The Burnside Blog
Does Portland Have A Plan?
In Portland, Oregon, a masters degree in city planning is the local version of the MBA. Want to make it big in Portland? Get a planning degree. For years, if you wanted to have a hand in shaping the look and feel of the city, you’d become a city planner. Sure, you could be a private downtown developer, but you’d still need to navigate the bureaucracy of the city and the planning commission.
And why not? The planning policies and initiatives have made Portland the good city it is today. Without good planning, there’d be no Pioneer Courthouse Square, no light rail, no Eastbank Esplanade and no Pearl District. Maybe it’s because we’ve been so successful in building and reinventing our city’s spaces that we’ve never really needed to create a comprehensive city plan.
Of any city I’ve ever lived, Portland is the one of the most educated, but by far the most underemployed. For young professionals moving to Portland, finding a job isn’t easy, salaries remain low while the price of housing has skyrocketed, and yet job growth doesn’t seem to be a priority. Creating policies that encourage job growth should be one of the most important planks of a candidate’s platform. So, where’s the plan? This election year, nearly every candidate claims to have a plan, but they collectively equate to little more than the breaking of ground and pouring of concrete.
I left both of last week’s mayoral debates less certain about the future of the city then when I arrived. Sam Adams has ambitious plans for the city. If Sam is elected, there’s no question that he’ll make his mark on this city at least as much as his mentor and former boss Vera Katz. We’ll have new bridges, building projects, perhaps a Burnside Couplet, support for a city-wide network of street cars and lots of momentum from the brain trust of Portland: the architects, designers and so-called members of the creative class who make Portland such an enjoyable and creative place to live.
Sho Dozono promises to bring jobs to Portland, but as the Oregonian’s Steve Duin illustrated in his editorial last Thursday, Sho has never explained how he plans to do this, or anything else.
Portland could be poised for a creative and economic boom if the stars were to align. We have an educated population, commitment to renewable energy at an opportune time, and no shortage of great ideas. Supposedly, one million new residents will move to Portland in the next two decades. Politicians are talking about where we’ll house them and how they’ll get around, but no one is talking about where they will work. What has worked for Portland in the past won’t work for a city that’s changing. The city is resting on its laurels and living off of its past success. This is a huge problem.
By Skinny City Girl on Monday, April 21, 2008 at 01:18PM PDT
This may sound counterintuitive, but the solution is in funding for higher quality education. Our city isn’t as educated as we would like to think. Employers know it, though. Having a degree doesn’t necessarily make a person employable. Our universities have been underfunded for many years and it has severely limited the pool of capable employees. That is why so many employers look outside Oregon for workers.
By Penny on Tuesday, April 22, 2008 at 02:49PM PDT
I tend to agree with Skinny Girl on the issue of higher education. I am in the process of researching education opportunities within the medical field. For nutrition, I am forced to attend OSU in Corvallis for at least two years. As for other programs, there seems to be spotty coverage of programs for people applying to graduate school. As I take pre-requisities, I’m finding that the instruction at PCC is, at times, equivalent to that of PSU as the majority of non-salaried professors must teach at both schools.
True, there are high-paying jobs for some particular niche interests. As we are without a top-notch university for graduate level studies, businesses are less interested in moving to Portland to train lower level employees. Beyond that, certain businesses, especially clean energy, need incentives beyond green-minded individuals (see: initial bond investment, friendlier planning allowances) to encourage their move here, instead of other cities.
By Skinny City Girl on Wednesday, April 23, 2008 at 10:01AM PDT
I agree with Penny and will add that a top notch research university/institution is the missing link in Portland’s quest to become the innovative “green” capital of the U.S. We have a lot of good intentions, but we lack funding for research/education necessary for scientific and policy innovation. I say let’s pump resources into PSU!
By Mike Thelin on Wednesday, April 23, 2008 at 11:23AM PDT
I agree. Portland is a lightweight in the higher education department (unless you’re getting a planning degree), but the potential is enormous. It’s sad that for many academic programs, our best and brightest must leave the metro area to further their education at the graduate level.
By Lizzy Caston on Thursday, April 24, 2008 at 10:20AM PDT
Skinny City Girl and Penny nailed it. When I worked at PDC the lack of large well funded higher ed, including both access to highly skilled and educated workers and well funded research institutes, was consistently mentioned by prospective businesses as a huge barrier to wanting to locate in Portland. Cities that have strong higher education overall generally have strong partnerships with employers that create job growth and higher wages. Yet, you know, this is a state level issue and not just a Portland issue. Sadly, until our state addresses basics such as our imbalanced tax and school funding structure, I doubt it will change much.
By Jesse on Monday, April 21, 2008 at 12:20PM PDT
I agree.
What puts an even finer point on it is that the mayor’s budget cut the economic planner position (that the City has never had).
But I also think that there’s likely to be more attention paid to the issue from City Hall in the next administration. I just think that’s not what Potter cared a lot about.
Portland does have a lot of well paying jobs, though. It’s just in sectors that no one wants and that may be because they just aren’t cool. The metals industry is desperate for folks. And these are the industries that move overseas, not because of bad employers, but because a lack of good employees.
Would you rather pull shots for $11/hr or forge metal for $35/hr? Tough call when either way your education or self-worth make you question either.
Do you think we’re victims of our own success? I mean, have too many educated people moved here because they love it here, are willing to be underemployed, and wait out for the job they really want?
Though he’s losing his coolness factor, Richard Florida has often pointed out that the service sector will continue to grow and supplant the blue collar industries in terms of workforce draw, yet comparatively underpay. The trick will be increasing THOSE wages, and the (real or perceived) self-respect associated with the industries.
Thanks for the post.