City approves plan for 'new downtown' east of Willamette
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PORTLAND, Ore. – By 2035 Northeast Portland could have a whole new look.
Late Thursday afternoon, the City Council approved a long-term plan to develop the Lloyd District that it hopes will create an area like downtown and bring jobs and livability with it.
There are really two long-term projects in the plan.
The first is known as the North-Northeast quadrant. It has a focus on growing the Lloyd District into an area like downtown while still preserving the industrial character of lower Albina nearby.
The second is the I-5-Broadway-Weidler facility plan. The hope is to make major changes on the freeway and around it.
Both projects are supposed to create areas ready for significant growth.
More restaurants, more businesses and even more places to live in the Lloyd District entice a person like Missy Kieffer who goes to a school in the district. She said she feels JCafé is the only place she can go when she's hungry.
"If I forget to pack a lunch, this is where I'm at – (there are) no other options," she said.
The city wants to increase height restrictions for buildings in the heart of the Lloyd District. The idea is to bring in more buildings that are taller and create a more downtown feel over the next 25 years.
The city estimates that with the potential for 5,000 new housing units and with more office space in the area, the plan could bring 10,000 new jobs.
It's exciting for some business owners like JJ Hewitt of Playground Gym who are already in the area and are ready for new business.
"It's great. This is a perfect area for increased density with the streetcar that's coming along here," he said. "They're on the right track."
That track includes transportation changes like are planned in the second, long-term project improvements to the I-5/Broadway/Weidler interchange.
The plan would make safety improvements to the freeway like adding a lane to make it easier to merge into traffic and widening the shoulder. But there is also a local impact. The plan also adds new local streets that would avoid interchange traffic all together and adds a new bridge for bikes and pedestrians and connect them from the Lloyd District to the Rose Quarter.
Both projects include ideas for more green spaces.
The city is hoping this new downtown east of the Willamette will become a place people will want to work and live.
The funding source for those green spaces and any new pedestrian and bike paths in the Lloyd District is not known yet.
The same goes for the I-5 project, which will likely cost an estimated $400 million. But most of the business and housing growth will ultimately depend on the free market.
There's some modernization work already underway in the Lloyd District. The city is making Multnomah Street into a sort of main street for the area. The road will be re-paved and striped. There will be on-street parking and even bike parking.
Soon there will no nature left... Why are we ruining our planet like this? Jul of http://arganoilcare.com/argan-oil-benefits/
Thanks, but no thanks.Â
I can tell you from someone who lives in the N/NE Quadrant, I don't mind higher height limits on buildings, but, with watching the plans the City has had and in the Eliot Neighborhood Newspaper, it showed the City of Portland's and ODOT's plans of taking out the N. Flint St. overpass over I-5, and doing a new pedestrian and bicycle overpass connecting N. Hancock St. over I-5, with NO plan for motorists. I live and work onsite at my job, and there's other businesses just off of N. Flint and N. Hancock (and subsequently N. Gantenbein south of Emanual Hospital), and it's difficult for our customers, and for us, to maneuver with our vehicles in and out of here, and NOBODY asked us, tho in the articles in the Eliot Neighborhood Newspaper, Portland and ODOT claim they talked to us all and we were all in agreement. I've talked to other people on our streets and they weren't talked to either, so this is something the City and ODOT are doing on their own accord, without talking to EVERYBODY, and frankly, I'm not happy with the N. Flint Street overpass being taken down to "widen I-5", when they have plenty of room to do so without taking the overpass out.Â
 I believe that instead of having the bicyclists coming down N. Flint St. or making a new overpass for them, they should be redirected down N. Russell St. to N. Interstate Ave., where they can turn left and take the Broadway Bridge exit. That would eliminate them congesting the streets up here, and also "make it safer" (as long as they quit acting like they own the road down here, as well). That would also save a lot of money if they did that, as well as NOT take out the N. Flint St overpass and build an entirely new one for N. Hancock St.Â
 And, to the lady in the article who claims that there isn't any restaurants in the Lloyd District, or even down where the split off of Broadway and Weidler, she needs to come out of her box and look around!! Like everyone else said, there's: BK, McD's, Chipotle's, Muchas Gracias, Taco Bell, Red Robin, Denny's, Burgerville, and then down in the Left Bank building where Broadway and Weidler split, there's a little Bicycle Cafe there. They actually have decent food there, too, for decent prices.Â
 What I would like to see is the School District building be demolished and the staff move to the now closed Harriet Tubman Middle School/All Girls Academy, and build some houses back there or apartments there and make it back to a residential neighborhood, like it was prior to I-5 and Memorial Coliseum.Â
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 But, my point, in the end, is that they need to figure out the streets for CARS out better, before dealing with bicyclists. I understand that there's "green people" out there, or those who depend on those, but it seems like motorists are being pushed out and my job requires that I have a car to conduct company business, and that before rushing into things, as Portland and ODOT seem to be doing, they need to plan for longer than they have been, and also go door to door and ACTUALLY talk to those that are going to be directly effected with these plans!
 @Nell Marie Really good post.
I normally wouldn't say this, but Erica, your otherwise lovely hair needs attending to with a skilled scissors-wielding stylist, a comb, and some Moroccan argan oil. It looks like you just woke up and it appears tangled and really brittle/ full of split ends...did you look in the mirror before this story, which was not an "breaking news/urgency" story?
Is this before or after the "Big One".
I can't believe what I'm seeing: Portland is going to lift height limits! AWESOME! I want Central City Portland to feel more like a ... well, CITY! It's so underwhelming here. This is a fabulous and exciting project for Central City.Â
 @Lisa If you are underwhelmed and yearn for a bigger city, Seattle or SF are waiting for you.
It sounds like a nightmare. More construction. More traffic on less usable road space (who really wants to drive on the slippery tracks that were laid for the waste of money new trolley). JCafe is the only restaurant the person can go to? Give me a break - there are tons of restaurants in the area. Do we need more high rises to block out Mt. Hood? I avoid downtown Portland now. I guess there will be another area I will have to avoid.
 @Barb Please avoid Downtown. And while you're at it, please avoid putting your input on projects those of us downtown want.  I'm so sick of people who live on the East Side in a tizzy about high rises in the core when they don't even live in the core!
 @Lisa  @Barb Please avoid staying in Portland or the NW for that matter. I work downtown, eat downtown and more and I don't want your projects the way you want them. Many of us in "the core" don't want these projects the way you want them...just because you are "underwhelmed". Go to Houston, Denver, NY, SF, LA if you want an overwhelming big city feel. Why are you even here??? Most people from the east side or the inner west side or the N side all have a deep interest in downtown because it is THEIR downtown.
 @Barb Tons of restaurants: Burger King. Denny's. McDonald's. Wendy's. And of course ... Red Robin.Â
 @Lisa  @Barb Your problem with those eateries is??
 @Barb You can see Mount Hood from many places in Portland. When you have a UGB and height limits, it's the same as the feminist wanting to have their cake while eating it too. The Central City is where you want tall buildings. I'm sick of folks in sellwood and division crying about tall buildings in the CORE.Â
 @Lisa I know that the Central City has long been considered on the west side of the river and if you ask any Portlander where the Central City is they will tell you the same thing. I also don't need a Google map on a computer to actually know this city, unlike you. Maybe you should put down your iPhone, raise your head up out of the phone (or wherever else it seems to be) and actually talk to people who live here about areas of the city. Even local people of color, although I realize that will likely be terrifying for *you*, since you might have to go near "that awful dump of a Lloyd Center" area to do so.
 @whirledworld For someone that is leaving a lot of posts POed about new high rises and density being built in the Central City, you don't even know your Portland Maps. The Central City extends from the West Side and over into the Lloyd District and Central East Side Industrial. Google Central City Map and you'll see what I'm talking about.Â
 @Lisa  @Barb Lame allegory. The Central City is on the west side of the river.
More rosy plans for the Rose City! Incredible! Hotels on the east side; bikeways all over the place; probably no parking anywhere near any of these tall edifices; and all made possible by funding from where? We know from who: us! And all this is needed why? Anticipating making Portland a destination resort? For composters, cyclists, and pedestrians busy dodging cyclists and avoiding stepping in composted poop!
Where are all the methadone clinics and illegal immigrant workers going to go!
 @LostSoulÂ
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Relax...there will be a bus to take you there and nice people will give you a map.
That's nice, but I don't do the Eastside. Too much riff raff. Don't cross the river - and Never cross the big river.Â
 @ryanmang Big Baby. If you can't run with the big dogs, stay home in Tigard or Beaverton or whatever suburban hell you live in. BTW we on the eastside don't want this either. And we don't want the riff-raff either, which are a bunch of Johnny-Gangsters-come-lately anyway, in the bigger picture. And they are in your suburbs too. More and more.
@whirledworld "he'll you live in" ??? Oh very nice.
 @Rob C 503  @whirledworld ?? "He'll"?
 @whirledworld East Side: You mean The 'burbs in Portland. I knew you lived there by your comments. Someone in SE Portland bitching about what's happening to those of us who really live in the city and want high rises and growth -- not suburbs with urban chickens in the back yard. What's hilarious is you don't realize the Lloyd District is a dump at the moment. Transforming this district is going to bring in a more educated crowd and increaded tax revenue to the city. Basically as what happening in South Waterfront. Oh. Wait! I bet you hate that project too -- towers they used from Vancouver that turned an industrial dump into a neighborhood.Â
 @Lisa An"educated crowd" in Portland? You seem to have no education yourself of any merit or value based on your commentary slant. Get over yourself already, little goose. I also notice that you have no interest at all in any place for a diversified population of age, ethnicity , disabilities or income strata. Houston is looking for you as you will fit in there nicely. The Southwaterfront? Hahaha... Now *that's* a real functional exciting place with all those empty condos in a mud patch in/on the Willamette. The * 'burbs* , as you call them, are a dead giveaway to your recent and disgruntled transplant roots of weird perceptions about Portland. The quadrants of the city are not suburbs, they are neighborhoods. Ask any Portlander. Suburbs of Portland are considered to be places like Tigard, Beaverton, Gresham, and other places beyond the city, as anyone who actually lives here or grew up here knows. Ask any Portlander. Full of themselves transplants are not Portlanders BTW since you obviously need to be told.
 @ryanmang Riff raff and rapscalions for sure lol.
@randomdude @ryanmang HEY! here are a lot of good things on the East side, and we are not all riff raff. But you just stay on your side of the river and never know what your missing out on.
 @ryanmang As usual with urban renewal projects (which I think this leans towards), the riff raff will be pushed out, Loyd Center area has PLENTY of it too.
Portland has always desired a Grand Plaza but never planned forward to achieve that goal. It would be a revolutionary act to plan the plaza first as the centerpiece to this new development. Second plan the transportation infrastructure...focused on trains and pedestrians and bikes to the core and 20% of parking typical for the density....and third plan the entertainment, restaurants, and groceries. The other buildings office and residential would to support neighborhood infrastructure e.g. stores, grocery, doggie day care, and car rental/share. Structurally, limit car access by inconvenience but focus on the delivery of goods to the central core and easy public transportation to and from.
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Portland really has no Urban Living environment where people prefer not to own a car but it is highly desired by a growing 30% of the population.
 @Icarus Why do you leave out the disabled who MUST drive their own cars or be transported in cars? Public transportation is not viable for many disability situations. Many.
The problem with these plans is that they always make big assumptions of the future that aren't based on fact. This plan, for example, assumes that "central cities" will be the center of all commerce, all while ignoring the fact that market based commerce (without public subsidy) tends to locate itself outside of downtown districts. This plan also assumes that the future of travel will be by fixed rail, bus, or bicycle while ignoring the fact that most people prefer to drive.Â
 @Anthony A Thanks to the Internet, there is less need to drive everywhere. Less need to go to malls, movie theaters, etc. It's a fact that fewer 16 year olds are getting their drivers license. One study found that only ~25% got their license in 2010, down from 31% in 2008, just two years difference. And down from 46% in 1983. Gas is only going to go up as well, putting even more people off driving. Cars are too expensive and their costs are not going to go down.
@Anthony A Ya, its a little ambitious. I mean their other development projects worked out great, right? Take a look around and you will see empty storefronts in almost all urban renewal areas!
 @Anthony AÂ
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Your assumption is poor: not everybody likes to drive  Seattle has several great urban centers where cars are an unnecessary inconvenience to a high quality of urban life.
 @Icarus  @Anthony A How elitist! Why do you leave out the disabled who MUST drive their own cars or be transported in cars? Public transportation is not viable for many disability situations. Many.
@Icarus @Anthony A He never said everybody. Reading comprehension fails you. He said "most people". Since the number of cars on the road far exceeds the number of bikes this is pretty dang easy to figure out yourself.
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Bikes are a inefficient way to move around a city and create more problems then they solve. Our transportation system was to move people quickly and efficiently. That's the reason suburbs exist so everyone doesn't have to live within walking distance of where they work.Â
 @Icarus  @mike You posted: "...In short, many more people...particularly those under 25...are making different choices, from their parents,..."
ACTUALLY: MOST people who grow past the very immature and idealistic and sweetly inexperienced age of 25 and under, and begin to raise families and then get burdened by a time-deficit factor... and then as they age, heavily burdened by a physical strength/mobility factor are not going to ride bikes and ride buses to carry groceries home, or go to the doctor with an ill elderly spouse or sick babies, etc. You are only dreaming of a utopian narrow slice of the population. You are not dreaming of a place that is elder-friendly or family-friendly or disability-friendly.
 @Icarus  @mike The aging population = more cars, not less, due to disabilities/infirmities. If it were Sun City it would be more golf carts as road vehicles, not less.
@Icarus @mike Yes, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, LA all oldeer than Portland ( Las Vegas excepted) and bastions of the planned development movement what ever houka load you're sucking on to spin that tail should be worth a fortune
 @Icarus  @mike Suburbs exist because the market demanded them. If people didn't want to live in suburbs, they wouldn't exist. Period. Even before the "dominance of the American Auto industry," developers built streetcars to far flung suburbs so people could escape the cities. And they did so in great numbers. The invention of the personal automobile (and the assembly line that made them cheap) just facilitated a trend that had already been going on for several decades.
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And while a small minority of people are "questioning the rationality of a cultural dependence upon antiquated environment-depleting global warming technologies," the fact remains that most people still choose to drive. I would also argue that most of the people who support antiquated 19th-century fixed-rail systems do so not because they would use it, but because they hope other people will use it.
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P.S. "Global warming" has been thoroughly debunked. The current popular term is "climate change." Thanks.
 @mike   Â
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There are so many bad assertions in your response it is difficult to know where to begin. First; have you ever noticed how small the Portland street/grid system is and wondered why the streets are so narrow and inefficient for moving cars about? It's because they were designed for horses and buggies and to create more corner lots. Dallas, Houston, New York, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles have city blocks that were designed specifically to facilitate motor traffic...and they still experience grid lock resulting in the speed and efficiency of bike messengers for deliveries that absolutely positively cannot arrive late.
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Suburbs exist because of cheep fuel and the dominance of the American Auto industry to influence culture and policy in America during the post war period. If you haven't noticed gas isn't $.20 a gallon any longer, they don't build Bel-Aires any longer, the American Auto industry is in decline necessitating multiple bail-outs, cycling is on the rise, and every city in the country is looking at the Portland Public Transportation in infrastructure and drooling. In short, many more people...particularly those under 25...are making different choices, from their parents, about where they wish to live and the lifestyle they choose for themselves. This new generation understands that the automobile culture of the 1950's is now sixty years past and they are looking forward rather than backward. They are demanding safe streets for pedestrians and cyclists, and demanding public transpiration, and questioning the rationality of a cultural dependence upon antiquated environment-depleting global-warming technologies.
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It seems that you continue to believe that the deciding factor and policy should cater to your mother but....really....public policy should address the future.
 @mike  @Icarus  @AnthonyÂ
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So we agree! There is a huge opportunity for Portland to serve the many people who would prefer to not own a car and seek living environments where driving is not a necessity.
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The population is aging, private transportation is more costly, and there are many people who just like live so their lives are not by a car. Seattle has a number of communities in which the majority of people don't own cars. And Portland will do well to expand those opportunities and create more environments like the Pearl.
 @Icarus  @Anthony A Most people prefer driving. This is not New York.
 @Lisa I am betting you just moved here in the last 7 years or less, and have no real sense of the history of the city or what most all of the citizens of the city want or need.  If you want to live in a SF clone, go move there and don't let the door hit your oversized butt that matches and resembles your ego on the way out. As for where I have an office and have had offices, and where I live and where I have lived in this city, try this: most quadrants. And you? Oh. Only in some thing you can't afford and someone else is mostly paying for that makes you think you are "uber-hipster". I see. Sucks to be clueless you.
 @whirledworld It's becoming a joke to read your comments as I keep going down the line. I can only imagine who this person must be. I picture someone in SE Portland with chickens and thinks all of Portland needs to be more like Hawthorne Blvd.Â
 @randomdude  @Icarus  @Anthony A THANK GOD it's not New York!!! And that's why so many people have fled NY to move HERE!
Two words. TAX ES!
This is all very interesting K2.
Nice distraction from the Libyan issues that should be front and center on your site every day till the administration comes up with answers for the deaths of our Patriots.
Have some credibility and rise above the rest of the MSM and do the work that you are obligated to do.
Or, just remain a useless digital rag.
@Jack_Bauer What you should be whining about is how they stole this story from the portland tribune!
@Jack_Bauer They did cover that yesterday, but is that all they are supposed to cover? The bias of KATU, and media as a whole, is to make money. Not too much money to be had by having only one story.
 @Jack_BauerÂ
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You ranted:Â "Or, just remain a useless digital rag"
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Hey, it's Portland's LOCAL useless digital rag. As deejm2112 suggested you can go get all your INTERNATIONAL misinformation from the world or national misinformation outlets and if you want it served up with a side of Obama/Democratic bashing then look to FAUX NEWS. But, Hey Man, don't come down on Portland's favorite useless digital rag because it focuses exclusively on misinforming the the public on local issues.
 @Jack_Bauer Faux News has that covered, go over there if you need your "discredit Obama fix".
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I mean seriously, get a life.