‘Your City Could Be Better’: How Portland Made Its River Cool

City Cast Portland · Aug 23, 2026 · 26m

Have you ever swam in the Willamette? Kayaked? Tiki toured? There are tons of opportunities to get in the river, yet lots of locals still avoid the water because of its (outdated) reputation of being polluted. The river is now safe and swimmable thanks to decades of work from advocates, journalists, and politicians to restore the ecosystem and cleanliness, and City Cast Portland host Claudia Meza joins Your City Could Be Better to talk about all the ways the Willamette can now be your urban playground.

Mentioned on the show:

Portland’s riverfront park, named after former Governor Tom McCall…