PORTLAND, Ore. — A new report released by Downtown Portland Clean & Safe says that foot traffic in downtown Portland has increased in 2022 compared to 2021. Downtown Portland Clean & Safe helps maintain a 213-block area of Downtown Portland by providing cleaning services and security.
The report highlights pedestrians, both tourists and workers, within the 213-block area. It shows that foot traffic increased year over year from 2020 to 2022, but doesn't mention how it compares to 2019, the last non-pandemic year in Portland.
In 2020, states and cities across the country shut down amid the start of the current COVID-19 pandemic. Portland also experienced months of protests and riots in response to the George Floyd killing in Minnesota. In 2021, as vaccines became more widely available, cities and states began to lift restrictions and capacity limits, but that wasn't until summer and those restrictions only lasted a few weeks before being implemented again in Oregon and Washington.
The year 2022 started off with mask requirements and COVID-19 restrictions, but were eventually lifted in March. Slowly, the city has come back to life as more businesses began to require workers to return to the office. At the same time, a decrease in foot traffic also means that remote work has become more acceptable and feasible.
The report says that in 2022, downtown Portland saw a 64% increase in visitors compared to 2021 and an even larger increase than that of 2020.
The report measured visitors, both workers and visitors from March 1 to June 9 of 2022.
It also says that "in 2019, prior to the pandemic, pedestrian traffic was evenly distributed across each day of the week – with slight increases on Fridays. In 2022, while the traditional work week remains slower, there is an increase in foot traffic on Fridays and Saturdays, with Fridays being Downtown’s busiest day of the week."
The report also looked at Saturdays surrounding the Rose Festival, including Memorial Day, and found that "the number of people downtown was recorded at 71.4% of 2019 levels."
This report comes just a week after researchers at UC Berkeley looked at the rebound levels of 62 large cities across the United States. That report found Portland ranked near the bottom, with San Francisco and Cleveland having a slower recovery coming out of the pandemic.
The Downtown Clean & Safe report says that pedestrians downtown were usually steady during the day pre-COVID, but in 2022 visitation was at its highest from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.
The report says the group used data from Placer.ai to monitor traffic and visit trends. Clean & Safe in previous years had used a count-by-hand method at certain intersections, but has since expanded its pedestrian count research to look at the entire 213-block district.