The Death and Life of Downtown Portland (Shorter) by Michael W Mehaffy, Ph.D.

SPEAKER BIO: Michael W Mehaffy, Ph.D., is a researcher, educator, author, and consultant in urban development with international practice.  He is also the Executive Director of the Sustasis Foundation, an Oregon public benefit non-profit focused on research and publication in front-line urban issues. He has held teaching and/or research appointments in architecture, urban planning, and philosophy at eight graduate institutions in seven countries, and he is on the editorial boards of three international journals of urban design. Michael is also the former President of the Goose Hollow Foothills League, the venerable Portland neighborhood association. He has consulted for the City of Portland, Metro, and many other local governments, and he has taught architecture and urbanism at the University of Oregon's Portland graduate campus. He was the project manager for the master developer of Orenco Station, the pioneering transit-oriented development on Portland's Westside MAX line. 

Michael has been especially interested in Portland's lessons as an internationally celebrated urban laboratory with a number of notable successes, but also a number of cautionary mistakes and lessons learned. Michael now lives in the Columbia Gorge nearby two daughters and seven grandchildren, but still fondly considers Portland a second home.

PDNA Safe Rest Village Meeting #1

(March 10, 2022) An example of a neighborhood association calling together to discuss the location of a Safe Rest Village in the Downtown neighborhood. Safe Rest Villages provide shelter and case management with wraparound behavioral and mental health services. Presently the sidewalks of Downtown and Old Town have grown crowded with people "living" in tents. SRVs are seen as a more humane alternative. 

PDNA-sponsored Q&A session focused on the proposed Safe Rest Village Naito Parkway site.

Panel included Portland City Commissioner Dan Ryan and Multnomah County Commissioner Sharon Meieran. Questions were submitted by neighborhood residents in advance of this session.

Portland Chinese Garden's struggles with pandemic, racism, housing crisis

Portland Chinese Garden's struggles with pandemic, racism, housing crisis |The Story| Sept. 28, 2021

Sept. 28, 2021 on The Story: Old Town, once a pride and joy of Portland's downtown corridor, is struggling to survive. We talked with Lan Su Chinese Garden Executive Director Katherine Nye about how the pandemic, a growing houseless crisis and racism have impacted the garden.  

Practical Steps to Address Portland's Homeless Crisis

Panel on Practical Steps to Address our City's Homeless Crisis

Homelessness is arguably the greatest humanitarian and societal emergency facing Portland. As the number of unhoused grows each year, it can feel overwhelming. But there are civic groups who are effectively tackling this problem–and who can help us carve a path forward. On Wednesday, September 22, 2021, SothWest Hills Residential League (SWHRL) held a conversation with leaders of four volunteer organizations who are taking practical steps to address our city’s homeless crisis.

*Alan Evans, formerly homeless founder and CEO of Helping Hands and Bybee Lakes Hope Center, serving homeless people who are ready to make sustainable changes to improve their lives

*Kiley Yuthas, outreach manager for Transition Projects, a leader in transitioning people from living on the streets into housing

*Laura Golino de Lovato, executive director of Northwest Pilot Project, providing housing assistance, transportation, and advocacy to low-income seniors in Multnomah County

*Toni Wallick, of Home Share Oregon, an innovative program that matches homeowners with spare room with those who are in need of housing

Ending Homelessness: Pipe Dream or Possibility? by Nan Roman

Date: April 4, 2014

National Perspective on Homelessness with Nan Roman
Is ending homelessness a realistic goal -- or a utopian pipe dream? Nan Roman, President and CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, will discuss what is known about the causes and nature of this difficult problem. She will examine emerging evidence-based solutions and the impact they have had on communities that adopt them. Finally she will consider whether there is adequate knowledge, capacity, and public and political will to end homelessness in our cities and in the nation once and for all.

Nan Roman, President and CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, is a leading national voice on the issue of homelessness. It works with over 10,000 partner organizations and agencies across the nation. Published on Apr 4, 2014

Our Public Lands in the U.S. by Huey Johnson
Snippet of Mr. Johnson's 2008 speech on our public lands which is availabe in full at Fora.tv.