Waterfront Park Design Competition
And the Downtown to the Waterfront Study
In 2025, Portland Parks & Recreation began developing an international competition to design an events facility at the Tom McCall Waterfront Park bowl.
In response, Design Portland produced a series of talks and design charrettes that ultimately led the to an expansion of the competition to the entire park, from the Steel Bridge to RiverPlace.
Our four “Downtown to the Waterfront” charrettes developed a vision for how a redesigned park could lead to profound and necessary changes to downtown. For this work, we brought Portland’s leading urban designers, architects, engineers, and other creatives together with top city officials and community members—more than 100 visionaries in all-- leveraging $40,000 in city funding into more than $600,000 in pro bono services.
Most importantly, we mapped a path to changes—some immediate, some longterm—that will help transform Portland’s downtown into a neighborhood where people can live, work, learn, play, shop, and innovate in a lovely, thriving place to be.
Learn more about the design competion here
A visualization by NC3D shows a bold change to Waterfront Park could unleash 3,500 units of new downtown housing.
08.15
Carol Coletta,Bloomberg Public Innovation Fellow and former CEO of Memphis River Parks Partnership, explores what Portland can learn from the transformation of Tom Lee Park in Memphis.
Transforming Harvey Milk and Oak
1.26 5:30-7:30 pm.
A cross-section of Portland's top talent in urban design, engineering, architecture, city planning and other creatives envisioned how tech, mass timber, urban play, and queer culture can join with the waterfront to create downtown Portland's next great neighborhood.
Join us to see the ideas generated so far and add yours!
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