redevelopment and, not incidentally, the city’s future. PDC’s ment strategies.
policies and programs have been flexible and implemented in concert The opportunity to answer Lewis Mumford’s questions in the affir-
with these changes in policy. mative, and to shape the next era of urban renewal still lies before us.

29