What Makes Portland Home for Developer Kevin Cavenaugh

Developer Kevin Cavenaugh’s buildings have shaped our city. His company Guerrilla Development gave us the splashy colorful fixture at the east end of the Burnside Bridge. There are the trees growing in metal buckets on the outside of a bright blue building on the Central Eastside. There’s the Zipper building on Northeast Sandy, and more.

Cavenaugh talked with the City Cast Portland podcast about why Portland is still a town he believes in. He also shared the places that make Portland feel like home:

The Riverfront

“I go on walks every weekend and I go down to the riverfront. Whether it's springtime and the cherry trees are blooming, just being close to water, it feels good. Most cities are on water in America. They haven't turned toward water the way Portland has.”

Forest Park

“I still haven't been on every trail in Forest Park, and I've spent a lot of time in Forest Park.”

The Restaurant Scene

“The third thing is any goddamn restaurant that I haven't heard of but a friend tells me about and we go and check it out, and it's always amazing. And I'm like, ‘What the hell? How does this even work?’”

My Backyard

“This is gonna be a little cheesy, but it's true: My backyard. I live in a 100-year-old warehouse that I converted into housing, and it's a fourplex, and the neighbors all share the backyard. So, there's a hot tub and a fire pit and a big-ass table. I call it lowercase c, community. Portland has the highest social capital of any city in America. Which means you're more likely to know your neighbor's names. And you're more likely to dine with someone that's not your family than in other cities. And I'm so proud of this city for that. My backyard's a tiny little microcosm of that.”