New report: Downtown Portland foot traffic shows year-over-year growth, increase in worker presence

Published 5:00 am Tuesday, January 28, 2025

Downtown Portland continues to show strong signs of recovery, with employee foot traffic increasing 8% in 2024 compared to the previous year, according to new data from Downtown Portland Clean & Safe.

Foot traffic has been steadily rising, according to the new study, with a 3% overall increase between 2023 and 2024.

Notably, the report reads, foot traffic reached a post-pandemic high of more than 2.4 million visitors during five separate months in 2024, coinciding with the return of major events and concerts to the city center.

Overall foot traffic has increased 54% from the district’s pandemic low point in 2021.

Speaking to a reporter during the Christmas 2024 shopping season, Kristin Van Buskirk, owner of Woonwinkel on Southwest Washington Street, said she, too, has seen a new life being brought back to the city. “It’s not like some big surge happened overnight. It’s just been slow and steady,” she said of the past few years.

Van Buskirk said it felt like tourists and out-of-towners were the first to return, while local folks in surrounding cities are slowly trickling in.

Business leaders cheered the new research.

“Downtown Portland continues to show encouraging signs of recovery, with five months reaching the significant milestone of 2.4 million visitors in 2024,” said Mark Wells, executive director of Downtown Portland Clean & Safe. “The steady increase in overall foot traffic, and particularly the notable uptick in worker presence downtown, demonstrates that our recovery continues to move in the right direction.”

The increased foot traffic coincides with improvements across several key areas and the return of signature events to the city center, according to the report:

Major events choosing downtown: The Rockstar Energy Open drew thousands to Tom McCall Waterfront Park, while Live Nation concerts at Providence Park, including the Foo Fighters, brought 30,000 attendees downtown.

Employee presence: Downtown sees its strongest weekday activity Tuesdays through Thursdays.

• Tourism continues its strong recovery, especially in June and July when room demand increased by more than 10%. In August, room demand increased by more than 17%. The trend continued through fall with increases greater than 5% in September and November and nearly 8% in October.
• 40 retail businesses opened in the Downtown Portland Clean & Safe District in 2023 and 36 retail businesses in 2024.

“The return of iconic events like Project Pabst and new attractions like the Rockstar Energy Open and Coraline’s Curious Cat Trail, combined with consistent growth in worker traffic and visitor numbers, shows that Portland is reclaiming its status as a premier destination for both culture and commerce,” said Andrew Hoan, president and CEO of the Portland Business Alliance and the Portland Metro Chamber. “We’re seeing a revitalized downtown that’s attracting both local workers and tourists, creating an increasingly dynamic city center.”

Downtown Portland Clean & Safe District was established in 1988 to support additional cleaning and security in a 213-block-area of Portland’s Central City.

“It’s not like some big surge happened overnight. It’s just been slow and steady.”

Kristin Van Buskirk, owner, Woonwinkel