The zombie hotel project rises again
According to the last item in this column, Portland's odd Metro government will be resurrecting the Convention Center hotel project once again, for the umpteenth time, tomorrow. Spending more millions of tax dollars on the city's hopeless efforts to become a convention destination is unspeakably wrong. We won't restate the obvious; for the full diatribe, readers can go here.
But perhaps it's a good thing that Metro's pulling this stunt this week, when people are about to cast their ballots in the local elections. It reminds voters that the Portland developers and their construction buddies (management and union) never stop looting the government treasury. And their cronies include people like Hales and Nolan and Shiprack.
| Posted at 8:46 AM | Permalink |
|
Comments (10)
I applaud your optimism, however mild, but would prefer this crazy idea die forever.
Posted by dg | April 25, 2012 9:22 AM
One wonders why a city of Portland's size, with Seattle to the north and San Francisco, Las Vegas and Los Angeles to the south, would ever position itself as a major convention destination.
Portland should demonstrate its flexibility and niche credentials by promoting medium to smaller unique venues and reward destinations (hotels, halls, etc.) who attract groups to the City for various and sundry reasons.
The explosion of Portland Vicinity Tours in the downtown and Gorge area demonstrate that there are many opportunities to bring anything from individual travelers, couple and families to groups like the Jane Austen and Mensa associations (smaller in size, but large in devotion and stature) to our city.
Many hotels already offer - or are beginning to offer - special incentives and gift cards for other attractions in the area.
I think we should be smart about promoting the city as a destination for groups of all sizes. Money is money - it all adds up, keeps people employed and pays the taxes. Jack's right; it's stupid to go for huge conventions. Why?
Posted by NW Portlander | April 25, 2012 9:28 AM
Portland doesn't have the weather or airline routes to attract many conventions. I lived in Atlanta, which is a huge convention city, even though the downtown is totally unappealing. The main reason it can attract conventions is its huge airport with flights everywhere.
Posted by Stuart | April 25, 2012 9:34 AM
But...but..."stupid convention center hotels" line the pockets of developer weasels, the officios at PDC, the unions, and the chosen construction companies. Those are the people that matter, the rest of us get stuck with paying the bills!
Posted by Portland Native | April 25, 2012 9:34 AM
It's not a 'government treasury' - it's my hard earned cash.
Posted by Leaving sooner | April 25, 2012 9:48 AM
They are greasing the skids in anticipation of a Hales, Nolan, Novik slate on the city council.
Posted by Usual Kevin | April 25, 2012 10:18 AM
NW Portlander, when I first heard about the idea of Portland becoming a major convention destination, a friend at the time protested my hysterical laughter. After all, a big Linux convention had just happened in Portland, thus proving that I was WRONG. My mistake: obviously, what Portland needs more of are socially retarded Cory Doctorow lookalikes who, as used to be said about the big Comdex show in Las Vegas, "come out with one shirt and one $20 bill, and don't change either for a week." Besides, doesn't the big OryCon science fiction convention cater to that crowd anyway?
Posted by Texas Triffid Ranch | April 25, 2012 10:51 AM
The local government has become a giant fleecing machine servicing an ever-changing herd of sheep.
Posted by Mr. Grumpy | April 25, 2012 11:03 AM
The Fleecing of Portland!
Someday books will be written about this and who was responsible for the fleecing.
Posted by clinamen | April 25, 2012 11:18 AM
"Spending more millions of tax dollars on the city's hopeless efforts to become a convention destination"
This is Portland - The only reason these ideas haven't worked is because we haven't thrown enough money at them (aka the Krugman effect.)
Posted by Steve | April 25, 2012 2:04 PM