Everyone knows the debate ended a few years ago for most companies and positions where it was possible, and leaders felt company performance was more important than their physical ego stroking. Wheeler is asking businesses to require people to do what most workers who can, don’t want–mandate required office presence. I think we can all agree that different companies may enjoy a different balance of days and times for their operation to work…some might want 1, some 3, some zero, but requiring presence…what’s behind it? As always, follow the money and interests entrenched in current downtown infrastructure and real estate:

1. commercial real estate (CRE). Its bleeding nation-wide, as are tax receipts for cities who sold out the core of their cities to developers over the past 100 years. City, read wheeler, only cares about his tax budget, not you or your life. Or your added commute costs, added time out of your life, added exposure to a problem the city helped create by allowing CRE to dominate cities so. Those could have been apartment buildings with mandated affordability…people could be experiencing WFH from downtown apartments en-masse, but the city made its bed and now wants you to sleep in it.
2. Another Oregon live article today indicates the city is going to spend additional millions on additional security for the city’s parking lots. Meanwhile, many past and present transit riders avoid transit now when possible as it’s fucking filthy and unsafe. Where are the millions to make people want to use MAX or the Train? Public transit is much more affordable in most cases than owning and insuring a car, but it has to be safe and convenient–it’s definitely not the first and often isn’t the second thanks to item #1 above where our populace is spread out instead of densely concentrated in apartments. I thought Portland was all about reducing car trips? An “inner boundary” toll ala London was even floated in the last 10 years, yet we’re going to spend additional millions to get folks to drive? Talk about a death rattle for the “progressive” city. What a joke, it’s all about tax receipts from downtown businesses that Wheeler is worried will leave if people continue to avoid downtown.

Both of these are breathlessly short-sighted and go against so much of the marketing bullshit Portland likes to paint on itself. Much like 08-09, instead of letting big bastard wall street tycoons and wealthy investors take the haircut on their shitty investments when they turned over, lap dog governments are propping them up instead. CRE should be allowed to crater, be razed, and build cities where people don’t have to own a car if they don’t want to. Holy crap insurance is usurious.