Description

For more than 30 years, Portland civic icon Randy Miller has led delegations from the City of Roses on trips to other cities in the United States (and around the world) to learn best practices in urban and economic development. This year, the Portland Business Alliance and Greater Portland, Inc. are partnering with Randy to organize the next Best Practices trip to Sacramento, California. 

This trip is an opportunity to connect with local business and elected leaders from Portland and Sacramento while exploring the successes, challenges and commonalities in one of our peer cities.

Sacramento aligns nicely with Portland. Both are mid-sized, West Coast cities with comparable populations, per capita income, and growth patterns. Both cities also share the same challenges: endemic housing shortages, rising cost of living, high tax burden, and waning population growth. This is why Sacramento was recently identified as Portland’s peer region in the Chamber’s 2024 State of the Economy report.

Below are some of the topics we will explore in Sacramento:

Navigating the livability challenges endemic in West Coast cities
Sacramento is facing challenges with housing, homelessness, substance abuse, and public safety. We’ll meet with elected officials at the city, county, and state level to learn what Sacramento is doing to address these issues.

Re-envisioning downtown and the central city
A decade ago Sacramento embarked on a major renovation of their downtown, building a new sports arena, entertainment district, and mixed-use developments. We’ll tour these projects, talk with the leaders who made them happen, and study the positive impact it has made on the city.

A roadmap for urban infill mega-development
Portland has several major developments on the horizon including the OMSI District, the Broadway Corridor and redevelopment of Lloyd District. Sacramento is in the process of a major urban expansion that will nearly double the size of their downtown. We’ll visit The Railyards to see why this is such a big deal and how the city made it happen.

Building a strategic regional brand
Once a sleepy state capital—California’s odd man out between the Los Angeles and San Francisco—Sacramento has built a reputation for itself as a destination for food and entertainment. With a strong farm-to-fork restaurant scene and a rapidly growing event economy, Sacramento is recording more tourists and hotel occupancy than it had prior to COVID-19.

Leveraging competitive advantages through innovation and partnerships
Sacramento is in the heart of one the world’s most productive agricultural regions. Public-private partnerships are an important force in supporting this vital economic sector and spurring additional innovation. We’ll explore these partnerships as models for better supporting Portland’s economic strengths: sportswear, outdoor recreation, wine, and more.