Advocacy

Working for your business in the
Central Eastside

Since 1980, the CEIC has served as a collective voice for our members to represent their needs to elected officials, community organizations, and industry leaders - leading the Central Eastside’s growth through advocacy, action, and community.

Recent Advocacy Wins

  • Successfully advocated for funds from Multnomah County to be deployed in the Central Eastside to illuminate the viaducts – providing enhanced safety and visibility to those commuting and parking under the bridges.

  • Successfully advocated for and facilitated a 90-day Reset to focus on safety, cleanliness, and accessibility and worked alongside our jurisdictional partners to identify and track priorities in the Central Eastside.

  • Co-authored a “good neighbor agreement” to ensure accountability for services delivered by the City of Portland to the Temporary Alternative Shelter Site (Gideon Triangle) and represented the Central Eastside on the TASS Oversight Committee to ensure those agreements are met.

  • 1891

    The Central Eastside is incorporated into the City of Portland and is the Pacific Northwest’s largest port. Double-decker docks, specializing primarily in the shipping and receiving of agricultural goods, lined the Willamette River’s east bank. Produce distribution and industrial service businesses developed along the railroad tracks and Union Avenue (now Martin Luther King Blvd).

  • 1978

    Governor Neil Goldschmidt and representatives from local Eastside businesses designed the district a sanctuary to preserve the district’s industrial character.

  • 1980

    Central Eastside Council [CEIC] is created to advocate and represent businesses on the Central Eastside.

  • 1986

    District Urban Renewal Plan passed.

  • 1989

    Oregon Convention Center built on Eastside through CEIC advocacy.

  • 1992

    OMSI relocates to the Central Eastside with CEIC advocacy.

  • 2001

    Development of the Vera Katz Eastbank Esplanade with partial funding from the Urban Renewal Plan.

  • 2004

    Creation of Employment Opportunity Subarea Zoning to increase density in the area without threatening the district’s industrial character.

  • 2005

    Burnside Bridge Head Project.

  • 2008

    Advocacy for the preservation of the Convention Center Plaza.

  • 2010

    Central Eastside Parking Plan initiated, and the Burnside-Couch Couplet created through CEIC advocacy.

  • 2012

    Formation of the Transportation and Parking Advisory Committee (TPAC), a sub-committee of the CEIC, in partnership with the Portland Bureau of Transportation to resolve current district parking issues and create parking management systems.

  • 2012-2015

    Development of the Portland Vision, Portland Plan, Central City 2035 Plan, and SE Quadrant Plan.

  • 2015

    Opening of the Tilikum Crossing. This pedestrian, bike and light rail bridge is first new bridge built across the river in the Portland metropolitan area since 1973.

  • 2019

    Formation of the enhanced services district, Central Eastside Together. In February 2019, Portland City Council unanimously voted to approve an Enhanced Services District in the Central Eastside. The Central Eastside’s Enhanced Services District is known as Central Eastside Together.