July 2008
1. Message
from the PDSI Board Chair
2. Ben and Jerry's Partnershop serves up dessert
plus help to homeless youth
3. Officers work collaboratively on Rose
Festival, downtown livability issues
4. Downtown Marketing Initiative gets a nod
from City Council
5. Discussions lay the foundation for potential
new downtown urban renewal district
6. Downtown sees an increase in pedestrian
traffic
7. Clean & Safe June statistics
8. West Side Community Court
9. Sidewalk Ambassadors to assist with TriMet,
Max changes during Steel Bridge repair
10. Travel Portland launches new social networking
site
11. International Marketing Opportunities:
Chinese People See the World
12. New NIKETOWN location to open Spring
2011
13. Central City Development and Redevelopment
report released
1.
Message from the PDSI Board Chair
1988 - 2008: Twenty Years of Progress for Downtown Portland
by Ron
Beltz, Portland Downtown Services, Inc. Chair
With last
month's Annual Meeting, Portland Downtown Services, Inc. celebrated
our 20th year providing enhanced Clean & Safe services, marketing,
research and economic development programs to downtown property
owners in the 213-block Business Improvement District. PDSI
has done great work over the years, and the historical accomplishments
we've made support business prosperity and our downtown economy
while promoting a clean and safe urban center.
We accomplished
a lot during the year, taking on new challenges and moving
in new directions. Here is a quick look at the 2007-2008 year:
- Crime
was down over 10 percent for a total drop of 31 percent
since 2005, and 97 percent of our latest Business Census
and Survey respondents rate downtown safe or very safe.
- The
new Sidewalk Obstruction ordinance was endorsed by City
Council, and at the same time we led the way in opening
or extending hours for three-day access centers and providing
increased access to public restrooms and benches for those
in need of them.
- Fourteen
formerly homeless individuals removed 21,152 graffiti tags
and answered 4,114 calls for service through our Homeless
to Work Program.
- In
our holiday lighting program, 720 trees were lit, and we
were able to credit property owners $465,000 due to cost
saving measures.
- We
won a $15,000 civil judgment in our first-ever lawsuit against
a non-paying property owner.
- We
worked closely with government officials to develop policies
on urban renewal, the PDC budget, jail bed funding, System
Development Charges, Business License Fee relief, and the
configuration of Fareless Square as the Mall reopens.
- Staff
provided advocacy for key retailers such as Macy's, Mercantile
and The Real Mother Goose with issues resulting from downtown
development.
- We
worked closely with the Mayor's office, Portland Police
Bureau and Downtown Marketing Initiative on a marketing
and public relations strategy emphasizing safety accomplishments
in downtown.
- Our
Sidewalk Ambassadors had an amazing 58,522 citizen contacts,
a new record, and received new uniforms donated by Columbia
Sportswear.
- Through
our six-year partnership with the West Side Community Court,
we reached our 8,000th program participant, resulting in
more than $500,000 in community service labor performed
in the BID to date.
These
are just a few of the many PDSI-sponsored programs which increased
downtown's livability and desirability this past year, and
there are many more. The results of our efforts are tangible:
downtown is better than ever. Cheers to the property owners
who pay for the program, our partner the Portland Business
Alliance and our vendors, Portland Patrol, Inc., Central City
Concern and A Light Up Company. Let's have a great 2009 and
start the next 20 years of improvements in the BID!
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2.
Ben and Jerry's Partnershop serves up dessert plus help to
homeless youth
 Enjoy
tasty and unique ice cream concoctions from Ben and Jerry's
special events catering, and savor the rewards of giving back
to the community. One of a number of Partnershop stores independently
owned and operated by community-based non-profit organizations,
Ben and Jerry's Partnershop in downtown Portland, operated
by New Avenues for Youth, offers homeless and at-risk youth
valuable job and entrepreneurial training and real world work
experience, preparing them to obtain and maintain future employment.
Ben and
Jerry's caters office parties, birthdays, anniversaries, conferences,
meetings, award banquets, employee appreciation parties, grand
opening events, holidays or just for the heck of it. For more
information, please call William Kendall, Ben and Jerry's
enterprise manager at 503.546.0450.
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3.
Officers work collaboratively on Rose Festival, downtown livability
issues
June was
a busy month for the Clean & Safe program. The Rose Festival
brought Clean & Safe officers special challenges including
street access issues due to parade routes, parking structure
problems and crowds. Officers continue to work together with
local authorities on livability issues in the downtown area.
Over the
past few months, Clean & Safe, the Portland Police Bureau,
the District Attorney and the Office of Neighborhood Involvement
have been working to assist Portland Coffee House staff with
problem solving at their downtown store location. The store
had become a gathering place for violators of the sidewalk
obstruction ordinance and suspected drug buyers and sellers.
Working collaboratively, telephone booths were removed, sidewalks
pressure washed, outdoor tables moved back inside, and trespass
agreements, which enable police to proactively deal with problem
behaviors adjacent to the store as they occur, were signed.
The results have been remarkable, allowing Portland Coffee
House to showcase the store more readily, while making the
location a more vibrant and approachable storefront in this
very busy retail area.
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4.
Downtown Marketing Initiative gets a nod from City Council
 Portland
City Council has approved a large portion of the requested
funding for the Downtown Marketing Initiative (DMI). The total
budget for the DMI for FY 2009 will be $700,000 (up from $400,000)
and is exclusive of a proposed parking rate increase or any
cash or in-kind sponsorships from DMI partners. Separate discussions
are underway regarding $250,000 earmarked for marketing the
Smart Park parking validation program and other funds to support
enhanced cleaning and security services in key Smart Park
garages. It is anticipated that additional City support for
DMI and its partners within the Downtown Stewardship Plan
(including the Downtown Retail Advocate) will be realized
in early 2009 with the proposed parking rate increase.
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5.
Discussions lay the foundation for potential new downtown
urban renewal district
Alliance
staff is meeting with architects, planners, property owners,
and developers to identify a common 20-year vision for the
downtown core. The ideas generated from the conversations
will be compiled into the framework and foundation for discussion
of a new urban renewal district that will implement this vision.
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6.
Downtown sees an increase in pedestrian traffic
On June
17, 18, and 19, the Alliance conducted bi-annual Pedestrian
Traffic Counts. Overall, pedestrian traffic has increased
by 23 percent since June 2007 on comparable corners. Notably,
foot traffic on Broadway and Morrison increased by 70 percent,
Southwest 3rd Avenue and Yamhill Street by 59 percent, Southwest
3rd Avenue and Alder Street by 39 percent, and Southwest 10th
Avenue and Washington Street by 34 percent. Any decrease in
pedestrian traffic at a given location was less than 5 percent
and not statistically significant.
Read
the results >>
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7.
Clean & Safe June statistics
In June,
Clean & Safe security officers contacted 13,108 citizens
on the streets of downtown Portland's Business Improvement
District. These contacts included: 3,802 business assistance
and referral contacts, 5,595 pedestrian contacts, 87
arrests, 135 exclusions and an additional 250
non-enforcement problem-solving contacts. The Neighborhood
District Attorney Legal Assistant reported reviewing and issuing
202 criminal cases in June.
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8.
West Side Community Court
The Community
Court Defendant Work Crews spent part of June pulling weeds
in the Old Town Festival area to beautify the streets and
make them easier to pressure wash before events. The crews
are currently working with our cleaners in the Business Improvement
District to focus on trash removal at specific problem sites
as part of their community service. The crew sizes have recently
increased, allowing more block faces to be covered and more
trash to be picked up. Crews are also weeding in other problem
street locations.
In June,
215 defendants performed 1,166 hours of work
removing 149 bags of trash from 505 block faces,
and spent 32 hours working at Loaves and Fishes. Thirty
shoplifting defendants were sentenced to attend the Alliance's
Theft Accountability Class.
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9.
Sidewalk Ambassadors to assist with TriMet, Max changes during
Steel Bridge repair
All hands
were on deck as the Green Team provided a big assist to attendees
during the Rose Festival, offering event information, way
finding and other services. The Ambassadors are also assisting
TriMet in preparing for the upcoming Steel Bridge repair and
will provide travel assistance to TriMet users during the
complete closure of MAX on the Steel Bridge.
- Business
Changes: 14
- Business
Visits: 89
- Publications:
2,862
- Information:
1,686
- Service
Calls: 7
- Total
Interactions: 4,658
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10.
Travel Portland launches new social networking site
Travel
Portland has launched GoSeePortland.com,
a new social networking based Web site featuring travel tips
generated by local residents and Portland visitors. At the
June Downtown Retail Council meeting, Bryan White and Greg
Newland of Travel Portland demonstrated Web site navigation
and other features of the site. Travel Portland has requested
that DRC members add content to the site, for their own stores
as well as other favorite local businesses.
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11.
International Marketing Opportunities:
Chinese People See the World
The Pacific
Educational and Cultural Exchange Center is assisting with
the production of a broadcast program that will appear in
the Jiangsu Province of China beginning this fall. A 20-minute
show will feature downtown Portland's retail offerings. The
Downtown Marketing Initiative is co-sponsoring this marketing
opportunity by purchasing a 7-minute segment of the program
for $5K; in addition, up to five retailers may purchase smaller
time segments for $400 each.
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12.
New NIKETOWN location to open Spring 2011
Nike announced
it will open a new NIKETOWN retail location in the Park Avenue
West Tower at Southwest Ninth and Park Avenues. Currently
under construction, the 14,000-square-foot store will be one
of Nike's new retail concept stores and is scheduled to open
in early spring 2011. It will replace the company's existing
NIKETOWN store at Southwest Sixth Avenue and Salmon Street,
which will remain open until that the new space is completed.
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13.
Central City Development and Redevelopment report released
Alliance
research staff and Heritage Consulting Group recently released
the annual Central City Development and Redevelopment Projects
report. The report provides a comprehensive look at real estate
development in the Central City including the area just west
of the I-405 Loop, South Waterfront, Lloyd District and the
Central Eastside. It includes projects under construction,
projects in design, projects in concept and finally projects
completed since 2002. A copy of the report can be downloaded
at www.portlandalliance.com.
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