Why hasn't this part of Portland been developed? Tonight I was driving through and notice how alone the RG looks. The place is absolutely a ghost town when there is no event going on. With all the new buildings and towers going up in the downtown area why neglect this area? It has a lot of potential as a entertainment district. Right now it looks something 1985 barfed up with the exception to the RG and Convention center.
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I agree that this area could need some facelift. However theres lots of car dealerships, fast food restaurants, and smaller businesses that makes it hard to make this area "trendy" with good nightlife. Without a "hardrock cafe" or some sort it will be hard to get this area away from the "industrial commercial" aspect that it has now. Look how the Pearl District has developed. Wouldn't that be nice by the RG? The Pearl District has really cleaned up with a nice charm.
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Well... the Lloyd Center went from being the so called largest mall in the World... to a junk pile... then its facelift brought it back to life. Open air mall concept might be OK for california... but not Oregon. =) There has been some new development over there but not like in some areas accross the river. Security concerns might be some reason development is scared of that area. That area is quite a bit older than 85 too... like the 60's maybe.
Yeah, security is definitely a concern. I work in the offices next to Holladay park and I can tell you the police are constantly here kicking some bums ***, or chasing some drug dealer off/on the free max.
With the new security on the max I hope this crap gets cleaned up quicker, it seems the "Free-zone" and this park create problems.
I'm with the OP, though. It'd be nice to spruce up the area around the Rose Garden and make it more visitor-friendly. Even that park in front of Lloyd Center isn't inviting at all.
But it seems like there are too many office buildings to really get anything in particular going there.
The Portland Development Commission is on the cusp of a deal that could transform the Oregon Convention Center's front door into a vibrant entertainment destination, making good on decades of dreams for the area.
The redevelopment agency wants to join with a team of local developers to create a four-acre high-rise entertainment district that would kick off with construction of a 19-story office building later this year. Called 100 Multnomah, the $133 million tower would rise next to Interstate 5, with commanding views of downtown Portland.
Following that, developers and the agency see the potential for a $400 million restaurant- and entertainment-heavy cluster of buildings at the Northeast Martin Luther King Boulevard-Holladay Street intersection, where there is the convention center MAX stop and not much else.
Of course, if you believe in what history tells us about big vision projects in Portland, it'll die a slow death, wrapped in the red tape of Portland's 9-million tiers of goverment, planning agencies, and neighborhood associations.
-Pop
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Originally Posted by CubanLaker
Damnit!! WTF! Why do we always suck when we play at Portland!
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I'd love to see the old Cucina Cucina spot filled with a new fun restaraunt (with average beer prices). There needs to be more restaurants/bars within walking distance of the RG. All I can think of that is somewhat close are Widmer, McMenamins White Eagle, Red Robin, ????. There are some cool places further up Broadway and on Mississippi Ave.
The problem with the RG area is that no one could SEE the restaurants that were in there... and I doubt many people knew they could park for free during the day to visit the restaurants that were in there. It could have been a real cool area if designed differently. The way it currently is I don't think it ever will be a place you go to do anything other than attend an event there.
Hey I'll field this one since it's actually in my area of expertise (My schooling was in GIS and urban planning). The city needs to wait for the Pearl district to come out of urban renewal before they try to expand by adding another district ... too many simultaneous projects can really hurt a city's bond rating, not too mention a city can only have a certain % of its acreage designated urban renewal at a given time.
Basically urban renewal and more public investment for the inner eastside is on the horizon, and I would guess that once the eastside streetcar funds start to flow you'll see a lot more of a push with public/private partnerships to invest in the district.
The zoning must first change. There must be a vision for high-density residential if retail / entertainment will exist beyond event-night. Now that I've moved up (from Portland) to Vancouver, BC, I see how valuable having the most densly populated "downtown" of any City in North America is to "life after 5:00pm."
So for every plan there will be for a new building, garage, restaurant, etc. - include housing! It is "people" who give life to an area - not buildings!
OT: Lloyd District
