Portland had the wind at its back in the years before COVID-19. The city was buoyed by an influx of highly educated workers, a resurgent technology sector, an active construction industry and by Portland’s robust food and beverage scene that attracted visitors from around the world.
That hospitality sector collapsed during the pandemic, when restaurants and bars all shuttered indoor dining to contain the spread of the deadly virus. Portland’s hospitality jobs never fully recovered and now the rebound has stalled. City economists warn that is an ominous sign for Portland’s broader comeback.
“It is difficult to imagine a resurrection of the Portlandia economy of the 2010s without a recovery in this industry,” they wrote in a budget forecast last month…