The document discusses how business district associations in Portland, Oregon work to create a sense of community in their neighborhoods. It describes how the Alliance of Neighborhood Business Associations (APNBA) distributed over $190,000 in matching grants to 60 business district associations and non-profits. These grants were leveraged more than 3 to 1 and used to fund projects like street fairs, farmers markets, and website development that connect local businesses to customers and bring neighborhoods together. The grants helped associations across Portland strengthen their sense of community.

1. Portland, Oregon
Business District Associations
Creating a sense of place and
a feeling of community in 2007

3. Portland is often lauded as one of the most desirable places
to live and work in the nation.
• Could it be because of the two grand rivers
that border and bisect the city?
• Could it be the acres of lush, green parks that
provide diverse recreational activities that make
the city what it is?
• Could it be the revitalized downtown area
that makes it so appealing?
It could be all of these things.
But people who live here generally say what they think makes
Portland great is their neighborhood – and the Business District
Association that supports it.
These neighborhood business districts do much more than
promote the financial interests of the owners. They create and
participate in activities that reach out and bring their commu-
nities together – giving each neighborhood the feeling of a be-
ing village.
Many of the most effective of these district activities are sup-
ported by the City of Portland through grants managed by the
Alliance of Neighborhood Business Associations (APNBA).
The vitality and creative spirit demonstrated by the asso-
ciations, matched with equally creative cooperation from the
City’s many agencies and neighborhoods provides wonderful
examples of what happens when you’re given the seed money
to “Bloom where you’re planted.”
In these pages, you’re invited to come visit some of the
“Villages of Portland, Oregon”, and see the many ways the
grants connect businesses with their citizens and create a
sense of place, and true community.
How the “Villages of Portland” create a sense of
place and a feeling of community

4. In 2007, the APNBA distributed
$190,000 to business district associa-
tions and other non-profit organizations
in Portland.
APNBA collaborated with the Office
of Neighborhood Involvement to create
a list of local non-profits and chambers
of commerce. All of these organizations
were all invited to apply for matching
grants of up to $5,000.
The APNBA distributed $171,569 in
60 grants.
This investment was leveraged more
than 3-to-1 with a match of $655,000 in
cash, in kind services, donations, volun-
teer time, and grants from other agen-
cies.
Eight requests totaling $40,000 were
rejected as not meeting criteria, two re-
quests were withdrawn during selection,
and one grant was returned when the
project was cancelled.
The grants covered a wide range of
projects, from simple website upgrades
and window decals to elaborate multi-
agency projects to educate refugee chil-
dren and build a park.
A worthwhile investment
Grants are leveraged
3-to-1 in cash, in kind
services, donations,
volunteer time, and
grants from other
agencies.
“
”

5. 82nd Avenue of Roses
By decree of the Portland City Council in
early 2007, 82nd Avenue became the “Avenue
of Roses.”
Their grant added sign caps to demonstrate
their new, positive attitude toward their often-
denigrated, but storied street.
The continued success of their improvement
concept appeared when hundreds of residents
– from four neighborhoods – took part in and
enjoyed the First Annual 82nd Avenue of Roses
Parade in April.
The parade was supported, in part, by an
grant from the APNBA.
Maplewood
Maplewood Neighborhood, tucked in the
SW Hills, has a business district of about a doz-
en businesses. Too small to be a business dis-
trict association, they purchased sign caps to
show their pride in their neighborhood and its
relationship with local businesses.
Hawthorne District
Hawthorne celebrated the end of a 10-year
project to upgrade the street with Hawthorne
Day, a boulevard-long street fair featuring mu-
sic, outdoor shopping and enertainment.
This district marked its boundaries with
bronze plaques on either end of the street and
used anotherAPNBAgrant to install medallions
along the sidewalks.
Creating a sense of community,
neighborhood by neighborhood

6. Woodstock District
The Woodstock Parade and Street Fair draws
a throng of cheering citizens, from miles around,
to their main boulevard.
The producers of the event wrote:
“The grant created many opportu-
nities. The event sprawled the entire
length of business district.
Record numbers of people attended
and record numbers of businesses spon-
sored. We offer our gratitude and appre-
ciation to the committee andAPNBAfor
the opportunities the grant has afforded
us for this project as well as past and fu-
ture projects. Thank you.”
Montavilla District
Businesses and neighbors in the Montavilla
district worked with a local land owner to start a
farmers market offering fresh food weekly dur-
ing the summers to a previously underserved
area.
The Montavilla Farmer’s Market drew cus-
tomers from as far east as Gresham.
Multnomah Village District
The Multnomah Neighborhood offered their
neighbors a weekly, free movie series in the
open pavilion of their community center.
The Multnomah Village Business Asso-
ciation event draws thousands of people who
crowd along the main street to see Multnomah
Days Parade.

7. NNE District
North Northeast Business Association put
their grant funds to work by recognizing com-
munity-minded businesspeople at their 10th
Annual Excellence in Business awards banquet
and fashion show.
Old Town Chinatown District
Helping to solidify a “sense of place”, Old
Town Chinatown presented a two-day, “Under
the Autumn Moon” festival, featuring a parade,
musical and cultural events and shopping area.
Foster Area District
Here is a great example of a district leverag-
ing the City’s investment: Foster Area Business
Association used their $3,500 grant, and bol-
stered it with $1,350 in cash, $500 in-kind, and
$14,130 in volunteer time investments to put on
the Foster Road Street Fair. The result? A 456%
return on investment.
Up and down the street, from SE 50th Ave.
east past Interstate 205, neighbors and visi-
tors enjoyed music, watched entertainment and
toured the district with renewed interest. Partic-
ipating businesses see it as an annual event.
Jazz in St. Johns
Cathedral Park Jazz asked for funds for their
27th annual event. Although the grant was a
very small portion of their expenses, the orga-
nizers commented:
“This program is a brilliant way to in-
volve BDAs in the quality of community
life by stimulating existing activities or
creating new project. Funding is usually
the obstacle. These grants bring needed vi-
tality to BDAs by removing that obstacle.”

8. Artists in Southeast Portland
SE Area ArtWalk, during which artists dis-
play their work at their galleries and in local
businesses, used their funds to expand the very
popular Eastside event. They reported:
“The increased visibility of artists, business-
es, hosts, and neighborhood enhances our com-
munity in many ways.” and ”The (APNBA)
award ceremony is a great way to honor those
chosen to receive the various grants, see what
others are working on, and meet and network.
The ArtWalk extends a grateful Thank You.”
Gateway’s “Fun-O-Rama”
Gateway District used grant funds to pur-
chase tents and sound equipment for their dis-
trict-wide “Fun-o-Rama Fair and Parade”.
Folks came from miles around, lining twenty
blocks of NE Halsey St. to watch the parade.
Then, they stopped by the Community Fair
to meet both merchants and non-profit organiza-
tions and see honors given to Gateway’s “Per-
son of the Year”.
Reestablishing Midway District
To help establish the Midway district in the
minds of area residents, their grants have gone
to help fund “gateway signs” on SE Division St.
and window clings for all businesses – whether
or not they are association members.
Their holiday grant is used to advertise shop-
ping opportunities through their website on the
digital sign at the corner of SE 122nd Ave. and
Division St. – with holiday messages seen by
thousands each day.

9. Portland International District
An International Festival, featuring live mu-
sic, entertainment, ethnic food from local res-
taurants, and a play was supported by an APN-
BA grant this year. It drew visitors from several
surrounding neighborhoods.
The one-year-old district plans to make this
an annual summertime event.
Street art in Parkrose
Parkrose Business Foundation, working with
Parkrose Business Association and the support
of both the Portland and Oregon transporta-
tion departments, renovated a prominent traf-
fic island located at the junction of NE Portland
Blvd., NE Sandy Blvd. and Interstate 205.
After taking out unsightly, overgrown bush-
es, they broke up and hauled away concrete.
The newly-landscaped a traffic island will soon
feature a secure platform to show off an art ob-
ject, on loan from RACC.
Buying local
The Sustainable Network of Portland pro-
moted Independent’s Week, marketing the local
businesses, educating visitors about the benefits
of keeping money in the local economy, and
urging everyone to “Shop Local.”
“This is a wonderful resource that has a di-
rect effect on our local economy and business,”
the grantee said.

10. Hollywood Boosters collaborated with FilmAction of Oregon to mar-
ket Hollywood’s return to full functioning after their huge sewer project.
The Hispanic Metropolitan Chamber used their funds for scholar-
ships to their trade show and to purchase equipment to use for training
and business presentations.
Multnomah Village Association, cooperating with Portland Depart-
ment of Transportation, the Bureau of Environmental Services, Metro,
Southwest Neighborhoods Inc., and the neighborhood started a coopera-
tive venture to create a pocket park under an overpass in Multnomah.
See http://multnomahvillagepark.googlepages.com
North Northeast Business Association used their funds to purchase
and install computers and software in two local coffee shops, now Tech-
nology Centers, to give small local businesses access to computers and
the Internet.
Belmont Area used their grant in cooperation with PDOT to replace
two on-street parking spots with bike corrals, creating parking for up to
two dozen bicycles. Belmont was shown in the November 5, 2007, NY
Times article, “In Portland, Cultivating a Culture of Two Wheels”, http://
www.nytimes.com/2007/11/05/us/05bike.html?emc=etal.
Hillsdale is holding an event to celebrate the opening of a new senior
care center, their holiday book sale, and their farmer’s market.
The Somali Community Services used their grant to purchase com-
puters and software to tutor Somalis and other refugee children. Their
evaluation reports:
“The grant program made it possible for underserved refu-
gee children to access continuous tutoring and computer literacy
throughout the summer in addition to the school year.
This grant has also enabled Somali Community Services to se-
cure more volunteers even on Saturdays. Most of all, as a result
of this grant, SCSC is receiving 13 more desktop computer dona-
tions from Intel to meet the demand of students being tutored at
the center. The grant may seem little to some, but it has come a
long way for SCSC and the community it serves.”
Even more community
connections

11. The Pearl District added sign caps to mark its borders.
Fox Chase, marketing a commercial area too small for a BDA, de-
clared its spirit by adding mosaic planters and totem poles to the intersec-
tion at 30th and Killingsworth.
Homowo African Arts marketed their classes and events throughout
the city.
Oregon Nikkei Legacy used their grants to draw visitors to Old Town
on First Sundays.
And, seven grants were to either start or upgrade websites for Gate-
way, Hispanic Metropolitan Chamber, Historic Mississippi, Holly-
wood Boosters, Lloyd District, Nob Hill, and North Portland.
We thank you
Portland’s business district association members work dili-
gently to make their “villages” more inviting places to live,
work and play.
Collectively, the APNBA and its members thank the City of
Portland for its suport of their efforts.
About the APNBA
The mission of theAlliance of Neighborhood BusinessAsso-
ciations is to promote the business welfare of the main streets,
town centers, business districts, and industrial sanctuaries in
Portland, Oregon through networking, training, education, and
advocacy.
© 2007 Alliance of Neighborhood Business Associations, Portland, OR. All rights reserved