Quick Thought on Downtown's Largesse to the Rest

Mayor Hales claims that downtown wealth, in the form of property values, gives much more to, say, east Portland, than downtown receives. Sure, on paper within a year's city budget, yes.

However...lets be clear. Both the PSU area and the Pearl only became as such because they were declared urban renewal areas (PSU in the 1970s, the Pearl in the late 1980s), and thus eligible for federal funding to buy "derelict" properties and redevelop them, into, say, condos. Or the lovely Keller Fountain. I seem to recall, from Jewel Lansing's great history of Portland city government, that $400M was eventually invested by public dollars (state and federal) into the PSU area alone.

Said urban renewal areas (including the South Waterfront) are often exempt from, or are assessed, greatly reduced property taxes every year for a great while - anywhere from 20 to 50 years to a lifetime. I believe in these cases in Portland, said renewal areas were exempt for 20 years. State taxes are also often reduced. This is, of course, to encourage development into the kind of high-value properties Mayor Hales extolls as the savior of our city.

I'm not certain what the total dollar amount, in tax breaks and outright subsidies, comes to. But I'm sure its above a billion. Consider that the current City budget is $49M (and was probably less than half that when urban renewal first started). This means that, basically, the City has given away and/or procured for corporate gentrification interests way more than those folks, who are the main donors to city elections, give back.

And not all is coming up roses, either. Lents, an urban renewal area now for 20 years, isn't anywhere near glitzy. The South Waterfront went near bankrupt during the housing crisis, with condos selling at auction starting prices of $199. That's one hundred and ninety nine dollars, not $199K. Even today, the place looks gap-toothed. Meanwhile, PSU and OHSU, two vital and excellent institutions we should be proud to have, have thankfully stepped up and filled in otherwise still-derelict spaces. Even the Pearl is still infilling, after 30 years of "renewal".

Finally, I'm not real sure what developers downtown pay in city fees and annual taxes. I am fairly sure that they receive pretty good tax breaks for little minimal effort. I sure do hope 8th and Hassalo fills in real soon so we can get a good return on our giant giveaway (oops, investment).