As the Portland director for economic development, I would be proud of the ingenuity and creative drive that my residents possessed. As mentioned in the film, Portland not only stayed strong during the economic recession, but also was one of the few cities able to grow and I strongly believe this is due to their Creative Class. Young, educated, and driven individuals who are motivated to see change in our society and also to work hard for it define the Creative Class. They are not simply artists, but work in many fields such as technology, science, and education. Portland can pride its success in its strong ability to attract the Creative Class. As mentioned in the film, companies are drawn to locate in Portland because of this strong pool of employees.
An additional economic development strength of Portland is that it has not had to deal with the de-industrialization that many Midwestern and East coast cities have. Simply by not having to deal with this, numerous problems have been alleviated. Not to say that Portland does not have problems that are seen on the East coast as well, because they do; they simply can focus more closely on these problems without the overbearing issues of deindustrialization.
I feel that Portland has done a pretty solid job of enticing business to their area. I do not feel that Portland needs an economic proposal addressed to the city, they are doing really well and growing as is. Technology and sustainability have meshed really well and feed off of each other. The economy is set up for success if left as is. As mentioned, not having the burdens of deindustrialization helped tremendously; while other cities had to battle through these challenges and finally see the “silver lining” with post-industrial economies of service and technology, Portland was able to focus on this type of economy all along. These are all reasons why a huge overhaul proposal to the city about economic growth would not be needed. The only proposal I would consider would be for helping local small businesses start up easier. While it is not as difficult as some cities, it is always a challenge to start up small businesses and I think that a tax abatement program or start up cost leniency format would really benefit small business.
I strongly support the idea of applying for a HOPE IV grant. I think that providing mixed-use mixed-income housing is much more promising than designating a block of apartments as low income. This way, low income residents are surrounded with higher income residents and can see the possibilities and potential for growth. The whole system is designed to benefit human well-being much better.
I do not want this to sound like I have always supported all HOPE IV projects though. They must be designed properly and located well. Having experienced the aftermath of Cabrini Green in Chicage being torn down and replaced with HOPE IV housing, I had a sour image of this program for a long while. When they torn down the projects, thousands of these residents fled Chicago to my hometown of Lafayette, IN which is about an hour southeast of Chicago and much more affordable. My city had no where to house these residents, so quickly built cheap low income housing on the south side of our town. The majority of residents here were post Cabrini Green residents, and it was always my understanding that HOPE IV came through, tore down their projects and built a smaller housing system that could not fit them all. In effect, HOPE IV was helping Chicago to outsource their low income residents to my hometown of Lafayette.
Because of instances such as this, I would be cautious about proposing a grant for HOPE IV. I know that when carried out correctly, they can be beneficial to the area, but I would ensure that nothing like that would happen in Portland.
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