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A film worth seeing (again): The Corporation

The 32nd annual Portland International Film Festival (PIFF) kicked off last Thursday with the world premier of Laika's Coraline (yes, there was actually a red carpet in front of the Schnitz; see Oregonian news coverage). I've seen some great films at PIFF over the years.

Five years ago this month, there was one film that really made an impression on me: The Corporation (about the film). Hannah and I watched it again last night and I can report it has aged well and remains very relevant. If you've seen it, chime in below. If you've never seen it, I highly encourage you to watch it. It's a really insightful film, sure to foster some spirited conversations about how to save the world, some deep thinking, and -- hopefully -- motivate change. 

Here's the trailer to give you a taste:

Biotech in Portland: Owning up to reality

From today's Oregonian: OHSU's waterfront vision: 2 million square foot campus: "Making room for biotechnology industries, for years an anchor of OHSU's planning, has faded."

Someone has finally admitted it. Portland is not and most likely will never be a major biotech hub. While the vision may have been grand, the reality has simply never really caught up.

From a 2003 article in the Daily Journal of Commerce:

As Seattle gears up to create a biotech hub at South Lake Union, the city of Portland is laying the foundation for what it hopes will be a successful biotech public/private partnership...The city....sees South Waterfront as an opportunity to entice biotech firms from California to Switzerland....Don Mazziotti, executive director of Portland Development Commission, said the city is attempting to recruit more than a dozen biotech firms. The city is hoping the development will create 10,000 jobs.

The biggest news in this space is that ProteoGenix Inc., a Portland biotech startup spun out of the pediatrics department at Oregon Health & Science University, recently secured $20 million in venture capital -- and I believe is planning to move out of the city of Portland.

The PDC continues to tout biosciences as a key industry cluster in Portland on its website.

Joseph Cortright: "This notion that you lure biotech to your community to save its economy is laughable. This is a bad-idea virus that has swept through governors, mayors and economic development officials." Mr. Cortright is a Portland economist who has co-authored a report on the subject.

When "Oregon" really means "Portland"

This month, Hilton HHonors is touting Oregon as a destination. Hilton's take on the state?

Oregon is a place that satisfies both wilderness seekers and sophisticated travelers. Having won numerous awards for environmental excellence, Oregon is a study in expertly balancing a growing city with surrounding wildlife. In Oregon, you can snowboard in the morning, visit a winery in the afternoon and watch the symphony at night....

I love how "Oregon" becomes a synonym for "Portland" in the eyes of the their copywriter.

The timing of this promotion is also amusing, given that Hilton just announced its intention to sell its 782 room downtown Portland property (though it is expected to retain management).

On using craigslist

I still remember the first time I used craigslist.org: I was looking for a place to live in San Francisco. It was the end of 2001 and a friend who used to live in SF had recommended that I check it out. Craigslist helped me find a wonderful roommate (I miss you, Anne Marie!) and a great place to live. From then on, I was hooked. I've used it dozens of times since then, sometimes posting, sometimes responding, and always amazed at how useful craigslist is.

Have something you no longer need? Take a moment, make a post and you'll undoubtedly receive several emails within hours from people who have been searching for precisely what you no longer need. Looking for a tennis partner, a temp job, a toaster oven or transsexual erotic services? You'll surely find it on craigslist.

Can a city be truly vibrant without children?

Every so often, an envelope will appear in my mailbox from my friend Anne Marie. Inside, invariably, will be an intriguing article culled from The Atlantic Monthly or The New York Times or some such publication with a short note attached. I love these occasional surprises and do my best to return the favor whenever I see interesting articles.

Just the other day, she sent me an article that The New York Times had run on Portland and how Vibrant Cities Find One Thing Missing: Children. The article talks about the Pearl District and how it "seems to have everything in new urban design and comfort" except children:

Crime is down. New homes and businesses are sprouting everywhere. But in what may be Portland's trendiest and fastest-growing neighborhood, the number of school-age children grew by only three between the census counts in 1990 and 2000.

...

Portland is one of the nation's top draws for the kind of educated, self-starting urbanites that midsize cities are competing to attract. But as these cities are remodeled to match the tastes of people living well in neighborhoods that were nearly abandoned a generation ago, they are struggling to hold on to enough children to keep schools running and parks alive with young voices.

...

Phillip Longman, a senior fellow at the New America Foundation, a public policy research organization in Washington...said a decline in children not only takes away "human capital" needed to sustain an aging population, but "having fewer children really diminishes the quality of life in a city."

This trend is apparent not only in Portland, but also in San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, Miami, Denver, Minneapolis, Austin and Atlanta. Walking the streets and talking to friends that live in these areas, I can validate this trend.

Just last week, the Portland School Board voted to close three schools due to declining enrollment. But there may be hope. My friend Brad and his wife Catherine were profiled in Portland Monthly magazine's March real estate issue as a young family who moved with their two young kids to a new place in northeast Portland last year. And this account of one mother's discovery of great public schools in San Francisco suggests may yet be some hope.

JetBlue arriving soon at PDX

At last! The hip, frugal luxury airline JetBlue has announced new service from Portland (PDX) to New York (JFK) beginning May 17. This is a victory for Portland, as it has been the only major west coast market without JetBlue service (even Sacramento got service last year). This new service doubles the number of choices (sad, but true) at PDX for non-stop flights to New York (the only other airline currently providing non-stop service to the New York area from PDX is Continental to Newark). Introductory JetBlue pricing is from $99 each way to New York (JFK). Learn more and buy a ticket. Here is a survey of current media coverage (via Google News).

While this is big news in Portland (The Oregonian, Portland Business Journal), it is illustrative to read the New York Times coverage. The main storyline there is the simultaneous announcement of three flights a day to Burbank, California. Only in paragraph 19 is the PDX announcement even mentioned:

Yesterday, JetBlue said it would fly daily between Kennedy Airport and Portland, Ore., starting on May 17. And, it said it would add a second daily flight between Seattle and J.F.K. on June 17.

At least it got mentioned at all.

Portland Jazz Festival Opens Today

Today marks the beginning of ten days of jazz in the City of Roses. Building on last year's highly-successful inaugural run, the second annual Portland Jazz Festival looks promising, with a blend of international, national and regional talent, as well as a mix of concerts and educational events. Mary Hughley provides an overview of the festival in today's Oregonian A&E. Additional information is available at eJazz News, Jazz USA, and the festival's official website, pdxjazz.com. You can access a full festival schedule here.

If you are interested in going to a concert or two, let me know (here's one way). I would love to catch as many as possible.

Come join me and paddle the Willamette River!

I am thinking about participating in the first annual Portland Paddle on Saturday, October 2nd. Would you like to join me?

According to event organizers, this is "a canoe and kayak event for all ages. The purpose of Portland Paddle is to get people on the Willamette River to learn about it, enjoy it and foster appreciation of this great natural resource." As far as I can tell, the event is free and they will even supply a canoe or kyak if you don't have your own. The route is from Willamette Park to around Ross Island and up to the Hawthorne Bridge (and back). If the weather holds, it could be a beautiful way to spend a Saturday.

Contact me if you would like to register at the same time.

More lunch time deals

Downtown office workers in the know hit the basement Nordstrom Rack on their lunch hour for deals. Open since 1986, the original Rack in Portland is tiny by modern standards and the line of customers waiting to purchase their deals often backs up in the women's lingerie department. Next spring, the Rack is coming out the closet and moving above ground. It's going upscale and hopping across the street to the ODS tower where it will occupy 34,000 SF. I hope its new visibility and posh digs won't destroy its charm.

Oregon Zoo Summer Concert Series

The Oregon Zoo announced the concert lineup for this season's
Oregon Zoo Summer Concert Series today and it looks to be one of the strongest lineups in years.

Consider: Indigo Girls, Bela Fleck, Robert Cray & Buddy Guy and many more. See the full schedule.

If you'd like to join me at any of the concerts this summer, let me know. I'm sure I'll take in a couple of them before the season's over.