PORTLAND DRIZZLE

🧚🏾‍♂️It’s Friday Hooohaaa! Friday's looking gray and a little wet, high around 68, so bring a hoodie. Moda Center money fight is so hot right now. Plus there’s the Milk Carton Boat Race, submitted by one of our readers. I love it when you guys send in events and stories and photos! It turns this little newsletter into a community. Sorry I forgot to post a link yesterday for Bbang!- here.

Trail Blazers owner Tom Dundon showed up at the Moda Center Wednesday to defend a $600 million arena renovation, and Portland is expected to pay roughly $120 million of it. Mayor Keith Wilson says the city needs to move faster, dangling the NBA All-Star Game as a $500 million carrot. Councilor Angelita Morillo wasn't buying it, pointing out Portland can't fully fund schools but is somehow finding cash for a billionaire's arena. Outside, protesters agreed. Some critics also don't want Clean Energy Fund dollars anywhere near this deal, arguing there's no climate angle to a renovated scoreboard. A public-private deal is supposed to be locked by mid-August. Stay tuned. KATU

A new Gensler survey of 35,000 people across 75 cities put Portland's downtown second-to-last for vibrancy, tied with St. Louis, beating only San Jose, Costa Rica. Portland also tied or near-tied for worst in walkability, beauty, and how welcoming it feels, alongside Baltimore in several categories. Researcher Sofia Song says it's not a one-year blip, this has been the trend for years. The bright spots: Portlanders love public transit and don't get bored easily, and the share who feel safe downtown has climbed from 46 percent to 59 percent since 2022. Affordability and homelessness remain the top complaints. Song says the city is showing real signs of turning around. We'll believe it when we see it. KOIN

TriMet released an updated package of service cuts this week ahead of a final board vote expected in April, and it's a grim read. Facing a $300 million budget gap, the agency now proposes changes to 34 bus lines and a truncated MAX Green Line — with the line stopping at Gateway instead of running downtown, a $575 million infrastructure investment effectively kneecapped by fiscal math. The one bright spot: Line 19 on NE Glisan, which serves Providence Portland Medical Center, got spared after a public feedback campaign. Every other cut will affect someone, TriMet acknowledges — before making the cuts anyway. The board holds a public listening session Wednesday. Show up or accept your fate. KOIN

On June 26, 2008, Portland police arrested a lone nude cyclist, no official Naked Bike Ride in sight. A judge later ruled solo nudity counts too.

Our downtown sucks? Well I still like it AND I’M GONNA KEEP LIKING IT!

by Michael Simpson Contact: [email protected]