Oregon City downtown development director Lloyd Purdy, center, talks to members of the Metro Policy Advisory Committee on July 13. Downtown Oregon City has attracted 43 new businesses in the last three years.
Reporting from Oregon City
At the top of a bluff overlooking downtown, Carol Pauli smiled when two bright young faces tried to squeeze through a group of grown-up visitors.
"Oh! It's Claire and Charlie!" said Pauli, an Oregon City commissioner. "Hi Claire!"
Such are the small-town charms still evident in Oregon City, a city in transition and the subject of a tour by members of the Metro Policy Advisory Committee on Wednesday afternoon.
It's that small-town charm that lured Robb Crocker, CEO of Funnelbox Studios, a visual design firm that recently set up shop downtown.
Funnelbox is slowly reclaiming the city's old city hall – even the jail cells and vault. As designers plugged away at video on snazzy computers, Crocker talked about why his company chose Oregon City instead of Portland.
Oregon City leaders tried to schedule much of the city's infrastructure work to coincide with a years-long closure and rehab of the city's Willamette River bridge.
"The city's been amazing at working with us," said Crocker, whose firm now has 60 employees. "We're building a lot of energy here in Oregon City on Main Street."
It's part of a string of successes that city leaders credit to urban renewal, as well as an aggressive marketing and rebuilding campaign for the city's once-stagnant downtown.
That downtown now seems vibrant, and not just with a seemingly unending litany of public works projects. Oregon City spends about $75,000 a year marketing its downtown.
"We've done a good job leveraging local money, grants, nonprofits, regional government and the state to get some expensive infrastructure in place," said Tony Konkol, Oregon City's community development director.
It's worked. Since 2009, 43 new businesses have sprung up downtown. And the investment on the public side keeps coming – sculptures and other public art line the streets downtown, and more is on the way.
At the base of the municipal elevator, downtown development director Lloyd Purdy told the group of about 15 tour participants that another $100,000 was coming to Oregon City, this time to paint and install art on downtown's historic municipal elevator.