Old Town Portland’s resurgence as a model for future manufacturing

Portland’s Old Town Neighborhood is undergoing a resurgence. Once known as the original downtown of Portland, it is on the verge of being the model for the future of manufacturing.

The idea is to turn the famous “Made in America” motto into “Made in Old Town.”

It’s a bold idea, that’s already gaining traction with major players.

The future of manufacturing is moving away from industrial smokestacks to sustainable cutting-edge technology utilizing 3D printing. It’s happening in one of the hardest-hit neighborhoods of Portland, Old Town.

Historic Old Town once was a manufacturing centerpiece of the region, but today it is known as a hotbed of Portland’s homeless and addicted. Many businesses have moved, and problems have moved into their place.

Matthew Claudel, the founder of Field States, focuses on urban planning. He says with vacancy comes opportunity.

Claudel says vacant buildings allow for advanced manufacturing to create footwear and apparel to be made in a clean, light, and sustainable way without any off-gassing or chemicals that are characteristic in a lot of manufacturing that happens today.

Hilo’s, a software and 3-D printing company on Northwest 5th in Old Town, was once a glass factory 80 years ago. It’s now the center of the “Made in Old Town” development project which is a $125 million plan for a sustainable manufacturing campus.

Four blocks of the Old Town District will be revitalized, and nine buildings transformed according to the plan.

The concept stretches beyond manufacturing space and includes retail and housing with the hopes of sparking a vibrant neighborhood once again.

Claudel says it’s not enough to just create an industry innovation campus, we really want this to be the future of the neighborhood as well.

Former Nike executive Noel Kinder is on the Trust Stewardship Committee and says the opportunity to tap into the history of manufacturing apparel and shoes in this region with new technologies like 3D printing and knitting is the future of production. He adds this space allows major brands to work in an environment that keeps the work local. Kinder says typically you’d have to go thousands of miles away to Asia and now they’re trying to upend that model and bring part of that ecosystem to Portland so that all the brands that live here can take advantage of it.

Claudel says manufacturing can be an important component of American downtown economies and that cities will follow Portland after this and they’ll look for opportunities in the things that matter to their heritage and their economies.

https://katu.com/news/local/old-town-portlands-resurgence-as-a-model-for-future-manufacturing-deb-knapp-made-in-america-matthew-claudel-field-states-hilo-nike-noel-kinder

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Author: KATU News
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News post in at: October 3, 2024, 3:04 am.

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