EVENTS 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.

Celebrate the New St. Helens Riverwalk

You’re invited! Join us for a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday, June 26 to celebrate the completion of Phase 1 of the St. Helens Waterfront Redevelopment Project — encompassing a riverwalk and street extensions into the new waterfront district.

Mayer/Reed’s riverwalk design revitalizes the former industrial site. The first phase improves public access to the Columbia River and creates places to gather and play.

Photo courtesy of the City of St. Helens

Festivities begin at 4:30 p.m. at Columbia View Circle (Strand & Cowlitz Streets) with a ribbon cutting and remarks from city leaders. After the ceremony, explore the new stretch of ADA-accessible riverwalk as you head over to the revamped Columbia View Park for live music, food and craft vendors, games and a beer garden. The celebration continues every Thursday this summer with a weekly concert series, 13 Nights on the River.

Spring Openings

This spring, Mayer/Reed celebrated a series of major milestones as several transformative public spaces and civic projects officially opened their doors.

Excited officials and community members gathered on April 26 for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the brand-new Lake Oswego Recreation & Aquatics Center. The state-of-the-art facility, designed by Scott Edwards Architecture, features landscape architecture by Mayer/Reed that prioritizes environmental resilience and accessibility.

On May 19, the new Clackamas County Courthouse in Oregon City opened to the public. Designed and funded by Fengate-led Clackamas Progress Partners, the new courthouse on the Red Soils Campus replaces the outdated and seismically vulnerable 1936 building. Mayer/Reed designed signage and wayfinding that puts clarity and legibility first, with high contrast text, icon usage and strategic sign placement to encourage a smooth visitor experience.

The front entrance of the new Clackamas County Courthouse with signage designed by Mayer/Reed

The University of Oregon (UO) welcomed students to its Portland Campus Center on May 29. Environmental graphics and wayfinding at newly renovated space by Opsis elevate the vibrant academic hub and celebrate UO school pride.

The interior lobby of the UO Portland Campus Center features yellow wall graphics represesnting an aerial map of Portland. A large "O" for the University of Oregon mounted above the stairwell.

And later this month, Metro’s Operations & Maintenance Campus at Blue Lake Regional Park wraps up FFA-led improvements with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on June 14. Mayer/Reed’s site design for the 2.3-acre campus includes ecological restoration of the existing park and outdoor spaces for staff to gather and relax. The site is designed to achieve the International Living Building Challenge’s Core Green Building Certification.

We’re proud to help shape these places that serve, inspire and strengthen our communities.

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.