PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) – On Wednesday morning, Lisa Schroeder, owner and executive chef of Mother’s Bistro & Bar on Southwest 3rd Avenue, observed her empty dining room, something she says has become far too common.
“We’ve had homeless like every city, there are protests outside of ICE like every city, but what’s different about Portland is that people left the office buildings and didn’t go back after COVID,” she said in a video posted to social media.
This summer, Downtown Portland Clean & Safe reported that foot traffic reached its highest level since the pandemic. However, the number of office workers downtown remains low. Traffic from January to August was still just 70% of what it was in 2019…