VOICES FROM THE COMMUNITY:
The visionPDX Input Report

INTRODUCTION

During the summer of 2006, over 13,000 Portlanders responded to a questionnaire about our city and its future. In nine different languages, across all areas of the city and in countless different community settings, these Portlanders provided candid and insightful answers to the following four questions:

1. What do you value most about Portland and why?
2. What changes do you most want to see right now?
3. Imagine Portland in 20 years in the future and all your hopes for the city have been realized. What is different? How is our city a better place?
4. As you imagine the Portland you just described, what are the most important things we can do to get there?

These questions were deliberately open-ended, allowing community members to write as little or as much as they desired, from a few lines to a few paragraphs. Over the next two years, every answer was read, re-read and thoroughly analyzed by community volunteers as well as City staff working on the project.

In Voices from the Community: The visionPDX Input Report, the public now has access to the results of this monumental and historic undertaking. The report contains a wealth of ideas, suggestions and responses to issues such as homelessness, neighborhood livability and population growth, among others. In total, nine major issue areas are identified, with sixty-seven related sub-categories. 

This report differs significantly from the abridged version released in September 2007, which contained only general summaries of each issue area. This complete report, on the other hand, provides summary information as well as in-depth content relating to each major category and sub-category. It also contains areas of broad agreement, areas of disagreement and controversy, and a wealth of practical strategies for how to move Portland forward. In addition, hundreds of quotes from the actual visionPDX surveys allow you to read about ideas, concerns and hopes for Portland's the future in your own words and those of your neighbors.

As can be expected, opinions cover a wide spectrum and reflect the diversity of cultures, lifestyles and political persuasions present in the city today. However, despite many differences, certain themes and ideas do rise to the top, resonating with the vast majority of respondents and providing a general sense of direction as Portland looks to its future.

As a reference guide, Voices from the Community: The visionPDX Input Report serves the invaluable purpose of reminding us what we believe, what matters to us most and what challenges await us in the years ahead. It represents an open invitation to transform our many ideas for change into visible action that brings us closer to the future we imagine and desire.

We hope you find this report informative, engaging, inspiring and useful, and we encourage you to use it in your work, your neighborhood and your community.