Eyewitness news
I did some out-of-town travel over the weekend, and so I got to see the Portland Airport terminal makeover first hand. I just want to record here that my opinion of that boondoggle has not changed. It was an obscene waste of money, classic Port of Portland.
But let me add a couple of additional opinions: It's ugly. And I had to walk longer to get to and from the gates of my flights than I ever have.
More than two-point-one billion dollars was flushed down the toilet. One can only imagine how much graft was included.
The walk should be shorter once the remodel is complete. Construction on phase 2 continues until 2026
ReplyDeleteIt will never stop. It's like an ATM for the construction goons.
DeleteIt's the Portland version of the Winchester House.
DeleteIt is a shocking waste of money, even on the Portland graft scale, and a preview of the what the locals will do with Phil Knight’s $400 million dollar cash dump to “reimagine” the former Albina neighborhood. Can you imagine if the airport ceiling and Knight funds were invested in school choice programs for PPS students instead? Might be nice if our kids could read, write and do math at even close to grade level…..
DeleteWe need a mental hospital. A big one.
DeleteI don’t think a lack of funding for Portland schools is the reason the kids can’t read and write…
ReplyDeleteI don’t think the reading problems is in the classroom. Maybe someday we’ll be able to discuss the issue without pointing fingers at each other.
DeleteWe too went thru the PDX remodel this last weekend. LONG walk to get to the escalator to baggage claim. Confusing signs and tarps were everywhere.
ReplyDeleteTotal waste of money IMO and it’s never ending!
How can you possibly diminish this? They reoriented the check-in counters by ninety degrees! Magnificent achievement.
ReplyDeleteI went through the new terminal twice in the last 6 days. Both times is seemed less crowded and noisy than before the remodel. The wood clear span ceiling is really lovely. I talked with a seatmate frequent traveller from Europe on the outbound flight who said it's the best terminal he's ever been in. I agree.
ReplyDeleteFor $2.1 billion, I'm glad you and some guy from Europe like it.
Delete100% agree, although all this feels like rich people graffiti. Serves the same purpose except for the price tag. I wanna see the crackpipe and tent diorama, give me the real PDX....
DeleteAm I going through a different side of the airport than the people complaining or something? Walked in the door, ran my bag through the automated check-in thing, walked to the TSA checkpoint I could see from the Alaska check-in counter, moved through Security Theater about as fast as I have at any other US airport that has more than 10 gates, and saw a sign directly overhead telling me where concourses B and C are: directly ahead and to the right. And then you're looking down Concourse C, with a clear sign telling you to take a left ahead for Concourse B.
DeleteIt took 30 minutes to go from the curb to my gate each time I've been through after the opening. Is the north checkpoint a completely different story or something?
I travel every other week via PDX: nonstop to MSP once a month, then either through SLC to points east, or direct up to YVR or on my way to YVC. Despite the arousal of a majority of Portlanders over airport carpeting, none of those 4 airports take a back seat to the new PDX. Particularly, the labyrinth of travel when arriving on Air Canada at the downstairs 13E gate is numbing. Half of my time is on the airplane, the other half is meandering through PDX. You want efficient and convenient? Copy MSP; you know: the people who rebuilt a collapsed bridge in record time and on budget.
ReplyDeleteMy latest edition of Travel & Leisure has a spread ("Flying High") on PDX's "cutting-edge" remodel that gave "one of the country's best airports a fresh look." 1) The timber came from small landowners, including tribal lands, 2) The curved roof makes people feel better and lowers their blood pressure 3) Placing trees inside was a "monumental task" 3) Grow lights supplement daylight on "inevitably gray days." 4) People have an "affinity" for the carpet so the "bar was high" for the remodel.... And that's all you need to know!
ReplyDeleteAn incredible waste of money and good lumber.
ReplyDeleteLets start with a 50% reduction of port design and engineering staff. Head of the snake.
ReplyDeleteThe city is on "terminal" life support as people can't afford even cheap rent, the kids are dumber than ever, and abandoned offices are turning into a banking crisis, but hey look at that roof!
ReplyDeleteThe comments here are entertaining. Portlanders complain about the lack of nice things and then complain when we build a nice thing.
ReplyDeleteComplaints about the money being better spent elsewhere fail to understand how the remodel was paid for - airlines and passenger fees pay for most of it. While the exact amount not being paid for by the tenants isn’t easy to locate it isn’t local taxpayers who are instead getting fleeced by Preschool for All and more.
People complain about building nice things because they are never maintained. Building "things" gets your picture in the newspaper; maintaining things gets you zero recognition.
DeleteRebuilding the main terminal is literally maintaining an asset.
DeleteInternational arrivals are still dumped off at a door near the dingy baggage claim area. So much for that first impression.
ReplyDeleteI'm a frequent business traveler to Europe and the 30-40 minute wait for baggage from British Air or Iceland is mind numbing. The bags have to move 60 yards and then don't get me started on the 39 minute wait to get on a bus to take everyone to the front of the terminal.
ReplyDelete