Portland, OregonBusiness District Associations

Creating a sense of place and a feeling of community in 2007

Portland is often lauded as one of the most desirable places to live and work in the nation.

• Could it be because of the two grand rivers that border and bisect the city?

• Could it be the acres of lush, green parks that provide diverse recreational activities that make the city what it is?

• Could it be the revitalized downtown area that makes it so appealing?

It could be all of these things.

But people who live here generally say what they think makes Portland great is their neighborhood – and the Business District Association that supports it.

These neighborhood business districts do much more than promote the financial interests of the owners. They create and participate in activities that reach out and bring their commu-nities together – giving each neighborhood the feeling of a be-ing village.

Many of the most effective of these district activities are sup-ported by the City of Portland through grants managed by the Alliance of Neighborhood Business Associations (APNBA).

The vitality and creative spirit demonstrated by the asso-ciations, matched with equally creative cooperation from the City’s many agencies and neighborhoods provides wonderful examples of what happens when you’re given the seed money to “Bloom where you’re planted.”

In these pages, you’re invited to come visit some of the “Villages of Portland, Oregon”, and see the many ways the grants connect businesses with their citizens and create a sense of place, and true community.

How the “Villages of Portland” create a sense of place and a feeling of community

In 2007, the APNBA distributed $190,000 to business district associa-tions and other non-profit organizations in Portland.

APNBA collaborated with the Office of Neighborhood Involvement to create a list of local non-profits and chambers of commerce. All of these organizations were all invited to apply for matching grants of up to $5,000.

The APNBA distributed $171,569 in 60 grants.

This investment was leveraged more than 3-to-1 with a match of $655,000 in cash, in kind services, donations, volun-teer time, and grants from other agen-cies.

Eight requests totaling $40,000 were rejected as not meeting criteria, two re-quests were withdrawn during selection, and one grant was returned when the project was cancelled.

The grants covered a wide range of projects, from simple website upgrades and window decals to elaborate multi-agency projects to educate refugee chil-dren and build a park.

A worthwhile investment

Grants are leveraged 3-to-1 in cash, in kind services, donations, volunteer time, and grants from other agencies.

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82nd Avenue of RosesBy decree of the Portland City Council in

early 2007, 82nd Avenue became the “Avenue of Roses.”

Their grant added sign caps to demonstrate their new, positive attitude toward their often-denigrated, but storied street.

The continued success of their improvement concept appeared when hundreds of residents – from four neighborhoods – took part in and enjoyed the First Annual 82nd Avenue of Roses Parade in April.

The parade was supported, in part, by an grant from the APNBA.

MaplewoodMaplewood Neighborhood, tucked in the

SW Hills, has a business district of about a doz-en businesses. Too small to be a business dis-trict association, they purchased sign caps to show their pride in their neighborhood and its relationship with local businesses.

Hawthorne DistrictHawthorne celebrated the end of a 10-year

project to upgrade the street with Hawthorne Day, a boulevard-long street fair featuring mu-sic, outdoor shopping and enertainment.

This district marked its boundaries with bronze plaques on either end of the street and used another APNBA grant to install medallions along the sidewalks.

Creating a sense of community, neighborhood by neighborhood

Woodstock DistrictThe Woodstock Parade and Street Fair draws

a throng of cheering citizens, from miles around, to their main boulevard.

The producers of the event wrote:

“The grant created many opportu-nities. The event sprawled the entire length of business district.

Record numbers of people attended and record numbers of businesses spon-sored. We offer our gratitude and appre-ciation to the committee and APNBA for the opportunities the grant has afforded us for this project as well as past and fu-ture projects. Thank you.”

Montavilla DistrictBusinesses and neighbors in the Montavilla

district worked with a local land owner to start a farmers market offering fresh food weekly dur-ing the summers to a previously underserved area.

The Montavilla Farmer’s Market drew cus-tomers from as far east as Gresham.

Multnomah Village DistrictThe Multnomah Neighborhood offered their

neighbors a weekly, free movie series in the open pavilion of their community center.

The Multnomah Village Business Asso-ciation event draws thousands of people who crowd along the main street to see Multnomah Days Parade.

NNE DistrictNorth Northeast Business Association put

their grant funds to work by recognizing com-munity-minded businesspeople at their 10th Annual Excellence in Business awards banquet and fashion show.

Old Town Chinatown DistrictHelping to solidify a “sense of place”, Old

Town Chinatown presented a two-day, “Under the Autumn Moon” festival, featuring a parade, musical and cultural events and shopping area.

Foster Area DistrictHere is a great example of a district leverag-

ing the City’s investment: Foster Area Business Association used their $3,500 grant, and bol-stered it with $1,350 in cash, $500 in-kind, and $14,130 in volunteer time investments to put on the Foster Road Street Fair. The result? A 456% return on investment.

Up and down the street, from SE 50th Ave. east past Interstate 205, neighbors and visi-tors enjoyed music, watched entertainment and toured the district with renewed interest. Partic-ipating businesses see it as an annual event.

Jazz in St. JohnsCathedral Park Jazz asked for funds for their

27th annual event. Although the grant was a very small portion of their expenses, the orga-nizers commented:

“This program is a brilliant way to in-volve BDAs in the quality of community life by stimulating existing activities or creating new project. Funding is usually the obstacle. These grants bring needed vi-tality to BDAs by removing that obstacle.”

Artists in Southeast PortlandSE Area ArtWalk, during which artists dis-

play their work at their galleries and in local businesses, used their funds to expand the very popular Eastside event. They reported:

“The increased visibility of artists, business-es, hosts, and neighborhood enhances our com-munity in many ways.” and ”The (APNBA) award ceremony is a great way to honor those chosen to receive the various grants, see what others are working on, and meet and network. The ArtWalk extends a grateful Thank You.”

Gateway’s “Fun-O-Rama”Gateway District used grant funds to pur-

chase tents and sound equipment for their dis-trict-wide “Fun-o-Rama Fair and Parade”.

Folks came from miles around, lining twenty blocks of NE Halsey St. to watch the parade.

Then, they stopped by the Community Fair to meet both merchants and non-profit organiza-tions and see honors given to Gateway’s “Per-son of the Year”.

Reestablishing Midway DistrictTo help establish the Midway district in the

minds of area residents, their grants have gone to help fund “gateway signs” on SE Division St. and window clings for all businesses – whether or not they are association members.

Their holiday grant is used to advertise shop-ping opportunities through their website on the digital sign at the corner of SE 122nd Ave. and Division St. – with holiday messages seen by thousands each day.

Portland International DistrictAn International Festival, featuring live mu-

sic, entertainment, ethnic food from local res-taurants, and a play was supported by an APN-BA grant this year. It drew visitors from several surrounding neighborhoods.

The one-year-old district plans to make this an annual summertime event.

Street art in ParkroseParkrose Business Foundation, working with

Parkrose Business Association and the support of both the Portland and Oregon transporta-tion departments, renovated a prominent traf-fic island located at the junction of NE Portland Blvd., NE Sandy Blvd. and Interstate 205.

After taking out unsightly, overgrown bush-es, they broke up and hauled away concrete. The newly-landscaped a traffic island will soon feature a secure platform to show off an art ob-ject, on loan from RACC.

Buying localThe Sustainable Network of Portland pro-

moted Independent’s Week, marketing the local businesses, educating visitors about the benefits of keeping money in the local economy, and urging everyone to “Shop Local.”

“This is a wonderful resource that has a di-rect effect on our local economy and business,” the grantee said.

Hollywood Boosters collaborated with Film Action of Oregon to mar-ket Hollywood’s return to full functioning after their huge sewer project.

The Hispanic Metropolitan Chamber used their funds for scholar-ships to their trade show and to purchase equipment to use for training and business presentations.

Multnomah Village Association, cooperating with Portland Depart-ment of Transportation, the Bureau of Environmental Services, Metro, Southwest Neighborhoods Inc., and the neighborhood started a coopera-tive venture to create a pocket park under an overpass in Multnomah. See http://multnomahvillagepark.googlepages.com

North Northeast Business Association used their funds to purchase and install computers and software in two local coffee shops, now Tech-nology Centers, to give small local businesses access to computers and the Internet.

Belmont Area used their grant in cooperation with PDOT to replace two on-street parking spots with bike corrals, creating parking for up to two dozen bicycles. Belmont was shown in the November 5, 2007, NY Times article, “In Portland, Cultivating a Culture of Two Wheels”, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/05/us/05bike.html?emc=etal.

Hillsdale is holding an event to celebrate the opening of a new senior care center, their holiday book sale, and their farmer’s market.

The Somali Community Services used their grant to purchase com-puters and software to tutor Somalis and other refugee children. Their evaluation reports:

“The grant program made it possible for underserved refu-gee children to access continuous tutoring and computer literacy throughout the summer in addition to the school year.

This grant has also enabled Somali Community Services to se-cure more volunteers even on Saturdays. Most of all, as a result of this grant, SCSC is receiving 13 more desktop computer dona-tions from Intel to meet the demand of students being tutored at the center. The grant may seem little to some, but it has come a long way for SCSC and the community it serves.”

Even more community connections

The Pearl District added sign caps to mark its borders.

Fox Chase, marketing a commercial area too small for a BDA, de-clared its spirit by adding mosaic planters and totem poles to the intersec-tion at 30th and Killingsworth.

Homowo African Arts marketed their classes and events throughout the city.

Oregon Nikkei Legacy used their grants to draw visitors to Old Town on First Sundays.

And, seven grants were to either start or upgrade websites for Gate-way, Hispanic Metropolitan Chamber, Historic Mississippi, Holly-wood Boosters, Lloyd District, Nob Hill, and North Portland.

We thank youPortland’s business district association members work dili-

gently to make their “villages” more inviting places to live, work and play.

Collectively, the APNBA and its members thank the City of Portland for its suport of their efforts.

About the APNBAThe mission of the Alliance of Neighborhood Business Asso-

ciations is to promote the business welfare of the main streets, town centers, business districts, and industrial sanctuaries in Portland, Oregon through networking, training, education, and advocacy.

© 2007 Alliance of Neighborhood Business Associations, Portland, OR. All rights reserved