There’s plenty of talk in the news about the challenges facing Portland — rising housing prices, snarled traffic, unequal justice, underperforming schools.
But there’s less talk about how our city is tackling those challenges, what’s working, what’s not, and where we go from here.
That’s why we’re launching a new project called Real Talk, which will focus on the big ideas and promising solutions to our city’s and state’s toughest issues.
We’ll tackle one topic each month and publish solutions-focused features — from guest commentaries to wonky policy explainers — in the newsletter every Wednesday.
And as always, we want to start with the questions that matter most to you. So on that note…
» What do you want to know about juvenile justice in Oregon? We’re kicking off Real Talk with an issue we’re kinda obsessed with: how Oregon’s justice system became so tough on kids, and why it remains that way despite our state’s progressive reputation.
» What do you want to know about K-12 education and the state’s graduation rate? Oregon has the third-worst high school graduation rate in the country, but many schools and districts are starting to show signs of improvement. We’ll focus in September on what’s working — and how those success stories can scale across our city and state.
» What do you want to know about housing and homelessness in Portland? This issue will take more than a month to untangle, but we’re going to get started with it in October as our city prepares to vote on a $652.8 million housing bond in November.
Read the newsletter next Wednesday (August 1) for the first installment of our juvenile justice series, and drop us a note if there’s an issue you’d like us to take on next.