During the 1980s, Portland’s main stories were played out by a cast of characters straight from a TV drama.
Bud Clark, “The People’s Mayor,” was a jolly, bicycle-commuting politician who strove to revitalize a struggling city through downtown development. Nu Shooz took the world by storm with their punchy hit “I Cant’ Wait,” and there were even a few appearances from Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, the guru + cult leader with a penchant for Rolls Royces.
That’s not all that made headlines.
Population: 366,383
Mayors: Connie McCready (1979-1980), Frank Ivancie (1980-1985), Bud Clark (1985-1993)
When the north face of Mount St. Helens collapsed on May 18, 1980, it became the largest subaerial landslide in recorded history.
Photo via U.S. Geological Survey
1980: The decade starts with a bang, when Mount St. Helens erupts, killing 57 people, destroying 200 homes, and covering Portland in ash.
1981: A group of Portland police officers dump dead possums outside the Burger Barn, a Black-owned business in the Albina neighborhood. The incident inspires activists to march on City Hall; two officers are fired, but later reinstated.
1982: Wieden+Kennedy, the advertising agency that would go on to develop Nike’s iconic slogan “Just Do It” and Bud Light’s “Dilly Dilly” campaign, opens its office in the basement of a labor union hall with nothing but a borrowed typewriter and a pay phone.
1983: Construction on the U.S. Bancorp Tower, the city’s second-tallest skyscraper, is finished. Its nickname “Big Pink” comes from Modernist architect Pietro Belluschi’s use of pink Spanish granite and pink glazed plate glass.
1984: Pioneer Courthouse Square opens, converting a parking lot into “Portland’s Living Room.”
1985: “Portlandia,” the 35-ft-tall, 6.5-ton copper repoussé statue, arrives to the city after a cross-country journey and is installed on the side of the Portland Building.
1986: TriMet’s Metropolitan Area Express Light Rail begins service, revolutionizing public transportation for the region. First Thursday, a night where art galleries stayed open late to draw dwindling crowds, launches in the newly dubbed Pearl District.
1987: Portland establishes its recycling system, requiring all garbage companies to offer collection to their customers.
1988: The Oregon Food Bank establishes the Waterfront Blues Festival as a fundraiser; it would organize the event for 30 years. Beer lovers raise their glasses at the first-ever Oregon Brewers Festival.
1989: Oregon Ballet Theatre sashays onto the local arts scene after a merger between two Portland-based companies, growing from 25 dancers to nearly 330 employees today. “Drugstore Cowboy,” filmed locally by Gus Van Sant, hits theaters.
