Quote:
Originally Posted by CorbinWarrick
It shouldn’t shock you. This city doesn’t utilize its river for shops, cafes, restaurants and bars well at all.
This is another prime example. Why they are choosing to face a busy street is beyond me.. Ah well
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You fail to cite the earliest example of riverfront retail: Riverplace in the 1980's. While Riverplace can be lively in the summer, it is usually dead in the winter. Many shops & restaurants cannot survive the seasonal lack of business. How many on this platform recall the floating restaurant Newport Bay?? It appears to be vacant & unused today.
Furthermore, even more storefront shops, restaurants, and bars need to be arrayed along the riverfront so there would be critical mass for continued pedestrian energy. But we must face the fact that most of Portland's Downtown faces Waterfront Park, which will never be plowed under to create a shop- and restaurant-lined riverfront.
Continuing, retail development along Portland's Willamette requires careful consideration of pedestrian connections. Riverplace has long been a bit too remote and unconnected to other Downtown nodes of activity. So for the Centennial Mill redevelopment with retail near the river to succeed, there must be a pedestrian bridge to the Pearl District.
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