DIALOGUE Archives - Mayer Reed

Reimagining Downtown Portland: What Comes Next?

Building on the momentum of this spring’s Streets of Possibility event, I helped organize a workshop on June 13 to brainstorm tangible ideas for the future of downtown Portland, Oregon. Nearly 40 urban designers and creative thinkers gathered with tracing paper, markers and optimism—ready to reimagine downtown’s street network and its connections to the Willamette riverfront.

A large map of downtown Portland is laid on a work table with trace paper over it. A group of urban designers gather with Mayer/Reed Associate Principal Shannon Simms, using markers to brainstorm ideas for new street connections in downtown Portland.

As one of the event organizers, I designed maps and created prompts to spark ideas and nudge the creative process. We asked big questions and proposed bold ideas: Why not this? What about that? Could it look like this? The ideas flowed as freely as our markers until late afternoon.

Downtown Portland is undergoing transformation. It won’t return to what it was, nor should it. Our challenge, rather, is to help shape what it will become. Over 40% of downtown Portland’s land lies in the public realm of streets. Waterfront Park is an enormous, underutilized asset most of the year with untapped potential for connection, culture and community. This exercise helped us envision downtown as one of Portland’s neighborhoods—more than a place to just work or visit; a place to stay, play and simply be.

Image on the left shows designers huddled over a large work table. They are pointing and using markers on trace paper to brainstorm new ideas for street connections in downtown Portland.

Real change requires action. Coming together to share ideas and see new perspectives is critical to our city’s path forward. Thank you to Randy Gragg and Will Smith of the PDX Design Collaborative for opening the doors of the JK Gill Building to host the workshop and the designers who showed up eager to sketch, discuss and push each other to think bigger and more inclusively.

The day wrapped up with a happy hour open to the broader community and even more voices contributed to the dialogue. One seasoned participant remarked, “This is the way we used to do it”—a compliment that reminded us we’re returning to a civic culture where urban design is visionary, not reactive. Follow-up conversations are happening, and we’ll share a summary of the workshop to ensure the thinking can live on and inspire action at all levels. We invite everyone—elected leaders, civic organizations, business owners, residents—to keep imagining. Because Portland’s next chapter is unwritten, and together, we can shape it.

Spring Forward, Portland

There’s a new energy in Portland — and it’s palpable. After years of uncertainty and change, Portlanders are stepping up to imagine what’s next for our city.

This spring, I had the chance to join a lineup of speakers at Streets of Possibility: Well Beyond Cars, an event packed with forward-thinking ideas and hopeful enthusiasm. My presentation, “Streets are Landscapes!” explored ways we can reimagine our streets to prioritize people and plants over pavement — just one of many conversations that night about how we use the public right-of-way.

The event was part of City of Possibility, a month-long celebration of bold, urban thinking. It was heartening to see many of the wide-ranging projects that Mayer/Reed is involved in pop up in dialogue, including the Green Loop, PBOT Street Plazas, Broadway Corridor, the OMSI Waterfront Education Park and the Earthquake Ready Burnside Bridge. Hundreds of design professionals, community leaders, and everyday Portlanders attended the City of Possibility architectural model exhibit and sold-out events, all eager to discuss future ideas as well as pivotal projects that are already underway. And the message was clear: there’s a groundswell of interest in shaping a more vibrant, equitable and resilient city.

The City of Possibility model exhibition included the Eastbank Connector, designed by Mayer/Reed, Bora and KPFF (left, model by Bora)

Portland feels primed for change. The Albina Vision Trust is leading efforts to rebuild the Black community in Lower Albina, OMSI is working to reconnect Native communities to the Willamette riverfront and plans are underway to reimagine Tom McCall Waterfront Park. With a new mayor and city councilors at the helm, there’s reason for optimism. Still, we can’t ignore the hard truths — budget shortfalls are real, and good ideas don’t fund themselves. From quick, low-cost interventions to long-term infrastructure investments, the solutions will need to be as diverse as the communities they serve.

Portlanders are no strangers to getting crafty. What’s needed now is broad community support and a willingness to once more dream big. Let’s tap into our collective creativity and shape a future of which we can all be proud.

Shannon Simms Presents “Community-Led Urban Design” at Mpact Transit + Community Conference in Philadelphia

Mayer/Reed Associate Principal and landscape architect, Shannon Simms, ASLA, will present at the Mpact Transit & Community Conference on Tuesday October 22, 2024. The session, Community-Led Urban Design: Implementing in Sync with Transit Projects, features a panel of leaders from around the US and Canada who will demonstrate how creative approaches in urban design and landscape architecture can bring community identity into transit projects. Join Shannon and co-presenters—Krista Nightengale, Better Block Foundation; Klaudia Biala, SvN Architects + Planners; John Potter, Metrolinx; and Jeffrey A Fahs, HDR, Inc.—as they share techniques for engagement, design and placemaking that “shift perceptions about transit, limit adverse impacts and heal communities.”

Formerly known as Rail~Volution, the annual Mpact Conference focuses on building great places to live through transit, connected mobility, and land use and development.

We hope to see you in Philadelphia!

Advocating for Landscape Architecture

On May 8 we put down our pencils, logged out of AutoCAD and turned our attention to Washington, D.C., for American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) Advocacy Day. Representing Oregon, Mayer/Reed Principal Jeramie Shane, ASLA, and landscape architect Laura Hartzell, ASLA Oregon President-Elect, chatted with federal leaders about the importance of landscape architecture and the issues that matter to us.

They met virtually with the offices of Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden and Representatives Suzanne Bonamici and Earl Blumenauer and asked them to consider cosponsoring two bills. The Freedom to Invest in Tomorrow’s Workforce Act (H.R. 1477 / S. 722) would allow the use of tax-exempt 529 savings plans to pay for professional licensure and continuing education – a change that would promote equity by reducing financial barriers in landscape architecture and other professions. Secondly, they discussed the Water Infrastructure Sustainability and Efficiency (WISE) Act (H.R. 2921), allowing more loan dollars from the EPA’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund to be used for nature-based infrastructure projects. For example: green roofs, bioswales and filtration wetlands (like those at our current Clean Water Services’ Fernhill wetlands project in Forest Grove, Oregon).

ASLA Advocacy Day helps inform national legislators about our profession and can influence policies that benefit landscape architecture professionals, and, by extension, the people and places we design for. We encourage everyone to contact their representatives about the issues that are important to them – your feedback matters.