March 03 2021
Jessie Burke is with the Old Town Community Association's business committee. She also owns The Society Hotel in Portland's Old Town.
I recently read three articles about the state of downtown Portland — one concerned ("Death of a City: The Portland Story?" Jan. 28, Forbes Magazine) and two seemingly mocking the first ("Portland is the new Pompeii, according to Forbes," Jan. 30, Willamette Week) and ("Crying Wolf: If Portland tourism dies, you can thank downtown business interests and the police," Feb. 1, Portland Mercury).
I have been a Portland small-business owner for more than a decade, and have lived in Portland for almost 20 years. I am a woman, a minority (Chinese), a mother of three, and a former social worker. I started in the Kenton neighborhood with a small coffee shop and bakery, and five years ago I opened The Society Hotel in Old Town.