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LAUGH RIOT
I try to chuckle at least once a day. Occasionally I let loose with a slightly more serious hardy-har-har. Rarely, and I do mean rarely, I'll run across something that results in an outright guffaw. "Wallace and Grommet" will do it. Frank Zappa concerts were nearly non-stop guffaw fests. The June 10 issue of WW ["Summer in the City"] had one of those sneaky guffaws. You know, the kind that comes up behind you and pounces on your ass with no warning whatsoever. Of course I'm referring to Brad Creel's hilarious "Gorge Sketchbook" comic about the guy who moved here to be a windsurfer. The border illustrations surrounding the strip alone had me in tears, and I actually had to compose myself before moving on to the strip itself. That was almost torturous...I haven't laughed that hard in ages. And for the remainder of that day, every time I started to think about it, I'd bust out laughing (yeah, I got some strange looks in the grocery store; I'd be pushing my cart along and suddenly start laughing maniacally for no apparent reason...). Anyway, it made my day. The guy's a very funny cartoonist and deserves a little recognition. Thanks, Brad! Fast Frank Lehn
Washougal, Wash. CHICKEN OR THE EGG
Bob Young's thoughtful analysis of the current state of downtown development ("Boom and Gloom," WW, June 17, 1998) provides a useful snapshot of this particular moment in the development cycle. However, I believe the mere fact that downtown job growth is not keeping pace with downtown housing starts, hotel rooms and new retail is less an indicator of policy failure and more a "chicken or the egg" problem that will be self-resolving. Ten years ago in downtown, at noon on a typical sunny Sunday afternoon, so few people were wandering about the place that it felt more like a ghost town than a city on the verge of boom. Today, we live in a fundamentally different, enlivened urban environment. Another five years from now, due to the projects currently under way, Portland will be a true 24-hour city. Yes, it will be a more fun place to be. (Is that gloomy news? I've seen Bob out on the town a few times enjoying the new amenities.) It will also be a more supportive environment for businesses of all types, downtown office included. One of the challenges in development of new commercial office space is the scale of the box required for such activities. This decade, six major office projects--1000 Broadway, Robert Duncan Plaza, Pioneer Tower, Liberty Centre, ODS Tower and Fox Tower (the last two are under construction)--will have added roughly 2 million square feet (that's 40 to 50 acres) of Class A office space to the central city. Such projects usually appear in succession in a city of Portland's size, as the soft costs of these large buildings precludes acres of floor plate sitting vacant while vying for new tenants. That the succession has been constant, with these projects leasing up with reasonable rapidity, is a good gauge of the health of the office economy and downtown in general. Downtown Portland has succeeded on all tenancy fronts by any standards. There is more high-rise construction under way in Portland right now than in any other American city. Even the most conservative, at best cautiously optimistic, economic forecasters are having trouble containing their enthusiasm. Where housing, hotels and retail succeed, additional office development, and associated jobs, are sure to follow. Jeff Joslin, senior planner
City of Portland |
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