Let's welcome Mayor Adams with great ideas for the city

Although I believe he was officially sworn in at midnight on January 1, for the last few days our new mayor, Sam Adams, has been making rounds through the community to listen to ordinary voices about the state of the city.

Obviously the biggest issue right now is the economy. As Adams has visited neighborhoods like St. Johns and Parkrose, he learned of closed businesses and vacant storefronts. He can't make the Dow Jones go up or fix the mortgage crisis. And it's a weak mayoral form of government in which Adams only wields so much power beyond any other city council member. But Adams comes into office with a tremendous amount of excitement. He's smart and energetic and, while not to be crossed, seems very willing to listen.

One of Adams's key mentors, former mayor Vera Katz (under whom he was chief of staff), paid attention to design and architecture. There's reason to believe he'll do the same. Even though one never agrees with any elected official all the time, I'm optimistic and enthusiastic myself about the incoming Adams administration.

In the spirit with which the new mayor has gone on a mini listening tour, I think it's a great time for architects, planners, and other members of the design and building industry to give Adams a few ideas and opinions about how, to put it in simple terms, the city can work better.

Many of you reading this are better able to assess individual line-item issues and broader concerns Mayor Adams should heed. Please leave a comment here about what he should prioritize and appreciate.

As someone writing about architecture here over the last decade and watching city government, I'd like to see more of an official action taken toward assuring design excellence in all city projects, be it the ones public employees occupy or the projects agencies like the Portland Development Commission funds. To me sustainability and energy/resource efficiency are huge parts of this, but just that: parts. At PDC, for example, there is a staff member devoted to coordinating sustainability efforts, but nobody working to assure good design. Particularly when you're coordinating involvement from a lot of neighborhood and community voices, I wish there someone doing at the city level what someone like Ed Finer grew famous for doing at the GSA on the federal level: making great buildings. Vera Katz started the Mayor's Design Initiative and Tom Potter discontinued it. Maybe that's a good place to start. I'm just sayin'.

Also, there is a lot of work to be done on the transportation front, be it bridges for MAX over the Willamette and possibly for I-5 over the Columbia. There may be a Burnside/Couch couplet and almost assuredly new streetcar and MAX lines. There could be a lot of federal dollars available if Portland plays its cards right. And besides these projects, what else might Portland be in line for? I'm not sure how much a mayor can do about this, but I'd love to see Adams advocate for high-speed rail on the west coast. With the mayors of Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and Los Angeles behind such an effort, the chances would improve. And if we're talking about rail, why shouldn't you be able to take a train from Portland to the Oregon Coast? Anybody driving on to Lincoln City or Canon Beach knows traffic is getting ever more clogged.

Then there are long-term issues like the future of Memorial Coliseum and the Rose Quarter, not to mention the Portland Public Schools property just north of there. There's the downtown US post office space on NW Broadway that could be transformed. Centennial Mills could easily fall through if the developer backs out, so that will need mayoral attention to make sure it happens. Same for Burnside Bridgehead. On the other end of the spectrum, there are surely things city government could do better to make creative projects able to happen. As the city continues to add density, people will get more and more clever about maximizing less obvious urban spaces. Are city regulations going to encourage and not hinder that experience?

Sam Adams might also be able to influence important bodies like the Historic Landmarks Commission and the Design Commission, even though I believe those are part of bureaus that commissioner Randy Loenard oversees. Speaking of which, under Leonard's watch there have been laudable efforts like the Living Smart competition for skinny houses. Why not put some local architects to work on some kind of invited design competition brainstorming new ideas for some city projects?

Four years ago, I wrote a Willamette Week article about key issues facing incoming mayor Tom Potter: the transit mall (how to handle MAX, buses and possibly other vehicles together), South Waterfront (forgetting about whether to tram or not to tram and making sure the rest of the neighborhood develops), and Burnside Bridgehead. Today the new transit mall is nearly complete...finally. South Waterfront has developed a great deal from four years ago and, once the economy recovers, will continue growing. Burnside Bridgehead has been on hold for awhile, but may come back. In fact, it has to eventually given the prominence of that site.

But again, I'm not an architect. I don't even play one on TV (to paraphrase an old aspirin commercial). You tell me--no, tell Mayor Adams--what you'd like to see happen in the 4, 8 or perhaps even 12 years he could have ahead running our city.

Comments

[maccoinnich]

I don't live in Portland at the moment, or even in the US, but I do love the city.

On my first summer in Portland, in 2004, I was impressed by how good the public transport is within the Portland Metro area. The MAX is a great system, and I'm glad to read about the expansion of the network. Outside of the Portland area, however, public transport is dreadful. Not only would Amtrak not take me out to the coast, neither would Greyhound, or any other operator that would get me there and back in one day. Eventually, I found the Lewis and Clark Explorer Train, which was fun for what it is, and got me there, however slowly. Sadly, it looks like even it doesn't run anymore.

High Speed rail up the West Coast would be sweet, but I suspect the distances are too long and the population too sparse between San Francisco/Sacramento and Eugene or Portland. Instead, I think real efforts should be made at linking Oregon/Washington/Vancouver better. 4 Cascades trains a day, that don't even run the whole length of the route, and seldom on time, is really a missed opportunity.

[anon]

Dear Mayor Adams,

Please stop the burnside/couch couplet.

[billb]

Dear Mayor , please consider big
green design vision. PDX does great on the little stuff , bio-swales , recycling , etc.
But the issues facing us ,peak-oil and global warming are massive and need giant solutions.
For example , an exhibit of artwork depicting a Park-Roof over the Columbia Crossing Bridge is at the Lucky Lab Brewpub on NW Quimby above 19th.[activity rm] For the same dollars as the shiny little windmills recently added to the CC proposal we can create a world class park which protects drivers/bikers/peds from the weather , absorbs pollution runoff , and draws eco-tourists from around the world.

[Eric Cantona]

1. relinquish the ego and curb the temper.

2. stop the burnside/couch couplet.

3. keep pushing the sustainable industries recruitment campaign. we need industry. hopefully one or two of them can become fortune 500 type companies. we need more than one of those in the region.

4. get as many federal infrastructure projects as you can in the near future to keep our economy moving during this recession.

5. bring back gil kelly.

[Eric Cantona]

1. relinquish the ego and curb the temper. or maybe better: curb the ego and relinquish the temper. you do need a little ego...

2. stop the burnside/couch couplet.

3. keep pushing the sustainable industries recruitment campaign. we need industry. hopefully one or two of them can become fortune 500 type companies. we need more than one of those in the region.

4. get as many federal infrastructure projects as you can in the near future to keep our economy moving during this recession.

5. bring back gil kelly.

[pdx2m2]

1. Keep pushing for the Burnside/Couch couplet. It's essential to link downtown and the Pearl and to make the city more walkable.

2. Getting rid of Gil Kelly was brilliant.

[Eric Cantona]

very curious to hear what the upside of losing Gil would be.

[Lance Lindahl]

Let's not forget that the Burnside/Couch Couplet is actually two separate projects.

The Eastside portion is essentially a done deal. Contracts will be going out soon, with construction to be underway this summer. This project is highly supported by the neighborhood since it will open up land for redevelopment by reconfiguring the infamous Burnside/Sandy/NE 12th intersection.

The Westside project is still very much up in the air, and City Council has yet to give its final sign off. There is still organized opposition to the project, however several large redevelopment projects are already banking on the project moving forward.

[anon]

Thanks, Lance.

1. Stop the Westside burnside/couch couplet!

[Eric Cantona]

thanks for the reminder Lance.

the eastside couplet is actually a good idea. the westside couplet is a tremendous waste of taxpayer money.

[Steve]

1) Hire a Planning Director who is a professional, experienced planner who respects open public process and values Portland’s neighborhood livability.
2) Replace Gary Blackmer with a professional auditor with the same integrity and work ethic as Mr. Blackmer.
3) Reestablish the historic role of the city in planning and supporting public schools. Support walkable bikeable Neighborhood Schools as the focal point of most neighborhoods, with an emphasis on preserving the character of the school and our investment in these historic facilities. Strengthen each school’s relationship with parklands and neighbors of all ages. Maintain schools to which most children attending can safely walk or bike.
4) Invest in linking ALL neighborhoods with downtown (to the level of the Pearl) before investing more in Pearl transit projects.
5) Build the long promised affordable housing in South Waterfront Park.
6) Make Jefferson High School the best equipped and facilitated high school in the state.

[Earl]

Please replace the Sellwood Bridge and bring sidewalks to all neighborhoods.

[sut]

Pass the new Green Buildings Policy with maximum feebate incentives!