What took a Portland ambulance 32 minutes?

Columbia River Bridge Redesign

There are now six possible designs (including single-level and drawbridge options) for a new I-5 Columbia bridge, even as the project faces an unclear future. The Oregon Legislature has yet to find the $1 billion for the project after failing to pass a funding bill this month. [Oregonian]

More Vacancies, but No Rent Decrease

A greater percentage of apartments and condos in multifamily buildings were empty in the first three months of this year (5.3%), compared with last year (2.8%), according to the real estate firm CBRE. That hasn’t yet translated into significant savings on rent. And with rising interest rates and higher construction costs, there’s a slowdown in building, so it’s not clear that occupancy or rents will fall further. The highest vacancies are in Central Portland (7.5%), East Portland (6.2%), and Northwest Portland (5.9%). [KOIN]

• Related: At the beginning of the year, we got a forecast that this was going to be another expensive year for housing prices in Portland. [City Cast Portland 🎧]

Block Clean-up Bust

A City Hall effort to clean up a troubled block of East Portland halted murders there for 13 months. But after the partnership between Mayor Ted Wheeler’s office and a motel on the block flagged, sex traffickers moved in and one man was shot. [Oregonian]

• Related: Lionel Irving, founder of Love Is Stronger, talks about why Portland City Hall should make a sustained investment in halting gun violence. [City Cast Portland 🎧]

After featuring maybe the worst Portland song out there, I put out the call for best Portland songs. Here are a few more.

• Two nominations for Elliott Smith: “Rose Parade” and “Alameda” from reader Larry Crane and “Alameda” from reader Tim Casebeer
• “‘Porch Songs,’ by Chris Pureka…who actually lives in Portland. It might actually have been written about Maine, but people still live to yell PORTLAND! when she plays locally ” — Amy Cutting
• Mat Kearney’s “Chicago.” “While the title is a bit misleading, there is an entire verse about the Rose City. ‘Meet me in Portland, Rose City in the summer light/See you in the evergreens I will catch you down on the northeast side.’ This is my favorite of all of his songs.  And he’s an Oregonian to boot…” — Dennis Fuentes, Oak Park, IL (and former PDX resident).
• Haley Heynderickx - "Oom Sha La La" — Giulia Fiaoni, City Cast Portland audio producer. (What’s more Portland than the lyric: “I need to start a garden”?)

Are there any songs that define your time in Portland? Or some part of it? The City Cast Portland podcast is planning an episode talking about songs that define one guest’s time here.

Jazz Is Dead: Hermeto Pascoal | Wednesday | 7 & 9:30 p.m.

The Brazilian composer and instrumentalist is a jazz legend who played with Miles Davis, among others. [$40+, North Mississippi Ave.]

Duran Duran: ‘Future Past’ Tour | Thursday | 7 p.m.

Now in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the band has sold out stadiums even four decades into their stardom. [$35.92+, Lloyd District]

NW Dance Project: ‘Stravinsky’ | Friday - Saturday | 7:30 p.m.

This is a classical ballet reimagined. [$29+, Downtown]

Millennial and Gen Z Portland Go Head-to-Head

A couple of weeks ago, West Linn voted in their youngest elected mayor, ever: 23-year-old Rory Bialostosky. As Gen Z begins to take office, older generations are taking notice. Today on City Cast Portland we’re sharing a conversation we aired earlier this year between our own Gen Z audio producer, Giulia Fiaoni, and two elderly millennials: our host Claudia Meza, and Oregonian reporter Lizzy Acker.