Business Corner by Laura Streib, St. Johns Booster president and founder & executive director, Vibe of Portland
For more than 100 years, the St. Johns Boosters Business Association has supported locally owned businesses and advocated for our neighborhood.
Much of that work has been powered by volunteers — business owners giving their time to bring activity, events and customers to St. Johns with limited resources.
The proposed St. Johns Enhanced Services District (ESD) represents an opportunity to build on that legacy and take a more active role in shaping the future of our historic business district. With dedicated funding, we can enhance beautification, strengthen safety efforts, support events and expand marketing — bringing more energy, more visitors and more opportunity to our local businesses. Just as importantly, this work would be guided by a board of local ratepayers (e.g., business owners, property owners and community members), ensuring decisions are made by the people who know and care about St. Johns the most.
Enhanced Services Districts are a proven way for communities to invest in themselves — helping business districts stay vibrant, welcoming and economically strong. Funded through fees on commercial properties within a defined area, ESDs create a reliable local funding source for services that go beyond a city’s basic responsibilities. In Portland, three ESDs are already helping commercial areas thrive, with more neighborhoods exploring this model. The St. Johns proposal is informed in part by the success of the Jack London Improvement District in Oakland California.
Revitalizing the business district
The proposed district would run along Lombard from “the Cut” to the Ranger and would be funded through a property management license fee on commercial properties, including currently vacant storefronts. Services provided will include street cleaning, ambassador supports, storefront improvement projects and community-led projects. This shared investment ensures everyone contributes to a cleaner, safer and more active business corridor — benefiting property owners, businesses and the broader community alike.
St. Johns has long recognized the need for this kind of coordinated investment. As far back as 2002, the Lombard Plan — adopted by the city in 2004 — outlined many of the same priorities we still value today. What was missing then was a way to fund those goals. An Enhanced Services District provides that missing piece: a sustainable, locally controlled funding structure that turns vision into action.
Momentum is already building. The St. Johns Boosters began exploring this concept last year. Outreach to date has focused on property owners and business operators — the stakeholders who would make this investment possible and who could benefit most directly from a stronger district.
The priorities being discussed reflect what this community has been asking for over decades. Regular street cleaning, ambassador programs that create a consistent and welcoming presence, expanded events that bring people together and dedicated staff to strengthen connections between businesses and the community are all within reach through an ESD.
An oversight board composed of ratepayers — the people paying the property management license fees — will help ensure accountability, making sure funds are used in alignment with the community-developed strategic plan and that investments remain transparent and effective.
It’s the people of St. Johns who make it truly special. Our business district is filled with one-of-a-kind, locally owned shops, many run by neighbors who also live right here in the community. When we invest in our business district, we are investing in each other. An ESD is a practical, forward-looking way to strengthen what we love about St. Johns while building a more vibrant future together.
Community members are invited to learn more and share their input at a public informational meeting on May 13, 5:30-7 pm at Red Sea Church. This is an opportunity to ask questions, hear details about the proposal and help shape the future of the St. Johns business district.