The best we can do to encourage lower vacancy rates and increase businesses is to seek out viable entrepenurial business from the community and elsewhere. We have to have incentives for Oregon business. Higher taxes have only increases the likelihood of businesses moving.

Keep an eye on politics and step up to plate when average Joe comments about his take on current political and tax issues. We are outweighed when it comes to matter of fact versus matter of opinion. All we can do is recruit to protect Oregon.

The Media isn’t going to help Oregon, so far they have only harmed us by telling partial truths and purposely hiding facts. Ask Greg Mathews, Matt Wingard, Scott Brunn they are very much aware of the disjustice, and hiding of facts done by Media.

Laura

One way is to keep the expense of location in focus. This includes items like local business taxes. I submit that this is an opportunity for Multnomah County and Portland to foster long range tax policies for the downtown that will attract and retain businesses over the long haul.

The goal should be to maintain commercial occupancy irrespective of the economy cycle. Snare them and don’t let go. But, this means that pet projects may have to go by the wayside. And, constructing new buildings doesn’t fill the unoccupied space. It merely creates a near blighted area.

Take a walk around downtown especially north of the square. Too many buildings have at best only their ground floor retail space occupied – arguably underutilized – while the floors above are nearly vacant. This was true even before the recession.

While it sounds great that livability, that usually reads bikes, is still so touted when the city has in fact recognized that focusing on livability failed to attract businesses and spur innovation. Like it or not businesses foot the bill for Portland’s livability.

Thus, the question ought to be how can Portland attract and maintain commercial businesses? Not by raising business taxes nor by spending money to satisfy bike enthusiasts.

One clear way is for the city council to become business friendly and quit being subservient to the Portland Business Alliance (PBA) which has done little to build the downtown. The PBA is much like union chiefs that holds themselves out as speaking for the union (of businesses) when in fact they are acting in their own self interest.

The city and PDC are not going to create 10,000 jobs in 5 years without attracting new and retaining old businesses. Portland’s business taxes and those “self-imposed” business taxes levied by PBA via business improvement district need to be reduced if not eliminated in some cases.

This should not only make the downtown more business desirable and fill unoccupied commercial space, but also foster small businesses and innovation. Unbalanced spending on livability factors will not do either.

It should be have faith in downtown Portland not “have faith in Kruse Way,”